DARTMOUTH, Mass. – Powered by a surge in the late innings, Bridgewater State posted a 5-1 win over UMass Dartmouth in non-conference baseball action on Tuesday afternoon. The Bears move to 11-7 overall, while the Corsairs are now 10-9 on the season.
BSU got on the board in the top half of the first as a sacrifice fly to left off the bat of designated hitter Joshua Selander saw the runner at third tag up and come in. The Bears added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth when centerfielder DJ Prampin sent a home run over the left center wall for a 3-0 advantage.
The visitors added to their lead in the seventh as a single to right by short stop Kevin Lindsay saw another run cross the plate, followed by a fly out to left that brought in another score for the 5-0 advantage.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Corsairs got on the board as sophomore third baseman
Nick Bartalini sent his first home run of the season over the wall in left center to close the gap to four (5-1). With a runner on second and two outs on the board, the Corsairs looked to keep the momentum going, but a pop-up to third saw the inning end.
The pitchers prevailed in the ninth as junior
Seamus Marshall posted a 1-2-3 inning for the Corsairs – including a strikeout - while Nathan Reiser retired the UMD side in order to close out the win for the visiting Bears.
Senior left fielder
Liam Blesi and classmate and second baseman
Devyn Vezina both went 2-for-4 in the game, while Bartalini kept his streak alive – now recording a hit in each of the last three games – going 2-for3 with a run scored and an RBI.
Bridgewater State was paced by a 6.0 inning effort from starter Cameron Connolly, who earned the victory with no runs allowed and just four hits with two strikeouts. The Corsairs saw starter
Ray Boutiette shoulder the loss, allowing five runs (2 earned) on four hits over 7.0 innings. He struck out two batters before giving way to sophomore
Dillon Harding, who struck out two batters in 1.0 innings of relief.
UMass Dartmouth returns to action on Sunday when they travel to Waltham, Mass., and the campus of Brandeis as they face Lasell in doubleheader non-conference action. Game times are set for 1pm and 4pm.
