BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The visiting Worcester State University softball team swept Bridgewater State University in a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.
The Lancers won the first game 7-5, and completed the sweep with a 7-5 victory in the nightcap.
Worcester State improves to 5-8 on the season and 3-1 in the MASCAC, while Bridgewater State falls to 7-13 overall and 1-3 in conference play.
Game One
In the opener, Worcester State rallied for three runs in the top of the seventh inning to come away with the 7-5 victory.
Becky Brandeberry (Phillipston, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with two runs and three RBI to highlight the Lancers' nine-hit attack, while Katie Polselli (Charlton, Mass.) was 2-for-3 at the plate with a double, a walk and two RBI.
Dakota Smith-Porter (Montague, Mass.) picked up the win in the circle for the Lancers in the complete game effort. Smith-Porter (2-4) allowed five runs (three earned) on 11 hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
Courtney Gouveia (Taunton, Mass.) went 2-for-3 with a double, a run and an RBI to lead the way for Bridgewater State, while Kacie Cavalho (Fairhaven, Mass.) singled twice in four at bats and scored two run. Shannon Grindle (Halifax, Mass.) went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk and two RBI.
The Bears pushed across three runs in the third inning to take a 3-0 lead. A suicide squeeze bunt by Alexandra Ruprecht (Kingston, Mass.) plated Carvalho with the first run of the frame while a two-run double by Grindle made it a 3-0 game.
The Lancers took a 4-3 lead with a four-run fifth on a two-run single by Brandeberry and a two-run homer off the bat of Olivia Larson (Marlborough, Mass.). The home run marked the first of Larson's collegiate career.
The Bears reclaimed the lead in the sixth, 5-4, on a Gouveia RBI double and an RBI single by Madison Synan (Quincy, Mass.).
In the decisive top of the seventh, the Lancers took advantage of a key BSU to score three unearned runs. Branbeberry tied the game with an RBI single and Poselli followed with a two-run double.
Kaitlyn Shaw (Lakeville, Mass.) suffered the loss in relief for Bridgewater State. Shaw allowed three unearned runs on three hits over two innings with a pair of strikeouts. Mackenzie Holt (Gilroy, Calif.) worked the first five innings and gave up four runs on six hits with five walks.
Game Two
The Lancers rallied again in the top of the seventh inning, this time scoring four runs, to complete the sweep with another 7-5 win.
Sydney Despres (Sterling, Mass.) led Worcester State to victory as she went 4-for-4 with a home run and two RBI. Kaiulani Ennis (Swansea, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with a double, two runs and an RBI, while Brandeberry (2-for-4, RBI) and Ashley Lynch (Shrewsbury, Mass.) also finished with two hits apiece. Lynch singled twice, scored a run and drove in one.
The Lancers banged out 13 hits in the game.
Rachel Frisch (Worcester, Mass.) tossed 5 1/3 innings of relief to pick up her first win of the season. Frisch (1-3) allowed two runs on six hits with a walk.
Ruprecht led the Bears' ten-hit attack with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate. She also drove in a run. Jenny Heller (Taunton, Mass.) went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Grindle (1-for-2, 2 BB, run) and Synan (1-for-2, 2 BB, RBI) both reached safely in three out of four plate appearances.
After Despres homered in the top of the first, the Bears answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning on a bases loaded walk to Synan and an RBI single by Heller. An RBI single by Ruprecht in the second and a two-run single off the bat of Gouveia in the third staked BSU to a 5-1 lead.
Ennis double home a run in the top of the fifth and came around to score on Lynch's RBI single to cut the deficit to 5-3.
The Lancers then strung together five hits in the decisive seventh inning to plate four runs. Despres, Smith-Porter and Brandeberry all rapped RBI hits in the frame while the final run came across on an RBI ground out.
Deianeira Underhill (Rochester, Mass.) was tagged with the loss in relief for Bridgewater State as she gave up four runs on six hits in 2 1/3 innings of work. Shaw got the start for Bears and allowed three runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
In upcoming action, the Bears host Roger Williams University in a single game on Wednesday afternoon at four. The Lancers travel to WPI on Tuesday for a doubleheader with game one getting underway at four.