By Jim Fenton
BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Here's a look at the week ahead (March 9-15) for the Bridgewater State University athletics teams:
MONDAY
SOFTBALL, at Little River, S.C., Penn State Abington, 9:00 AM and Cairn, 11:00 AM: The Bears face a pair of United East Conference teams from Pennsylvania on their spring break trip.
Penn State Abington and BSU met in each of the past two seasons with the Bears winning, 10-2 and 8-6.
Cairn will be playing its season opener against BSU (0-2).
BASEBALL, at Myrtle Beach, S.C., Immaculata, 7:30 PM: The Bears and Mighty Macs from the Atlantic East Conference meet for the first time.
Immaculata, located in Pennsylvania, enters the week with a 1-3 record.
TUESDAY
SOFTBALL, at Little River, S.C., Immaculata, 9:00 AM and Lycoming, 11:00 AM: BSU defeated Immaculata, 10-7, in 2024, in South Carolina.
Lycoming, located in Williamsport, Pa., opens its season Monday.
WOMEN'S LACROSSE, at Clearwater, Fla., RIT, 10:00 AM: The Bears (1-3) will play two games during spring break at the Countryside Sports Complex.
Rochester Institute of Technology is off to a 4-0 start and defeated BSU, 19-10, in 2024 in Puerto Rico.
BASEBALL, at Myrtle Beach, S.C., Wittenburg, 12:30 PM: The Tigers, of the North Coast Athletic Conference and Springfield, Ohio, are 5-3.
WEDNESDAY
BASEBALL, at Myrtle Beach, S.C., Penn College, Noon: The Bears and Penn College of Technology met in 2022 in South Carolina with BSU winning, 13-10.
Penn College, of the United East Conference, is 1-1.
THURSDAY
WOMEN'S LACROSSE, at Clearwater, Fla., Washington College, 10:00 AM: The Bears finish the trip to Florida by playing the Shorewomen of Chestertown, Md.
Washington is off to a 2-2 start.
SOFTBALL, at Little River, S.C., Penn State Beaver, 11:00 AM and Thiel, 1:00 PM: Two more Pennslyvania teams take on the Bears.
Penn State Beaver (0-1) is a member of the Pennsylvania State University Athletic Conference.
Thiel, of Greenville, Pa., plays in the Presidents Athletic Conference.
BASEBALL, at Myrtle Beach, S.C., Westminster, 3:00 PM: This will be the first meeting between the Bears and Westminster (3-2) of New Wilmington, Pa. and a member of the Presidents Athletic Conference.
FRIDAY
MEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at Birmingham, Ala., NCAA Division III Championships: Graduate student Kevin McBirney will compete in the 800-meter preliminary race in the afternoon.
The top runners will advance to the final on Saturday afternoon.
WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD, at Birmingham, Ala., NCAA Division III Championships: Senior Kiara Abrantes (400) and sophomore Grace Inacio (200) will run in the nationals.
They will take part in the preliminary races on Friday afternoon, looking to qualify for the final on Saturday afternoon.
SOFTBALL, at Little River, S.C., Penn State Altoona, 11:00 AM and Valley Forge, 1:00 PM: The Bears finish the trip to South Carolina with another doubleheader.
Penn State Altoona opened the week 1-3 and is a member of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.
Valley Forge plays in the United East Conference and opens the season this week.
BASEBALL, at Myrtle Beach, S.C., SUNY Canton, 12:30 PM: The Bears play their final game in Myrtle Beach, taking on the Roos.
The State University of New York Canton plays in the SUNY Athletic Conference and opened the week 1-1.