BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Bridgewater State University advanced to the championship round of the 2022 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament as the top-seeded Bears posted a 14-7 victory over #3 seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Friday afternoon at Alumni Park.
The Bears (29-13) will play either Mass. Maritime or #5 seed Salem State University on Saturday afternoon at three o'clock in the championship round. The Buccaneers (24-16) will take on the Vikings in an elimination game on Saturday morning at 11.
Junior righthander Matthew Seavey (North Attleboro, Mass.) tossed seven strong innings and junior third baseman Joey Molis (Cumberland, R.I.) went 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, two runs and a career-high six RBI to lead the Bears to the victory.
Seavey (7-2) allowed three runs, only one of which was earned, on six hits with no walks and five strikeouts as he picked up his seventh win of the season and lowered his ERA to 1.58.
Maritime got on the board with a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first inning. The Buccaneers loaded the bases with nobody out on a double, a hit by pitch and a bunt single. Seavey fanned the next batter and induced a soft line out to first before back-to-back infield errors gave the visitors a 2-0 lead.
Bridgewater answered with three runs in the home half of the first highlighted by a two-run triple off the bat of Molis. The Bears loaded the bases with nobody out on a base hit and back-to-back walks. A 3-2-3 double play groundout cut down a run at the play, but Molis followed with the clutch triple to deep right field to tie the game. Sophomore catcher Eric Longley (Mansfield, Mass.) then gave the hosts a 3-2 lead with an RBI single to right.
The Bears tacked on a run in the third to extend the lead to 4-2 on a Molis RBI single.
Bridgewater then sent 11 batters to the plate in an eight-run fourth inning to make it a 12-2 game. The key hits in the frame were a two-run double by senior designated hitter Jonathan O'Donnell (Hull, Mass.) and a Molis three-run blast over the left field fence. The home run marked the second of the season and career for the Bears' first baseman.
An RBI single by sophomore left fielder Joe Frechette (Plymouth, Mass.) in the fifth extended the BSU lead to 13-2.
The Bucs scored a run in the seventh on an RBI single by left fielder Alex Schlapak (Dover, N.H.) and added three more in the eighth, including a solo home run by sophomore third baseman Brett Velzis (Cypress, Texas), to cut the deficit to 13-6. The home run marked the team-leading fifth of the season for Velzis.
The Bears got one back in the bottom of the eighth as sophomore right fielder Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) singled, stole second and came around on sophomore designated hitter Kyle Suraci's (Clinton, Conn.) RBI single.
A sacrifice fly off the bat of sophomore first baseman AJ Pietrafesa (Harwinton, Conn.) in the ninth accounted for the final score of 14-7.
Bridgewater State banged out 16 hits on the afternoon with Molis and freshman second baseman Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) contributing three hits apiece. Emerson went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI. Wladkowski (2-3, 2BB, SB, 3R) and O'Donnell (2-3 2RBI) also finished with multiple hits for the Bears while Frechette (1-3, 2BB, 3R, RBI) reached safely three times.
Schlapak went 2-for-5 with a double a run and two RBI to pace the Maritime 11-hit attack, while junior right fielder Chris Perito (East Falmouth, Mass.) singled twice in five at bats and scored two runs.
The Buccaneers left 11 runners on base while the clutch-hitting Bears stranded just four.
Freshman righthander Hunter Dean (Plymouth, Mass.) suffered the loss on the hill for MMA. Dean (5-2) gave up ten runs (nine earned) on nine hits over three-plus innings with four walks. Sophomore righty Nolan Kennedy (Auburn, Mass.) worked the last five innings for the visitors and allowed four runs on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
