BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Behind the outstanding pitching of junior Tracey Sanko (Windsor, CT) and senior Jamie Ducinski (Duxbury, MA), the Bridgewater State College softball team swept a doubleheader with visiting MCLA this afternoon at Alumni Park in Bridgewater.  The Bears posted a 4-0 victory in the opener and completed the sweep with a 9-3 win in game two.

 

Bridgewater State improves to 14-18 overall and 6-4 in the MASCAC with the pair of wins, while MCLA slips to 11-21 on the season and 3-7 in conference play.

 

Sanko (3-1) was impressive in the 4-0 game one victory as she hurled six shutout innings, allowing just one hit while walking one and striking out a career high 11 batters.

 

The Bears broke a scoreless tie with a run in the fourth inning as freshman Jennifer Shaw (Brockton, MA) belted a one-out triple to centerfield and scored on an RBI ground out off the bat of fellow rookie Brianna Strecker (Waterford, CT).

 

Bridgewater tacked on three more runs in the sixth as Shaw (2-for-3, 2 runs) again got things started with a leadoff single. After a walk to junior Penny King (Hanover, MA) put runners on first and second, senior Kaitlin Morelli (Milford, MA) gave BSC a 2-0 lead with a pinch hit single scoring Shaw from second and sending King to third. King would come around to score when sophomore Michaela Ferreira (Fall River, MA) reach on an error.  Sophomore Stephanie Burns (North Attleboro, MA) followed with an RBI single to left plating Morelli with the Bears' third run of the inning.

 

Ducinski would come on to pitch a scoreless seventh inning to secure the win for the Bears.

 

Sophomore Hadley Ameen (North Adams, MA) suffered the loss in the circle for MCLA.  Ameen (8-11) allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings with three walks and three strikeouts.

 

In game two, Ducinski came on in relief of starter Meghan Dunn (Colchester, CT) with one out in the first and the Bears trailing 3-0.  Ducinski promptly shut down the Trailblazers the rest of the way as she threw 6 2/3 innings of no-hit ball with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts.

 

Bridgewater answered MCLA's three-run first by scoring six times in the bottom half of the inning. Sanko started the rally with a leadoff triple to centerfield and scored on sophomore Jordan McDermott's (East Bridgewater,  MA)  infield single.  After a double by senior Lauren Cucinotta (Franklin, MA), Shaw knocked in Ferreira from third with an infield base hit.  Senior Meghan Noyes (Stoughton, MA) then drove in Cucinotta with the game-tying run on a sacrifice fly to left with Shaw being cut down trying to advance to third on the throw home. 

 

Junior Heather McPherson (Mansfield, MA) kept the first inning rally going with a single up the middle and King followed with a walk to put two runners on with two outs.  Ferreira then launched her first career home run over the left-field fence to give BSC the 6-3 lead.

 

McDermott (2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI) made it 7-3 in favor of the Bears as she tripled with one out in the second and scored on Cucinotta's (2-for-3) squeeze bunt.  Bridgewater rounded out the scoring with a run in the third inning and one in the fifth on RBI singles by Strecker and Ferreira (2-for-4, 4 RBI).

 

Freshman Kendra Hobbs (Haverhill, MA) paced the MCLA offense as she went 1-for-2 with a first inning two-run single. First-year pitcher Sarah Greenwood (Northfield, MA) took the loss for the Trailblazers as she gave up nine runs on 12 hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

 

Bridgewater State will host a MASCAC doubleheader with Mass. Maritime Academy on Tuesday afternoon starting at 3:30 PM.  The Bears are currently in fifth place in the conference standings trailing Salem State Westfield State, Worcester State and Framingham State by just one game.  MCLA travels to Westfield State on Tuesday for a 2 PM conference twinbill with the Owls.