BUZZARDS BAY, Mass -- The Buccaneers hosted the Bridgewater State Bears on Monday in a conference doubleheader at Hendy Field. After knocking the Bucs out of the MASCAC Playoffs in the Championship round in 2023, the Bucs got their regular season revenge on Monday sweeping the Bears, 8-5 and 16-7. 

Game One

The Basics

Final: Buccaneers 8, Bears 5

Records: Maritime (13-13, 6-4)

               Bridgewater (12-11, 6-4)

On The Mound

Maritime: Hunter Dean (W, 4-0): 7 IP | 6 H | 5 R | 4 ER | 4 BB | 8 K

Bridgewater: Cameron Breault (L, 0-1): 0 IP | 1 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 0 BB | 0 K

                      Shane Handrahan: 5.1 IP | 6 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 2 BB | 9 K

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Four Buccaneers hit home runs in the win. Aidan Weir and Grady Freeman hit their first-career home runs, Tucker Leslie hit his second-career home run, and Brett Velzis hit his program record 20th home run.
• Velzis had two hits overall. Leslie, Max Hefner, AJ Pietrafesa, Michael Estrada, Freeman, and Weir all had one hit.
• Freeman drove in three runs, all on his home run. Velzis drove in two. Leslie, Estrada, and Weir all plated one run.
• Eight different Buccaneers scored in the game.
• To go along with all the home runs, Hefner and Velzis each had a double.

Bridgewater

• Mathew Pigeon had two hits in the game. Four other Bears had one hit each.
• Steven Simon drove in three runs and Jay Wladkowski knocked in one. 
• Scott Emerson scored twice and Kevin Lindsay, Ryan Flaherty, and Simon all scored once.
• Emerson, Wladkowski, and Pigeon each had a double.
• Emerson recorded the only stolen base of the game.

How It Happened

The Bears opened the game with four runs in the top of the first. Lindsay singled on the infield and Emerson scored on a Buccaneers error. Later in the inning, Simon hit a three-run home run to dead center field and Bridgewater led 4-0 after the first half inning.

In the top of the second, the Bears added another run on Wladkowski's double that scored Emerson for a second time. The Bears held a commanding 5-0 lead over Dean and the Bucs after two. 

The Buccaneers finally got to the Bears starter Handrahan in the third and showed some life. Weir hit his first-career home run to left field to get the Bucs on the board though they still trailed, 5-1.

Dean settled down on the mound and put the Bucs in a great position to get back into the game. After a scoreless fourth and fifth innings for both teams, the Buccaneers broke out in the bottom of the sixth inning scoring seven runs. Velzis hit his fourth home run of the season, a two run shot, to left center to make it 5-3. Estrada later singled in Pietrafesa to get the Bucs within one. Then, with two on, Freeman launched a ball over the right field fence to give the Buccaneers a 7-5 advantage. Leslie added some insurance with his home run to center field and the Bucs led 8-5.

Dean came out for the seventh and allowed one base runner but retired the side and on 123 pitches, earned his fourth victory of the season and the 8-5 game one win for Maritime over Bridgewater.

Game Two

The Basics

Final: Buccneers 16, Bears 7

Records: Maritime (14-13, 7-4)

               Bridgewater (12-12, 6-5)

On the Mound

Maritime: Jay Loeffler (W, 2-2): 2 IP | 2 H | 0 R | 1 BB | 2 K

Bridgewater: Christian Loescher (L, 0-1): 3.1 IP | 4 H | 5 R | 5 ER | 5 BB | 3 K

Inside The Numbers

Maritime

• Brett Velzis and Michael Logiudice each had three hits in the game. AJ Pietrafesa and Michael Estrada added two apiece. Tucker Leslie, Jake Quillen, and Aidan Weir all had one hit.
• Velzis drove in six runs in the game. Leslie knocked in four in the win. Estrada had three RBI of his own, and Grady Freeman, Pietrafesa, and Jake Houston all had one RBI.
• Weir and Houston scored three times in the game. Pietrafesa, Estrada, Logiudice, and Quillen all came in to score twice. 
• Pietrafesa hit his fourth home run of the season in the game and Estrada hit his first of the season. Velzis added two more doubles in game two.

Bridgewater

• Scott Emerson, Kevin Lindsay, and Philip Messina all had two hits in the game. Four other Bears had one hit each.
• Benjamin Sepeck drove in three runs on a home run in the seventh inning. Emerson had two RBI and Lindsay and Messina each knocked in one. 
• Emerson scored twice and five other Bears scored once.
• Emerson and Sepeck each had a home run. Lindsay, Ryan Flaherty, and Messina each had a double. 
• Messina had the only stolen base of the game.

How It Happened

The Bears scored first again in game two in the top of the second on a Messina double. They led 1-0 after the top of the second. In the bottom of the second, Pietrafesa tied the game with his fourth home run of the season. Later in the inning, Leslie walked in a run and the Bucs led 2-1.

In the top of the third, Bridgewater tied the game at 2-2 on a Lindsay double that scored Emerson. 

The Bucs failed to score in the bottom of the third but in the bottom of the fourth they struck for four runs. Leslie singled in two runs to make it 4-2 and Velzis doubled to bring in two more giving the Bucs a 6-2 advantage through four.

It was all Bucs in the middle innings as they went on to score seven in the bottom of the fifth inning, their second inning scoring seven runs on the day. Houston walked to bring in the first run. Leslie walked to bring in another. Freeman grounded out and Weir scored from third. Velzis then hit a single through the right side that scored Houston and Estrada capped off the seven-run inning with a three run home run to right. The Bucs led 13-2 after five.

In the top of the sixth, Bridgewater got a couple back on an Emerson two-run home run and the Bucs led by nine, 13-4. In the bottom of the sixth, Velzis hit another double and drove in three runs with the bases loaded to make it 16-4.

In the top of the seventh, pinch hitter Sepeck hit a three-run home run over the left field fence to make the score 16-7. That score would be the eventual final score and the Bucs took the game two win and the conference doubleheader sweep of the Bears.

What's Next

The Bucs will host Salem State on Thursday in a conference game at Hendy Field at 4pm.