Framingham State and Westfield State are moving on to the winner's bracket of the MASCAC Baseball Tournament after winning their quarterfinal contests on Wednesday afternoon. The tournament began on Wednesday morning with the first round games which saw third seed Framingham State and fifth seed Bridgewater State moving on to the quarterfinals. 

First Round: #3 Framingham State 10, #6 Worcester State 2     Box Score

Northborough, Mass. – The third seed Framingham State University baseball team defeated sixth seed Worcester State University 10-2 this morning in an opening round game of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament at the New England Baseball Complex.

The Rams received a complete game performance from senior Kyle Hodgson (Berkley, Mass,).  Hodgson went nine innings allowing two earned runs on eight hits with no walks and three strikeouts.

The Rams got on the board in the bottom of the first inning.  Senior Kyle Lippert (Carlsbad, Calif.) doubled and moved to third on a single by junior Bobby Higgins (Barnstable, Mass.).  With runners on the corners, Higgins attempted to steal second and got in a rundown allowing Lippert to score from third.

The Rams added two in the bottom of the second pushing the lead to 3-0.   Freshman Gino DeSimone (Medford, Mass.) doubled in a run and junior Cory Caraher (Plymouth, Mass.) followed with an RBI double scoring DeSimone.

Four runs in the third pushed the lead to 7-0.  Senior Matt Fogarty (Millis, Mass.) scored two with a single up the middle and DeSimone plated the final two on a two run single.

Fogarty launched a two run homer to right in the fourth inning to push the lead to 9-0 for the Rams.

Worcester plated a pair of runs in the top of the seventh, but the Rams added a single run in the bottom of the eighth on a double by junior Andrew Curtis (Dracut, Mass.) to reach the final margin.

Higgins and Lippert finished the game with three hits and two runs scored apiece for the Rams, while Fogarty drove in four and DeSimone three.

First Round: #5 Bridgewater State 14, #4 Salem State 5   Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass.   ---  David Skiendiel finished 4-5 with three RBI as fifth-seeded Bridgewater State rallied from a 4-0 deficit in the opening round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference baseball tournament at Bud and Jim Hagan Field on Wednesday afternoon, posting an 14-5 win over #4 Salem State University.

With the win Bridgewater (17-20) advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament and will face top seed and host Westfield State at 3:00 p.m. today.  Salem (19-19) is eliminated from the tournament with today's loss.

The Vikings grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, loading bases with no outs, as catcher Madoc Fisher delivered a 2-run single to left field.   A failed squeeze play led to the second out of the inning, and Bridgewater starter Jarrett Archambault retired Brendan Greene on a fly out to work out of the jam.

Salem tacked on a single run in the third and another in the fourth, as Fisher scored from third on a shallow sacrifice fly to center from Greene. Archambault again wriggled out of a jam, stranding runners at second and third to end the inning.

Bridgewater rallied for four runs in the top half of the sixth, two scoring when Dominic Precopio singled to left with the second run scoring when the fielder overran the ball, and then an RBI double from Gavin Sparkman chased Salem starter Andrew McLaughlin.  Brock Riley relieved McLaughlin and walked Colin Josselyn.  David Skiendiel drove in another run with a double, but Salem got out of trouble with the hidden ball trick putting out Josselyn at third with the score tied 4-4.

Bridgewater grabbed the lead in the top of the seventh with an unearned run, with two errors setting the table for Precopio's sacrifice fly which plated Liam Bell with the go-ahead run for a 5-4 Bears lead.

The Bears salted the game away with three more runs in the top of the eighth, and five in the top of the ninth, including two-run double down the left field line from Liam Bell.

Alex McGrath (2-1) picked up the win in relief for Bridgewater, pitching 2.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run while fanning four.  David Kerns came on with a three-run lead to get the final out of the eighth inning and earned his fourth save of the season.

Bell, Precopio, Kevin Bresciani, and Lewis Robinson each had a pair of hits for the Bears.

Riley (4-6) took the loss for Salem.  Shawn Rebello and Fisher each had two hits for the Vikings.

Quarterfinal: #1 Westfield State 10, #5 Bridgewater State 2    Box Score

WESTFIELD, Mass. -- Westfield State sophomore starter Shane Bogli tossed seven shutout innings to lead the way as top-seeded Westfield State rolled to a 10-2 win over #5 Bridgewater State in the MASCAC baseball tournament.

With the win, the Owls advance in the winners' bracket and will play Framingham at 3:00 tomorrow at Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield.

Bridgewater (17-21) slides into the losers' bracket and will play an elimination game against Fitchburg at 3:00 tomorrow at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H.   #3 Framingham defeated #2 Fitchburg, 8-6 in 12 innings today in the other half of the MASCAC Tournament bracket which was played at the New England Baseball Complex in Northborough, Mass.

After a 1-2-3 first inning from Bogli, Westfield (25-13) got off to a fast start in the bottom half of the inning as Colin Dunnled off with a triple down the left field line, and designated hitter Anthony Crowley followed, lining a home run to left field for a 2-0 Owls lead.

Westfield added five runs in the fourth, loading the bases on three straight walks, before Michael Cruz singled home two runs, and then Dunn ripped his second triple of the day just inside the third base bag to drive in two more.  Dunn scored on a  Crowley ground out.

Westfield tacked on two more runs in the sixth, putting two on via the walk, Dunn singled to load the bases for Crowley, who drove in another run when he was hit in the helmet with a pitch.  Two batter slater, Aaron Clancy was hit by a pitch to drive in the Owls ninth run of the day.

Bridgewater scored their two runs in the top of the ninth off Owls' reliever Ryan Murphy.

Bogli (7-2) earned the win, tossing seven scoreless innings while allowing just four hits and striking out two while walking none.

Dunn finished 3-4 at the plate with two runs scored and two rbi.  Crowley was 2-4 with 4 rbi.

Kevin Bresciani was the lone Bear with multiple hits. Starter Matt Josselyn (2-4) took the loss.

Quarterfinal 2: #3 Framingham State 8, #2 Fitchburg State 6  12 Innings     Box Score

Northboro, Mass. – Third seeded Rams of Framingham State University outlasted second seed Fitchburg State 8-6 in 12 innings this afternoon in quarterfinal round action of the 2019 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Post-Season Tournament at the New England Baseball Complex.

Framingham State grabbed a 2-0 advantage in the top of the first on an RBI fielder's choice by junior Bobby Higgins (Barnstable, Mass.) before senior Kyle Lippert (Carlsbad, Calif.) crossed the plate on a delayed run down.

Fitchburg State cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the second when junior Joshua Macomber (Berkley, Mass.) homered to right field. The Rams upped their margin to 3-1 in the top of the third on a solo shot from junior Cory Caraher (Plymouth, Mass.).

Trailing 5-3 in the seventh frame, the Falcons knotted the score at 5-3 as sophomore Nicholas Cordeau (Melrose, Mass.) launched his team-leading eighth homer on the season over the right center field fence to tie the Falcons single season record for home runs in a season.

Framingham State regained the  lead in the top of the eighth, with senior Kyle Dembrowski (Natick, Mass.) coming home after freshman Gino DeSimone (Medford, Mass.) got into a run down to make the score 6-5. Fitchburg State would answer back in the bottom of the eighth when junior Matthew Pingitore (Rutland, Mass.) laced an RBI single to right field.

The Rams broke the 6-6 stalemate in the top of the 12th as freshman Gino DeSimone (Medford, Mass.) drove in junior Andrew Curtis (Dracut, Mass.) with a grounder to second, resulting in the 8-6 final

Falcons will host the Bears of Bridgewater State in semifinal round action of the 2019 MASCAC Baseball Post-Season Tournament tomorrow at Franklin Pierce University for a contest starting at 3:00 PM. Rams will travel to Westfield State to take on the Owls tomorrow in another semifinal round contest at 3:00 PM.

Releases courtesy of Fitchburg State, Framingham State and Westfield State Sports Information