WESTFIELD, Mass. – The Westfield State baseball team finished the regular season with a sweep of Bridgewater State in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader from Alumni Park in Bridgewater, Mass. on Saturday.
The Owls pulled through in game one with a 3-1 extra-innings victory before piling up double digit runs in a 10-5 game two win to complete the season sweep of the Bears after taking the first contest at Westfield by a score of 8-7.
The Owls solidified their positioning in the MASCAC Tournament, earning the third overall seed after completing the regular season with a 13-8 conference record and a 19-18 overall mark. Bridgewater State falls to 15-6 in the MASCAC and 29-11 overall.
GAME 1
A pitcher's duel was the story of the opening game with both teams stranding runners on base throughout the contest. The Bears struck for the opening run of the game as Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) drew a walk that led to Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.) crossing the plate.
Westfield found the equalizer in the sixth inning as Robison Guerrero Baez (Dominican Republic) knotted the game at one apiece with a sacrifice fly.
Bridgewater loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, forcing the Owls to call upon Joe Espinola (Plymouth, Mass.) who escaped the jam by inducing a pop up on the infield and then a ground out.
The game went into extra innings where Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) broke the deadlock in the ninth, belting his second homer of the season to give the Owls a 2-1 lead. With two outs in the frame, Dan Burnett (Granville, Mass.) and Ethan Day (Meriden, Conn.) tallied consecutive doubles with Day slugging home Burnett to boost the lead to two runs.
Billy Casey (Dedham, Mass.) entered the ninth for a save opportunity and converted on his first career save after stranding two runners on base to secure the opening-game victory.
Ryan Donahue (Medfield, Mass.) started for the Owls, allowing one run on one hit across 3.1 innings. He walked six and fanned five. Colton Vasseur (Colchester, Conn.) and Espinola supplied the bulk of the middle innings with Espinola recording his fourth win of the season after tossing 2.2 innings.
Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) worked around ten hits through 5.2 innings, giving up one run and striking out five. Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) took the loss after allowing both runs in the ninth.
GAME 2
The Owls scored the first seven of the first eight runs in game two with Nolan Florence (Chicopee, Mass.) capping a strong day at the plate with a two-run homer in the fifth to open up a 7-1 Owls lead. He finished with three hits, while also scoring twice.
Nick Marshall (Reading, Mass.) also played a key role in the game two scoring barrage, totaling three hits as well and picking up an RBI in the fourth inning.
The Bears cut the deficit to four runs in the fifth after Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) and Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) tacked on RBIs. However, the Owls responded in the top half of the six by posting a three-run frame. Day roped a double to left to bring in Marshall to begin the scoring. Then after a Trey Faulkner (Springfield, Mass.) sac fly that plated the Owls second run of the inning, Neidel continued his effective day at the plate by tallying the Owls tenth run of the contest on a single to left to put the game out of reach.
Luke Mathewson (Eastford, Conn.) picked up his fourth win of the season after logging five innings, allowing three runs on four hits. David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) was saddled with the loss after surrendering seven runs (four earned) on nine in five innings of work. He walked three and struck out four.
Westfield State will enter the MASCAC Tournament next week as the Owls will play in an elimination game on Thursday with the opponent and location to be announced later in the day tomorrow.