Softball Sweeps Westfield State on Senior Day

Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team ended the regular season in impressive fashion Saturday afternoon.

The Bears swept a Senior Day doubleheader from first-place Westfield State University, 4-2 and 5-1, after the Owls had won nine straight games.

BSU secured the No. 4 seed in the upcoming Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament and will host a opening round game against fifth-seeded Salem State University on Tuesday afternoon at three o'clock.

The Bears are 19-17 and have won seven of their last eight games. BSU went 8-6 in the MASCAC.

Westfield State falls to 31-9 and is the No. 1 seed with an 11-3 record. Prior to Saturday, the Owls' lone MASCAC loss was to Worcester State University on April 4.

It was just the second time Westfield State was swept this season with Western New England taking two games on April 10.

BSU received strong pitching in the opener from sophomore Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) and in the second game from senior McKayla Cusack (West Haven, Conn.) to defeat the Owls twice.

Game One: Bridgewater State 4, Westfield State 2

Hargreaves pitched a five-hitter and allowed solo runs in the second and sixth innings.

She improved to 7-5, striking out five. Hargreaves had a three-hitter going into the sixth inning when she gave up the final two hits. She then retired the side in order in the seventh.

BSU took a 2-0 lead in the first on a two-out, two-run single up the middle by senior Amelia Blake (Raynham, Mass.), who scored sophomore Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.), who had singled, and sophomore Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.), who had doubled to left-center.

Westfield State got its first run in the second on a two-out homer to left by senior Sarah Bingham (Reno, Nev.). Bingham set the Owls' all-time program mark with her 17th career home run.

The Bears went up, 4-1, in the fifth when Ansell singled up the middle and scored on an error after a bunt single by junior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.). Schaefer followed with an RBI double to left.

Westfield State scored in the sixth on an RBI double to right by junior Hannah Wodecki (Southampton, Mass.).

Schaefer and Blake were 2-for-3 while Ansell was 2-for-4 for BSU. Senior Katherine Canty (Natick, Mass.) fell to 12-3 for the Owls, allowing four runs and nine hits with five strikeouts.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 5, Westfield State 1

Cusack is now 8-6 after scattering eight hits and striking out two. She allowed just a first-inning run to Westfield State.

BSU fell behind when sophomore Kassidy LaTour (Lebanon, Conn.) had a two-out RBI single to score graduate student Christina Ciampa (Rockville, Conn.), who had singled to lead off the first.

BSU went ahead in the bottom of the inning, 2-1, on an RBI double to left-center by Schaefer and an RBI single up the middle by Blake. The double marked Schaefer's 17th double of the season, one shy of the Bears' single-season mark of 18 set by Dawn Harrington in 1993.

Ansell homered to left field to lead off the third, making it 3-1. It was her second homer of the season.

BSU finished the scoring with two runs in the fifth.

Ansell reached on a two-base error and scored on a double down the left-field line by Lynch. An infield hit by senior Riley Fitzgerald (Swansea, Mass.) scored Lynch.

Blake and senior Emily Marcotte (North Dighton, Mass.) went 2-for-3 for the Bears, who had eight hits.

Sophomore Joss Mettey (Easthampton, Mass.) gave up two runs in two innings and took the loss, falling to 8-2. Three pitchers tossed two innings apiece for the Owls in game two.

Four BSU seniors were honored in festivities. The group included Marcotte, Fitzgerald, Cusack and Blake.