Baseball Drops Doubleheader Set at Bridgewater

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State baseball travelled east to Bridgewater State this afternoon, falling in both games of a MASCAC doubleheader on Saturday afternoon from Alumni Park.

After taking the series opener on Friday at home, the Owls were unable to fend off a fifth inning comeback in game one from the Bears as Bridgewater prevailed 3-2. In game two, a five-run first inning buried the Owls in an early hole, falling by a final of 17-4.

The Owls drop to an even 10-10 in the MASCAC with four conference games remaining while the Bears win another series to improve to 17-2 in conference play and will be the number one seed in the upcoming MASCAC Tournament.

GAME 1

The Owls gained the lead in the top half of the first with Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) lining a 3-1 pitch down the right field line for a RBI double, scoring Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) who began the game with a walk and was sacrificed over to second base on a bunt from Nick Lenfest (Westfield, Mass.).

In the bottom of the third inning, Rylan Secovich led off the inning with a single, then stole second. With an aggressive lead at second, the Owls nearly picked him off at third, but Secovich was able to evade two potential tags to advance up to third with one out. Andre Phaneuf (Westfield, Mass.) was able to strand him 90 feet away, striking out two dangerous hitters in Ryan Flaherty and Joshua Selander to maintain a one-run lead into the fourth.

In the fourth, TJ May (North Granby, Conn.) singled, then with one out, Kaen Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y.) drew a walk, putting two runners on. Colin Ryan (Chelmsford, Mass.) followed and grounded one back up the box to the shortstop, getting the lead runner at second but the throw to turn two was spiked into the dirt, getting far enough away from Selander at first to score May and increase the lead to two runs.

The Bears pulled ahead in the fifth inning with Jayden Espinal singling up the middle followed by a bunt single by Secovich, putting runners on first and second with one out. Cam Beltramini added a third straight hit with a single into left, loading the bases. Flaherty chopped a slow grounder to Lenfest at short who made the putout at second, scoring the first run of the game for Bridgewater. With two down and two on, Selander lined an opposite field double down the left field line, plating the tying and go-ahead runs for a 3-2 Bears lead after five.

Westfield had an opportunity to tie the game in their final at bats in the seventh inning. Connor Benvenuto (New City, N.Y.) singled to center to lead off the inning, then Martin laid down a sacrifice bunt, advancing Benvenuto not only to second, but to third base as he alertly took the extra bag with nobody covering the base. With the tying run 90 feet away, the Owls were unable to bring him in after a pair of ground outs sealed the come-from-behind win for Bridgewater.

Phaneuf was charged with the loss. He did not allow a run through the first four innings but ran into trouble in the fifth where he finished with a line of five innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He walked one and struck out six.

Trey Yesu got the start for Bridgewater and gathered the win, tossing six innings while giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits, walking three and striking out six. CJ Hess threw the final inning to record his second save of the season.

GAME 2

After keeping the Bears' bats in check through the first two games, Bridgewater exploded for 17 runs in the night cap including a five-run first inning which included four walks and two hits. The Owls first run in game two came in the fourth inning on a RBI double from Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) but the Bears had already racked up seven runs through the first three innings.

Bridgewater took advantage of more erratic pitching from the Owls, scoring two runs in the home half of the fourth without registering a hit, putting the game out of reach at 9-1 entering the final three innings. Bridgewater tacked on three runs in the fifth and five more in the sixth.

Westfield loaded the bases in the sixth and scored three times in the frame, the first on a wild pitch, then a sacrifice fly from Tyler Pegram (Fountain, N.C.) followed by a run-scoring single from Ryan.

Selander and Jamie Luna both had four RBI for the Bears with Selander adding three hits. Bridgewater drew nine walks as a lineup.

Sean McNamara (Lowell, Mass.) took the loss for the Owls. Chase Beach was the winning pitcher, throwing five innings while allowing one run on three hits with six punchouts.

Westfield State (13-22) enters the final week of the regular season with four games remaining and will begin with a rubber match against Mass. Maritime at home on Tuesday at 3:30 P.M. as the Owls jostle for postseason positioning in the league standings.