BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team hung on for a 7-5 victory over visiting Johnson & Wales University on Friday afternoon at Alumni Park.
The host Bears improve to 11-15 on the season, while the Wildcats fall to 18-10 overall.
Ryan Hayward (Lynn, Mass.) threw eight strong innings to record his second win of the season. Hayward (2-2) allowed just two runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
The Wildcats opened the scoring with a run in the top of the third. With one out, Chris Baldwin (Pawtucket, R.I.) lined a base hit to right-center, stole second and scored on a two-out RBI single to left off the bat of Rob Ballinger (South Kingston, R.I.).
JWU extended the advantage to 2-0 in the third as the first three batters of the inning reached. Ryan Cabral (Scituate, R.I.) walked to open the frame, advanced to second on a base hit by Frank D'Amato (Lincoln, R.I.) and scored on Dave Matthews' (Newtown, Conn.) RBI double. Hayward avoided any further damage by retiring the next three hitters in succession.
The Bears pushed across three unearned runs in the bottom half of the third to take a 3-2 lead. Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.) reached on an error to lead off the inning and moved up a base on a single by Scott O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.). Ryan Feeney (East Bridgewater, Mass.) followed with an RBI single to right which scored Ritchie. O'Brien and Feeney would each move up on an errant throw to the plate. O'Brien scored the second run of the inning on an RBI ground out by Reed Pike (Bellingham, Mass.), and Feeney tagged and scored from third on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Keaghan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.).
Bridgewater tacked on four more runs in the sixth on a bases loaded hit by a pitch, a Drew Gentile (Lynn, Mass.) sacrifice fly and a two run single by Ryan Kelleher (Danvers, Mass.). Johnson & Wales pitching hit three batters in the inning, walked one and allowed three hits as the Bears sent eight men to the plate.
The Wildcats made things interesting in the top of the ninth as they plated three runs off BSU reliever Connor Birch (Bellingham, Mass.). Tom Elkow's (Morganville, N.J.) two-run double cut the deficit to 7-5 and brought the tying run to the plate with one out. Birch, however, retired the next two batters to secure the win.
Kevin Manning (Portsmouth, R.I.) suffered the loss in relief for the Wildcats who used nine pitchers in the game. Manning gave up three unearned runs on two hits and a walk in an inning of work.
Feeney paced the BSU offense as he was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. Kelleher finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.
Mathews led the way for Johnson & Wales as he went 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, one run and an RBI. He was also hit by a pitch.
In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) rival MCLA on Sunday afternoon for a one o'clock doubleheader with the Trailblazers. The Wildcats battle Commonwealth Coast Conference foe Suffolk University on Saturday with game one of the twinbill getting underway at 4:30.