WESTFIELD, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team closed out the 2018 season with a pair of setbacks against Westfield State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon.
Host Westfield won both games by identical scores of 3-2. The Owls improve to 21-14-1 on the year and 10-4 in the MASCAC, while the visiting Bears end the season with an overall record of 5-22 (1-13 MASCAC).
Game One
In the opener, Owls' starter John Gegetskas won his seventh game against just one loss on the season. Gegetskas allowed two runs (one earned) on seven hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Jake Gibb belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the fourth inning to give Westfield a 3-0 lead.
Bridgewater pushed across a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning with two outs on a wild pitch and an Owl miscue, The Bears, however, left the tying run on base as Gegetskas fanned the final batter of the game.
Connor Birch suffered the loss on the mound for the Bears despite pitching well for the third straight outing. Birch (1-4) gave up three unearned runs on five hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
Matt Levasseur (2-for-4) and Dominic Precopio (2-for-3, run) finished with two hits apiece for Bridgewater State.
Game Two
Jamie Butler delivered pinch-hit a walk off base hit in the bottom of the seventh inning to give Westfield State the 3-2 win and a sweep of the twinbill.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of John Lippincott in the bottom of the fourth inning staked the Owls to a 1-0 lead. The Bears answered in the top of the fifth on Precopio's two-run single.
Alex Lafayette knotted the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the fifth when he blasted a solo shot over the left field fence.
Nate Marshall picked up the win in relief for Westfield State as he tossed a scoreless seventh inning. Marshall (1-3) gave up a pair of hits in the frame but avoided any damage. Nate Barnes went the first five innings for the Owls and allowed two runs on four hits with a pair of strikeouts.
Jacob Robbins got the start on the mound for the Bears in game two and worked the first five innings. Robbins gave up two runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts. Colin Josselyn (1-3) was tagged with the loss in relief as he allowed a run on four hits and a walk in an inning and a third.
Precopio went 2-for-3 with two RBI, while Kevin Bresciani (2-for-3, run) also finished with multiple hits for Bridgewater State.
BSU skipped Rick Smith wrapped up his 25-year run as the Bears' head coach with an overall record of 550-376-5 (.593). Smith is the all-time winningest coach in Bridgewater State history.