BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The visiting Curry College baseball team rallied for a 6-5 non-conference victory over Bridgewater State University on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Park.
The Colonels improve to 8-14-1 on the season, while the host Bears fall to 8-12.
Curry trailed 5-3 after six innings of play but scored a run in the seventh and two more in the ninth to record the come-from-behind win.
Bridgewater got on the board with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Back-to-back singles by freshmen Liam Bell (Wells, Maine) and Ruben Gonzalez (Stoughton, Mass.) put runners on first and second with nobody out. After a double play ground out, junior Jonathan Livolsi (Bridgewater, Mass.) lined a double into right field to plate Bell with the first run of the game.
The Bears tacked on a run in the second as sophomore Matt McDonald (Randolph, Mass.) led off the inning with a base hit, advanced to third on back-to-back ground outs, and scored on an infield single by junior Alexander Pappas (Lakeville, Mass.).
Bridgewater made it a 3-0 game in third. Livolsi worked a two-out walk and scored all the way from first on senior Dominic Precopio's (Framingham, Mass.) long double to left-center.
Curry tied it at 3-3 with three unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning as the Colonels took advantage of three BSU errors in the frame.
The Bears answered with a pair of runs in the home half of the fourth to reclaim the lead. Back-to-back singles by senior Gavin Sparkman (Beverly, Mass.) and sophomore Patrick Hagerty (Stoughton, Mass.) followed by a sacrifice bunt put runners on second and third with one out. Bell then rifled a base hit through the hole between third and short to drive in bother runners and give the hosts a 5-3 advantage.
The Colonels cut the deficit to 5-4 with a run on the seventh. Senior Jack Kallinich (Madison, Conn.) walked with one out, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score on an RBI bloop-single to right-center off the bat of senior Michael Strizzi (Williamstown, Mass.).
Curry loaded the bases with two outs in the top of the eighth, but BSU freshman reliever Chris Hanna (Kingston, N.H.) induced a harmless one-hopper back to the mound to get out of the jam.
The Colonels rallied for a pair of runs in the top of the ninth to take a 6-5 lead. Freshman Julian Jaume (Brooklyn, N.Y.) got the rally started with a lead-off walk, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on freshman Jason Leonard's (Dedham, Mass.) game-tying RBI double to left-center. Following a walk to junior Jared Keller (Oxford, Conn.), classmate Evan Leveroni (Sandown, N.H.) smacked an RBI base hit in the hole between third and short to plate Leonard with the go-ahead run.
Sophomore Zachary Wensley (Raynham, Mass.) worked around a hit batter in the bottom of the ninth to record his first save of the season for Curry.
Junior Tyler Nadeau (Somerset, Mass.) pitched four shutout innings of relief to pick up his first win of the season for the Colonels, Nadeau (1-0) gave up just two hits and a walk over four innings with a pair of strikeouts.
Curry freshman started Ryan Williams (Waltham, Mass.) was pulled after four innings as he gave up five runs on nine hits and a walk.
Leonard paced the Curry offense as he went 2-for-5 with the game-tying double and scored two runs including the game-winner.
The Colonels left 11 runs on base.
Sophomore Trever Dennett (Kingston, Mass.) got the start on the mound for Bridgewater State but did not factor in the decision. Dennett allowed four runs, only one of which was earned, on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts.
Hanna (0-2) suffered the loss for the Bears as he allowed two runs on two hits and two walks in 1 1/3 innings.
The BSU defense committed six errors in the game which led to three unearned runs.
Bell highlighted the Bears' 11-hit attack as he went 2-for-5 with a run and two RBI. Gonzalez (2-for-5) also finished with multiple hits for the hosts, while Livolsi was 1-for-2 at the plate with an RBI double, two walks and a run. Pappas went 1-for-2 with the RBI single and sacrifice bunt.
Bridgewater stranded six runners on the afternoon.
In upcoming action, the Bears travel to Fitchburg State University on Friday afternoon for a 3:30 MASCAC game with the Falcons. The Colonels entertain non-conference foe Lesley University on Thursday afternoon at three o'clock.