SALEM, Mass. -- The visiting Bridgewater State University baseball team dropped a pair of games to Salem State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field.
The host Vikings won the first game, 11-3, and completed the sweep with a 10-8 victory in the nightcap.
Salem State improves to 11-5 (2-0 MASCAC) on the season, while Bridgewater State falls to 4-9 (0-2 MASCAC). The doubleheader marked the conference opener for both teams.
Game One
In the opener, Salem scored nine runs over the first two innings as the Vikings cruised to the 11-3 win.
Matt Marquez (Salem, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a stolen base and three RBI to highlight the SSU offense. Joe White (Bellingham, Mass.) also recorded multiple hits for the Vikings as he went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
Stephen Keskinidis (Stoneham, Mass.) picked up the win on the mound for the hosts. Keskinidis (3-0) allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings with a walk and three strikeouts. Ed Duran (Salem, Mass.) closed out the game for the Vikings, allowing a run on three hits and a walk in 2 1/3 innings.
Connor Birch (Bellingham, Mass.) took the loss for the Bears, going four innings while giving up ten runs (seven earned) on seven hits with four walks. Birch (1-2) also hit three batters and fanned five. Alex McGrath (Bridgewater, Mass.) gave up a run on a hit and walk with four strikeouts in three innings of relief.
Matt Levasseur (Milton, Mass.) went 3-for-4 to lead the Bears' ten-hit attack. Drew Gentile (Lynn, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a triple and two runs scored, while Ryan Kelleher (Danvers, Mass.) finished with two hits in four at bats.
Game Two
Salem State jumped on top early again in game two, scoring six runs in the first. White and Marquez each had two-run singles in the inning. The Vikings extended the lead to 9-0 in the third on an RBI double by RJ Warnock (North Reading, Mass.) and a double by Pat Fitzgerald (Auburn, Mass.).
A two-run single off the bat of Levasseur got the Bears on the board in the third. The Vikings answered with a Jose Cedano (Lawrence, Mass.) RBI double in the fourth to make it a 10-2 game.
Bridgewater continued to chip away at the deficit, plating a pair of runs in the fourth on a two-run double by Kelleher. The Bears scored three times in the fifth after RBI's by Kevin Bresciani (Hopedale, Mass.), Gentile and Lewis Robinson (New Britain, Conn.) to cut the deficit to 10-7.
Levasseur added an RBI double in the sixth to make the score 10-8, but Brock Riley (Lowell, Mass.), who went 2 2/3 innings to earn his third save of the season, closed out the side in the seventh. Riley gave up a run on two hits with four strikeouts.
Steve Leavitt (Peabody, Mass.) cruised through the first two innings for Salem, but ended up allowing seven runs on ten hits over 4 1/3 innings of work. Leavitt (2-1), who still managed to pick up the win, also walked two and struck out one.
Jacob Robbins (Middleboro, Mass.) took the loss for the Bears allowing ten runs on nine hits in six innings of work. Robbins (1-1) also hit three batters, walked three and fanned two.
Levasseur went 3-for-4 at the plate in game two with a run and three RBI to highlight the Bears' 12-hit attack. He finished with six hits in the twinbill.
Robinson and Alex Carey (East Bridgewater, Mass.) also finished with multiple hits for Bridgewater State. Robinson went 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Carey was 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
Notes: The Bears are off until next Wednesday afternoon when they travel to Eastern Connecticut State University for a four o'clock non-conference game with the Warriors.