MANSFIELD, Conn. -- The Bridgewater State College baseball team dropped a 16-7 decision to Eastern Connecticut State University this afternoon at the Eastern Baseball Stadium in Mansfield, Connecticut.
Sophomore second baseman Travis Bass (West Hartford) and sophomore shortstop Melvin Castillo (Danbury) each had four hits and sophomore centerfielder John Parke (Middlefield) extended his hitting streak to 20 games for the Warriors who improved to 17-10-1 on the season.
A winner of seven of its last eight games, Eastern sent ten batters to the plate and scored five runs on five hits in the third, and added four runs in the fourth on five more hits to move out to an 11-1 lead after four innings. Bridgewater (14-9) got six runs back in the top of the fifth on five hits, but the Warriors tacked on three more in the sixth to secure the victory. Bridgewater has lost two straight after winning four in a row.
The teams combined to use nine pitchers in this non-conference game which has relatively little post-season implications, most of the pitchers having seen relatively little action this season. The Warriors collected 18 hits off four Bridgewater pitchers.
Bass, a first-year transfer from Castleton State, had his first four-hit game of the season to raise his average to .400, and Castillo matched that figure to up his average to .365. Bass drove in three runs with a single in the second and a two-run home run in the sixth. Castillo scored three runs.
Parke hit safely in his 20th consecutive game witih a single in the five-run third and also added an infield single in the eighth. Parke has had at least two hits in 14 of those 20 games. Freshman righfielder Jim Schult (Wappingers Falls, NY) drove in four runs in the game, three coming on his first career home run - a three-run shot with two out in the fourth. Junior DH Shawn Gilblair (Windham) had three hits, scored three runs and drove in three runs with a three-run home run in the third.
Sophomore righty Matt Fontaine (Cranston, RI) gained his third win against a loss by pitching the first two innings. He fanned three without a walk. In his collegiate debut, freshman lefty Dan Glabicky (Marblehead, MA) struck out six batters in the final two innings. Glabicky struck out the side in the eighth while walking one. In the ninth, he got a ground ball for the first out, then struck out three batters. One batter reached on a wild pitch after fanning.
Bridgewater leadoff batter Mark Claffey (Bellingham, MA) reached safely three times on a single, double and by error, and scored twice. Jarrett Mooney (North Attleboro, MA) also had two hits and scored a run.