FRAMINGHAM, Mass. – Bridgewater State University advanced to the championship round of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament as the second-seeded Bears posted a 7-6 victory over #1 Framingham State University on Friday afternoon at Bowditch Field.
The Bears (31-11), who tied the program record with their 31st win of the season, will play either Framingham State or #5 seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday afternoon at two o'clock in the championship round. The Rams (26-14) will take on the Buccaneers in an elimination game on Saturday morning at ten.
Bridgewater got on the board in the top of the second inning as Mathew Pigeon (Canton, mass.) doubled to lead off the top inning, advanced to third when Sean Goudey (Weymouth, Mass.) reached on an error and raced home on a Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) sacrifice fly.
The Rams answered with a run in the home half of the second to knot the score at 1-1. Lucas Basile (Upton, Mass.) legged out an infield single and moved to third on a base hit by Cam Gilroy (Salisbury, Mass.). After back-to-back strikeouts, Shane Costello (Wilmington, Mass.) reached on an error allowing Basile to score the tying run.
The Bears pushed across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. Lindsay reached on an error with one out, stole second and scored on a two-out RBI double by Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.). Wladkowski moved to third on a passed ball and trotted home on an RBI single by Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.).
Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) walked to lead off the top of the fifth and scored all the way from first on an RBI double by Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.). Two outs later. Lindsay plated Selander with an RBI double to make it a 5-1 game.
Bridgewater tacked on a run in the sixth to extend the lead to 6-1. Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) walked, stole second and raced home when James reached on an error.
The Rams got one back in the bottom of the sixth on back-to-back singles by Ryan Boyle (Arlington, Mass.) and Caleb Hendrix (Gorham, Maine) followed by a BSU throwing error.
Framingham rallied for four runs in the sixth to tie the score at 6-6. The first six batters reached in the frame including RBI singles by Costello and Hendrix and a Steven Burbank (Canton, Mass.) RBI double. The tying run scored on a double play groundout.
Bridgewater capitalized on Framingham's fifth error of the game to plate the go ahead run in the top of the eighth inning. Emerson walked and advanced to third when Wladkowski reached on an error. After Wladkowski stole second, James brought in Emerson with a sacrifice fly to centerfield. The run scored marked Emerson's 54th of the season as he equaled Ed Nadeau's single-season program mark set in 1997.
Trey Yesu (Monson, Mass.) came on in relief to start the eighth inning for the Bears and got two outs but also hit three batters to load the bases. Lefthander Shane Handrahan (Raynham, Mass.) relieved Yesu and induced a harmless foul out to the catcher to get out of jam.
Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) retired the side in order in the ninth, including one strikeout, to record his school record-tying tenth save of the season and 21st of his career. Dasilva-Medeiros equaled the Bears' program mark of set by BSU Hall of Famer Fred Martin in 1998.
Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) went seven innings on the mound for the Bears to pick up his eighth win of the season. Josselyn (8-2) allowed six runs (four earned) on ten hits with two walks and five strikeouts. He also hit a batter.
James Gilleran (Mansfield, Mass.) got the start for Framingham State but did not factor in the decision. Gilleran gave up six runs (two earned) on seven hits over five innings with three walks and nine strikeouts. He also hit a batter. Scott Nosky (Dedham, Mass.) suffered the loss for the Rams in relief. Nosky (1-4) allowed one unearned run on two hits in two innings of work with a walk and a strikeout.
Molis (2-4, BB, R) and Selander (2-4, 2B, R, RBI) paced the Bears' nine-hit attack with two hits apiece.
Hendrix went 3-for-5 with an RBI to lead the Framingham offense. Boyle (2-4, BB, R) also recorded multiple hits for the Rams who finished with ten base knocks on the afternoon.
The Bears left 13 runners on bases while the Rams stranded ten.
Notes: The Bears' 31 wins matches the total of the 1996 team which finished third at the World Series...Wladkowski's double marked the 33rd of his career. He tied BSU Hall of Famer Ed Grueter (1988-91) for third place on the Bears' all-time doubles list...The Bears walked four times on the afternoon to increase their season total to 196 and eclipse the previous school record of 195 walks set in 1993.