WESTFIELD, Mass. – The visiting Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a pair of games to Westfield State University in a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Bud & Jim Hagen Field. Westfield won the first game, 5-3, and completed the sweep with an 8-0 victory in the nightcap.
The host Owls improve to 15-3 on the season with the two wins, while the Bears fall to 8-13.
Game One
In the opener, Westfield struck for four runs in the top of the first, three on a home run from Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.). For Day, the homer marked his team-leading third of the season.
The Owls tacked on a run in the second as Steve Saucier (Auburn, Mass.) doubled, moved to third on Damien Maniscalco's (Branford, Conn.) bunt single, and scored on base it from Zack Graveline (Prospect, Conn.).
Bridgewater got a run back in the top of the fourth on Kyle Suraci's (Clinton, Conn,) pinch-hit RBI single. The Bears then added pair of runs in the seventh to cut the deficit to 5-3. Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) walked to lead off the frame, advanced to third on a double by Luke Tamulevich (Whitman, Mass.) and raced home on Jay Wladkowski's (Norwood, Mass.) RBI ground out. After a strikeout, Colin Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) plated Tamulevich with an RBI single to center. Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) followed with a walk to put the tying run on base, but Owl reliever Trevor Edwards (Amherst, Mass.) fanned the next batter to end the game.
Owls' starter Vincenzo Camera (East Haven, Conn.) earned the win on a planned staff day for the Owls, working four innings, allowing just two hits and one earned run. Camera (2-1) worked around four walks and fanned one. Chris Schoen (Worcester, Mass.) added two scoreless innings of relief before Edwards worked the seventh.
Casey Boudreau (Shrewsbury, Mass.) finished with three hits, including a double, and Maniscalco and Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) each had a pair of hits.
BSU starter Trever Dennett (Kingston, Mass.) took the loss for the Bears. Dennett (1-2) allowed five runs, only one of which was earned, on ten hits. He walked one and struck out three. Tamulevich had pair of doubles and scored a run to lead Bridgewater at the plate.
Game Two
Senior pitcher Nate Langmeier (East Granby, Conn.) tossed a complete game shutout in game two as the Owls completed the sweep with the 8-0 win.
Game two was a pitchers' duel through the first four innings, with the Owls' Langmeier and Bears' Guy Quartarone (Foxborough, Mass.) exchanging goose eggs on the hill.
Quartarone had a no-hitter going into the fourth, then surrendered his first hit when Bryant Dana's (Lynnfield, Mass.) hard chopper back through the box glanced off him. After a visit from the trainer and the coaching staff, Quartarone stayed in and finished the inning, but was forced to come out of the game before throwing a pitch in the fifth.
Quartarone yielded just one hit, walked three and struck out seven in four solid innings of work.
The Owls strung together three hits with a couple of walks and capitalized on a BSU error to plate five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Only two of the five runs were earned due to the defensive miscue. Boudreau was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to plate the first run of the game, while Brett Dooley (Cohasset, Mass.) and Day each connected for two-run singles in the frame.
Boudreau blasted a three-run homer to left field in the bottom of the sixth to extend the Westfield lead to 8-0.
Langmeier (5-0) scattered three hits, walked two and fanned ten in the shutout effort.
Tamulevich, Wladkowski and Josselyn each went 1-for-3 at the plate for the Bears, while Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) walked twice and recorded a sacrifice bunt in three plate appearances.
The two teams will meet again for four more non-conference games next weekend.