By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The host Bridgewater State University baseball team opened the NCAA Division 3 Bridgewater Regional with an upset victory on Friday.
The fourth-seeded Bears, behind the complete-game pitching of Matt Josselyn of Hanson, sent top-seeded and nationally ranked Endicott College to the loser's bracket.
Josselyn, a graduate student, scattered seven hits and improved to 9-2 as Bridgewater State handed the Gulls a 4-2 setback at Alumni Park.
It was the first NCAA tournament win for Bridgewater State since 2011 when it defeated Wheaton College, 6-3, in Harwich.
The Bears (33-11) advance to the winner's bracket on Saturday at noon and will play either second-seeded Middlebury College or third-seeded Johnson & Wales University.
Endicott (39-7) is ranked fourth in the D3baseball.com Poll and eighth in the Collegiate Baseball/ABCA poll. The Gulls play at 8:30 on Saturday morning against either Middlebury or Johnson & Wales.
Bridgewater State, which holds the program record for wins in a season, is now 8-0 against Endicott. The teams met for the first time since 2008.
Josselyn gave up the two runs in the third inning and struck out four. Only three runners reached base in the final five innings.
Josselyn now has an NCAA-leading nine complete games in 12 starts this season.
The Bears opened a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning against senior Gabe Van Emon of Lexington, who was handed his first loss after opening the season 8-0.
Bridgewater State leadoff hitter Scott Emerson, a sophomore from Peabody, opened with a single to left, went to second on a groundout and scored on a double to left field by Cam James, a junior from Ipswich.
Joey Molis, a senior from Cumberland, R.I., then delivered James with a single to left for the quick 2-0 advantage.
The Gulls tied the game in the third inning with Dylan Pacheco, a junior from Dartmouth, drawing a walk to start the inning and advancing to third on a double to left by John Mulready, a junior from Peabody.
T.J. Liponis, a freshman from Scarborough, Maine, reached on an infield error to score Pacheco and a single to right by Joseph Millar, a graduate student from Lake Hopatcong, N.J., pulled Endicott even.
The Bears broke the tie in the seven inning with the final two runs of the game.
Kevin Lindsay, a junior from East Bridgewater, led with a single to right-center field and when Jay Wladkowski, a junior from Norwood, reached on a fielder's choice, Lindsay went to third on an error on the play.
James drove in his second run of the game with a single to right, and Wladkowski scored when the two executed a double steal for the insurance run.
After giving up the two runs in the third, Josselyn did not allow Endicott to have more than one runner on base in any of the final six innings.
Emerson and James had a pair of hits for BSU, which finished with nine hits.
The game featured a matchup of brothers Jay Wladkowski, a BSU right fielder, and Robbie Wladkowski, an Endicott third baseman. Robbie flied out to his brother in the sixth inning.
Notes: Josselyn tied the Bears' single-season pitching records for wins (9), complete games (9) and games started (12). Chris Welch won nine games in 2000. Corey Batista recorded nine complete games in both 2011 and 2012. BSU Hall of Famer Paul Duffy made 12 starts on the mound in 1988....Emerson hit the 30-stolen base mark for the second straight season.....The Bears are just one stolen base shy of the program mark of 114 steals set last season.