BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State baseball team claimed its second straight Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament title and fifth overall as the top-seeded Bears downed number four Salem State, 10-1, in the championship round on Sunday afternoon at Alumni Park.
Bridgewater will now advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the second straight season and for the 14th time in the history of the program. The Bears improve to 30-13 on the season as they reached the 30-win plateau for the fourth time in team history (1992, 1996, 2000, 2012).
Sophomore Andy Sadoski (Harwich, Mass.) gave the Bears a third straight outstanding performance on the mound as he improved to 8-1 on the season. Sadoski worked 7 1/3 innings allowing just one run on five hits with a pair of walks and two strikeouts. He induced 15 ground outs and threw 117 pitches, 74 of which were for strikes.
Sean Riley (Fairhaven, Mass.) captured tournament Most Valuable Player honors as he batted .333 (4-for-12) during the tournament with a home run, a double, three runs scored and three RBI.
Riley broke a 1-1 tie in the fifth inning of Sunday's tournament finale as he drove in Tory Buck (Shelburne Falls, Mass.) from second with an RBI single to right. Buck had singled to lead off the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Bridgewater opened the scoring in the second on back-to-back singles by Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.) and Trevor Lawson (Easton, Mass.) followed, two outs later, by an RBI infield single off the bat of Buck.
Salem tied it in the top of the fifth with the first and only run allowed by Bridgewater State in three games at the tournament. Bill Cataldo (Reading, Mass.) doubled to deep right with one out and scored one batter later on an RBI single by Ethan Trowt (Beverly, Mass.).
Bridgewater would break the game wide open with an eight-run eighth inning. The Bears took advantage of two Salem miscues in the frame which led to four of the eight runs being unearned. David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) highlighted the inning with a two-run single while Buck and Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.) both added RBI singles and Craig Stewart (Brockton, Mass.) walked with the bases loaded.
Bryant Warner (Harwich, Mass.) picked up his second save of the season as he recorded the final five outs. Warner came on with one out in the top of eighth with runners on first and second and Bridgewater nursing a one-run lead. He got out of the jam with a strikeout and a routine grounder to short.
Buck went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI to lead the Bears' 11-hit attack. Pierce (2-4, run, 2 RBI) and Williams (2-4, run) added two hits apiece.
Cory Collins (Winthrop, Mass.) suffered the loss on the hill for Salem as he went seven plus innings. Collins (3-2) was charged with three runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts.
The Vikings (31-12-1) made four errors in the game after committing just two over their first three games of the tournament.
Notes: Riley, Pierce, Costa and John Garabedian (Mansfield, Mass.) all tied the Bears' single-season record for games played with 43....Sadoski's eight wins ties him with five other players for the second highest single-season total in BSU baseball history.