Softball Drops Pair At Bridgewater State

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader with Westfield State University on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park. Bridgewater won the opener, 6-1, and completed the sweep with a 14-2 victory in five innings in game two.

The Bears improve to 8-7-1 on the season as they extended their winning streak to six games. The Owls fall to 8-12 on the year with the pair of setbacks.

Game One

Kelley Reichert (Milford, Mass.) picked up the win in relief as she did not allow a run in 3 2/3 innings of work. Reichert scatted four hits, walked one and fanned six.

The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the first as Megan Sharon (East Longmeadow, Mass.) singled to lead off the frame, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, to third on a ground out and scored on Madison Synan's (Quincy, Mass.) RBI single.

The Owls answered with a run in the top of the second. Alyssa Clark (Uxbridge, Mass.) walked to lead off the inning, stole second and raced home on Jackie Reynolds' (Middleboro, Mass.) RBI single.

Bridgewater pushed across what proved to be the winning run in the bottom of the third as Emma Healy (Plymouth, Mass.) led off the frame with a base hit, stole second and advanced to third on a ground out. Synan then plated Healy with a sacrifice fly to give the hosts a 2-1 lead.

An RBI single by Sharon and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Healy in the fourth extended the lead to 4-1.

Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.) singled home a run in the fifth and later scored on Kerrin McLaughlin's (Haverhill, Mass.) sacrifice fly to cap off the scoring.

Sharon (2-4, R, RBI), Synan (2-2, R, 2RBI), Ruprecht (2-3, R, RBI) and McLaughlin (2-2, R, RBI, SB) each notched two hits in  the opener to pace the Bears' 11-hit attack.

Jess Chenard (Auburn, Mass.) singled twice in three at bats to lead the way for Westfield.

Laura Hatch (Middleboro, Mass.) got the start in the circle for the Bears and allowed one run on two hits with a walk and a strikeout over 3 1/3 innings.

Emily Arredondo (Woburn, Mass.) gave up six runs (four earned) on 11 hits in the setback for the Owls. Arredondo (3-6) did not issue a walk and fanned three.

Game Two

Reichert tossed four solid innings and the BSU offense exploded for 14 runs on 12 hits as the Bears completed the sweep with a 14-2 mercy rule five-inning victory in game two.

Reichert (8-5) scattered four hits, walked two and fanned four as she picked up her sixth straight win.

Ruprecht belted a three-run homer over the left field fence to stake the Bears to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. The home run marked the first of the season for Ruprecht and the fifth of her career.

Bridgewater sent nine batters to the plate in a five-run second inning. The Bears loaded the bases with two outs on a base hit by Kim Scanlon (Medford, Mass.) and back-to-back walks to Healy and Dana. Synan followed with a two-run single with Dana also scoring on the play as a result of a Westfield fielding error. After a walk to Ruprecht, Morgan Cournoyer (Burrillville, R.I.) cracked a two-run double to the gap in left-centerfield to make it an 8-0 game.

The Bears tacked on an unearned run in third. Sharon tripled with two outs and scored when Molly Thibaudeau (Lincoln, R.I.) reached on an error.

After the Owls got on the board with an RBI bunt single by Skylar Dutra (Mashpee, Mass.), Bridgewater put the game well out of reach with a five-run fourth inning. The Bears sent 11 batters to the plate and took advantage of a pair of Westfield errors in the frame as four of the five runs were unearned. Reichert and Scanlon rapped RBI singles in the inning while Dana connected for a two-run base knock to round out the scoring for the hosts.

An RBI double by Farrah Adam (West Springfield, Mass.) in the top of the fifth accounted for the final tally of 14-2.

Dana (2-3, BB, 2R, 2RBI), Synan (2-2, BB, 2R, 2RBI), Ruprecht (2-3, HR, BB, 2R, 3RBI), Cournoyer (2-3, 2B, R, 2RBI) and Scanlon (2-3, R, RBI) all finished with two hits in the nightcap.

Adam reached safely in all three plate appearances as she went 2-for-2 with a double, walk, run and RBI to highlight the Westfield offense. Clark (2-3) also recorded two hits for the Owls.

Brenna Welch (Halifax, Mass.) suffered the loss in the circle for Westfield as she gave up 14 runs (nine earned) on 12 hits over 3 2/3 innings. Welch (2-5) walked three and struck out three.

 The two team will meet again in a non-conference doubleheader at BSU's Alumni Park next Friday afternoon at three o'clock