BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State University advanced to the semifinal round of the 2023 Little East Conference (LEC) Men's Tennis Tournament as the fourth-seed Bears posted a 5-0 opening round victory over #5 UMass Boston on Tuesday afternoon at the Rosen Memorial Tennis Courts.

The Bears (5-8) will travel to Salem State University on Thursday afternoon to take on the top-seeded Vikings in the tournament semifinals at 3:45. The Beacons end the season with an overall record of 2-9.

Bridgewater State led 3-0 after doubles play. The freshmen tandem of Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and Ryan Herbert (Taunton, Mass.) got the Bears on the board with an 8-0 win at the third flight, while senior Kendan Ziegler (Hadley, N.Y.) and sophomore Matthew Krampf (Littleton, Mass.) teamed up for an 8-5 decision at number one. Graduate student Sean Nutter (Mattapoisett, Mass.) and senior Charles Fiske (Taunton, Mass.) outlasted the UMB second flight pairing of sophomore Melvin Nina (Boston, Mass.) and freshman Maxwell Dill (Glen Ellyn, Ill.), 8-7 (7-5), to complete the doubles sweep.

Fiske breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 straight set win at the fourth singles flight and Krampf secured the match-ended fifth point with a 6-2, 6-0 straight set triumph at number five.

The remaining singles matches were left unfinished with Nutter and Beatrice each up a set at the second (6-4, 1-1) and third (6-2, 0-3) flights, respectively, while BSU freshman Tyler Barros (Somerset, Mass.) and UMB rookie Ryan Tran split the first two sets at number six, 0-6, 6-1. UMass junior Patrick Ramos (American Canyon, Calif.) led 6-3, 1-0 in the battle of the top-flight singles players.