BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team captured its sixth Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Tournament title and first since 2012 as the top-seeded Bears downed #5 seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy, 7-4, in the championship round of the 2022 MASCAC Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.

Bridgewater will now advance to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 15th time in the history of the program and first since 2012. The NCAA Division III Baseball Selection Show will air Monday, May 16th at noon on NCAA.com.

The Bears improve to 30-13 on the season as they reached the 30-win plateau for the fifth time in team history (1992, 1996, 2000, 2012). Bridgewater also captured the MASCAC Tournament title in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2011 and 2012.

BSU senior righthander David Kerns (East Cambridge, Mass.) battled through 7 2/3 innings to pick up his MASCAC-leading eighth win of the season. Kerns (8-0) allowed four runs (two earned) on 11 hits with a walk and eight strikeouts. He threw 121 pitches including 83 for strikes. Kerns set the Bears' single-season record for consecutive decisions without a loss eclipsing the previous mark of seven set by BSU Hall of Famer Kevin Cadres in 2000.

The Buccaneers snapped a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning. Senior catcher Michael Doyle (Boston, Mass.) led off the frame with a home run just inside the left field foul pole. Sophomore third baseman Brett Velzis (Cypress, Texas) kept the inning going with a base hit and came around to score following back-to-back two-out singles by junior left fielder John Tropea (East Sandwich, Mass.) and sophomore first baseman AJ Pietrefesa (Harwinton, Conn.).

Back-to-back doubles by sophomore left fielder Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) and senior designated hitter Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull, Mass.) to open the bottom of the fourth got the Bears on the board. Two-outs later, sophomore catcher Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) knotted the game at 2-2 with an RBI triple to the gap in right-centerfield.

The Bears took a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth on a Frechette RBI single and a fielder's choice RBI ground out by O'Donnell.

Maritime capitalized on a BSU error to push across a pair of unearned runs in the top of the sixth. Senior centerfielder A.J. Luciano (Lynn, Mass.) plated a run with an RBI ground out while senior right fielder Alex Schlapak (Dover, N.H.) tied the game with an RBI single.

The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh inning. Freshman second baseman Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) was hit by a pitch with one out and advanced to second on a ground out and to third on a throwing error. Frechette then reached on an infield single plating Emerson with the go ahead run.

Bridgewater tacked on two more runs in the eighth to extend the lead to 7-4. Junior third baseman Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) walked to lead of the frame, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third on Pigeon's base hit. Senior third baseman Patrick Cashin (Franklin, Mass.) brought home Molis with a perfectly executed squeeze bunt and sophomore shortstop Kevin Lindsay (East Bridgewater, Mass.) followed with a RBI double to give the Bears the three-run cushion.

Junior closer Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros (Taunton, Mass.) worked around a leadoff walk in the ninth to record his team and MASCAC-leading seventh save of the season. Freshman lefthander Shane Handrahan (Raynham, Mass.) retired the only batter he faced as he came on with the tying run at second base with two outs in the top of the eighth.

Frechette paced Bridgewater's ten-hit attack as he went 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, a run and two RBI. O'Donnell (2-4, 2B, R, 2RBI), Pigeon (2-4, R, RBI), and Lindsay (2-4, 2B, R, RBI) also recorded multiple hits for the Bears.

Sophomore righthander Justin Brown (Chesapeake, Va.) worked the first five innings on the mound for Maritime but did not factor in the decision. Brown, who was pitching on just two days rest, allowed four runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts.

Schlapak (2-5, RBI) and Tropea (2-4) each finished with multiple hits for the Buccaneers.

BSU graduate righthander Matt Josselyn (Hanson, Mass.) was named the tournament MVP. Josselyn tossed a complete game, two-hit shutout in the Bears' 3-0 quarterfinal round win over Salem State on Thursday.