Salem State, Bridgewater State Split Twinbill

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Salem State and Bridgewater State split their second twinbill of the season on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. The host Bears won the opener, 3-2, in walk-off fashion, before Kyle Banche (Torrington, Conn.) pitched 5 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in game two as the Vikings earned a 3-2 victory. Banche allowed two hits with four strikeouts and a walk in picking up his first win of the season. Salem State is now 4-3 on the year while the Bears move to 6-11.

Game One

Tyler Rondeau (Bourne, Mass.) singled home Michael Catanoso (Marshfield, Mass.) with the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift the Bears to a dramatic 3-2 walk-off win in game one.

Ethan Grade (South Windsor, Conn.) worked two scoreless innings of relief to pick up his first collegiate win. Grade (1-1) retired all six batters he faced including three strikeouts.

Neither starting pitcher factored in the decision. Trever Dennett (Kinston, Mass.) worked the first five innings for the Bears and allowed two runs on seven hits with a walk and five strikeouts. Salem starter Dylan McCormick (South Kingstown, R.I.) gave up one unearned run on two hits over 5 1/3 innings. McCormick did not issue a walk and fanned two.

Trailing 2-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning, the Bears rallied to tie the game. Rondeau reached on an error to lead off the frame, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on a ground out. The Vikings brought in reliever Jake Boucher (Cheshire Conn.) who uncorked a wild pitch as Rondeau raced home with the Bears' first run of the day. One out later, Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) tripled off the rightfield fence and Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) followed with a walk to put runners at the corners. After another pitching change, Molis intentionally got caught in a run down between first and second allowing Wladkowski to score the tying run.

In the bottom of the seventh, Colin Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) led off the frame with a walk and was replaced on the base paths by Catanoso. Catanoso advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) was intentionally walked by Salem's fourth pitcher of the game, Carl Beatrice (Wilmington, Mass.). Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) then reached on an error to load the bases and set the stage for Rondeau's heroics. Rondeau lined an 0-2 pitch into left field to win the game for the Bears.

The Vikings snapped a scoreless game with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI single by Christian Burt (Lynn, Mass.) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Boucher.

John Mondello (Gloucester, Mass.) was tagged with the loss in relief for Salem State. Mondello (0-1) was charged with one run on a walk in 2/3 of an inning.

Burt went 2-for-3 with an RBI, and Brahiam Ortega (Lawrence, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a run scored to pace the Viking offense in game one.

Frechette singled and walked in three plate appearances for Bridgewater State.

Game Two

The Vikings battled back from an early 2-0 deficit to pull out a 3-2 win and earn the split of the twinbill.

The Bears loaded the bases on three walks with one out in the bottom of the first off starter Juan Hurtado (Homestead, Fla.). Luke Tamulevich (Whitman, Mass.) raced home on a wild pitch to give the hosts the 1-0 lead. Hurtado retired the next two batters to avoid any further damage.

Bridgewater State loaded the bases again in the second, this time with two outs, as Rondeau walked, Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) singled and Wladkowski walked. Banche came on in relief and induced what should have been an inning ending groundout. However, an infield error allowed Rondeau to cross the plate with the Bears second run of the game. Banche would retire the next batter on a groundout to minimize the damage.

BSU starter Lucas DiTondo (Marshfield, Mass.) pitched three solid innings before running into trouble in the fourth. DiTondo walked a pair of batters, and with one out, was relieved by Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.). EJ Field (Gloucester, Mass.) greeted Dasilva-Medeiros with an RBI single to right and a second run would score on the play as a result of an outfield throwing error.

The Vikings pushed across the go ahead run in the top of the fifth after the loading the bases with nobody out. Ernest McClary (Waterbury, Conn.) led off the inning with a base hit and advanced to second when Tim Catalano (Brewster, N.Y.) worked a walk. Jomar Moreta (Lynn, Mass.) then reached on a bunt single on a late throw to first. Dasilva-Medeiros got Burt to ground into a double play, but McClary raced home on the play to give the Vikings a 3-2 lead.

DiTondo gave up two runs (one earned) on one hit over 3 1/3 innings in his first appearance of the 2021 season. He walked two and struck out one. Dasilva-Medeiros (0-1) was the pitcher of the record as he allowed one run on five hits in 3 2/3 innings with a walk and five strikeouts.

Hurtado walked five over 1 2/3 innings in the start for Salem State. He gave up two runs (one earned) on one hit and fanned two.

Field (2-3, RBI) and McClary (2-3, run) both finished with multiple hits for the Vikings in game two. Tamulevich went 1-for-3 with a walk, stolen base and run scored to pace the BSU offense.

Bridgewater State stranded seven runners on base in game two, including a runner on third in the sixth and a runner on second in the seventh.

(With contributions from Bridgewater State Sports Information)