BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The visiting Westfield State University baseball team swept a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with Bridgewater State University on a Senior Day Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. The Owls won the opener in nine innings, 3-1, and completed the sweep with a 9-3 victory in game two.
The Owls, who also swept the three-game series, improve to 19-18 on the season and 13-8 in the MASCAC. The Bears fall to 29-11 overall and 15-6 in conference play.
Despite the setbacks, Bridgewater State still earned a share of the MASCAC regular season crown. The Bears have now won or shared 18 MASCAC titles.
Bridgewater is seeded second in next week's MASCAC Tournament and will host a pair of games on Thursday. Westfield is the #3 seed and will take on #6 Fitchburg State in a play-in game at BSU's Alumni Park on Thursday morning at 11:00 AM. The winner will then take on Bridgewater State at approximately 2:00 PM as the double-elimination portion of the tournament begins.
Game One: Westfield State 3, Bridgewater State 1 (9 Inn.)
Justin Niedel (Attleboro, Mass.) homered with one out on the top of the ninth to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Owls to the 3-1 extra inning win in game one. Westfield added an insurance run later in the frame on back-to-back doubles by Burnett and Day.
Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) worked 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief to earn the win on the mound for Westfield. Espinola (4-1) gave up two hits, walked one and fanned three. Billy Casey (Dedham, Mass.) allowed a single and double to open the bottom of the ninth but managed to get out of the jam and record his first save of the season. Casey induced a harmless ground out back to the mound and then got some help in the field as Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) snared a line drive at shortstop and turned it into a game-ending double play.
The Bears capitalized on a Westfield infield error and three walks to open the scoring in the bottom of the second inning. Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) walked with the bases loaded to give the hosts the 1-0 lead.
Westfield finally got on the board in the top of the sixth. The Owls loaded the bases with one out on a pair of singles by Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) and John Nickerson (Chelmsford, Mass.) sandwiched around an Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) walk. Robinson Guerrero Baez (Dominican Republic) then connected for a sacrifice fly to plate Slattery with the tying run.
Bridgewater loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the sixth on two walks and a hit by pitch but could not score. The Bears also had the winning run at second base in both the seventh and eighth innings but could not capitalize.
Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) was saddled with the loss in relief for Bridgewater State. Dasilva-Medeiros (0-1) allowed two runs on four hits over three innings in his longest stint of the season. He walked one and fanned seven.
Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) pitched into the sixth inning and left with the score tied at 1-1. Josselyn gave up one run on ten hits over 5 2/3 innings with a walk and five strikeouts.
Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) got the start for the Owls and worked into the fourth inning. Donahue allowed just one unearned run on just one hit over 3 1/3 innings. He struck out five batters but walked six.
Game Two: Westfield State 10, Bridgewater State 5
The Owls led from start to finish as they scored early and often en route to the 10-5 win and the sweep of the doubleheader.
Westfield banged out 14 hits led by three hits apiece from Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) and Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.). Florence went 3-for-4 with a home run, two runs and two RBI, while Marshall singled three times in five at bats, scored and run and knocked in one.
The Owls pushed across an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.), A two-run single by Guerreo Baez in the second and RBI singles by Neidel and Marshall in the fourth extended the Westfield lead to 5-0.
Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) singled to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning and later scored on a Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) sacrifice fly to get the Bears on the board.
Florence blasted a two-run homer in the fifth to make it a 7-1 game.
Bridgewater got the two runs back in the home half of the fifth on a bases loaded walk to Wladkowski and an RBI ground out.
Westfield answered with two runs in the top of the sixth on an RBI double by Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) and a Faulkner sacrifice fly. Neidel's RBI single in the seventh have the Owls a 10-3 lead.
Eric Longley (Mansfield, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two outs in the home half of the seventh. A passed ball accounted for the final score of 10-5.
Neidel (2-4, BB, SB, R, 2RBI), Burnett (2-4, 2B, SF, R, RBI) and Day (2-4, 2 2B, R, RBI) also finished with multiple hits for the Owls. Guerrero Baez went 1-for-3 with a walk, two stolen bases, two runs and two RBI.
Wladkowski (2-3, BB, 2R, RBI) and Emerson (2-2, BB, R) notched multiple hits for the Bears. Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) notched his 100th career hit, a lead-off single in the bottom of the first inning.
Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) worked the first five innings on the mound for Westfield to notch his fourth win of the season. Mathewson (4-2) allowed three runs on fourth hits with three walks and a strikeout.
David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) was tagged with the loss for Bridgewater State. Kerns gave up seven runs (four earned) on nine hits over five innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
Notes: The Bears held Senior Day ceremonies prior to the start of the doubleheader as Dasilva-Medeiros, Josselyn, Molis, Longley, Sean Goudey (Weymouth, Mass.), Harrison Loud (South Kingstown, R.I.), Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) and Matthew Seavey (North Attleboro, Mass.) were honored...