Baseball Downs Wentworth, 11-5, for Seventh Straight Win

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team completed its non-conference schedule Wednesday afternoon by winning its seventh straight game.

The Bears tuned up for a key Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference series by defeating the Wentworth Institute of Technology, 11-5, at Alumni Park.

BSU (21-13) has reached double figures in runs in all seven victories during the winning streak, averaging 16.6 runs, and in each of their last 12 wins overall.

The Bears finish the regular season with three games against Westfield State University. BSU and the Owls are 12-6 in the MASCAC, just percentage points behind Framingham State University (11-5) and a game ahead of Salem State University (11-7).

The Bears host Westfield State Friday at 4 p.m. before traveling to face the Owls in a doubleheader Saturday at noon.

Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.), Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) and Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) had two hits each for BSU, which finished with nine hits.

Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) drove in three runs and Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) had a pair of RBI.

Freshman Jaden Arruda (Seekonk, Mass.) worked six strong innings, striking out six and giving up two runs and six hits to improve to 2-1 in five appearances for BSU.

The Bears took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice and Flaherty singled to center, setting up an RBI single through the left side by Simon.

After Flaherty went to third on a passed ball, he scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Wladkowski.

BSU added a run in the second when DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) walked, stole second and scored on a single to left by Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.).

The lead went to 4-0 in the third as Simon doubled to left-center and scored on a triple to right-center by Wladkowski.

The Bears added four more runs in the fourth for an 8-0 bulge.

Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) walked, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a flyout before scoring on a double down the left-field line by Emerson.

After Lindsay reached on an error and Flaherty walked to load the bases, Simon drew a walk and Pigeon delivered a two-out single through the left side for two more runs.

Arruda pitched five scoreless innings before the Leopards (21-15) scored a pair in the sixth inning.

Mike Sibert (Billerica, Mass.) had an infield hit and Jake Prisco (Bridgewater, Mass.) walked. Matthew Favazzo (Lexington, Mass.) doubled to right-center to bring them home.

The Bears went up, 10-2, in the bottom of the sixth as Flaherty doubled and eventually scored on Pigeon's fielder's choice.

Wentworth scored a run in the seventh as Matt Robinson (Mystic, Conn.) reached on an infield hit, moved to second on a balk and scored on an error.

BSU finished its scoring in the seventh on a sacrifice fly to left by Flaherty after Emerson had an infield hit and stole two bases.

The Leopards got a run in the eighth on an RBI single by John Golebieski (Seymouth, Conn.) after a double by Christian Roncal (Glendale, Ariz.).

A.T. DePina (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Robinson were 3-for-4 for Wentworth while Siebert added a pair of hits.

CJ Hess (Providence, R.I.), Michael Cobb (Waltham, Mass.) and Nick Reiser (Nahant, Mass.) each worked an inning of relief for the Bears.

Michael Archambeault (Pepperell, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for the Leopards as he allowed four runs (three earned) on five hits and a pair of walks over three innings.

Lindsay appeared in his 152nd career game for BSU, giving him sole possession of the second spot on the all-time list. Lindsay had been tied with Brian Desantes (1994-97) and is now eight behind all-time leader John Garabedian (2010-13).

Emerson extended his hitting streak to 15 games while Pigeon has now hit in 13 straight.

Wentworth finishes the regular season Saturday with a home doubleheader against Endicott, ranked No. 1 nationally in Division 3 at 34-2.