Seavey Leads Baseball to 10-2 MASCAC Win Over Fitchburg

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Matthew Seavey (North Attleboro, Mass.) tossed seven scoreless innings to lead the Bridgewater State University baseball team to a 10-2 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) victory over visiting Fitchburg State University on Thursday afternoon at Alumni Park.

The Bears improve to 10-10 on the season and 4-3 in the MASCAC while the Falcons fall to 6-18 overall and 1-6 in conference play. Bridgewater is 72-31 versus Fitchburg since 1978.

Seavey (5-0) fanned six batters and allowed just two hits to record his team leading fifth win of the season. He walked two and hit a batter.

The Bears' offense broke open a tight game with a seven-run eighth inning.

Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.), Steven Simon (Hanover, Mass.) and Riley Thornell (Wareham, Mass.) recorded two hits apiece to pace the BSU offense. Flaherty went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, a run and three RBI while Simon was 2-for-4 at the plate with a double, a run and an RBI. Thornell singled twice in four at bats and scored a run.

Jay Wladkowski (Norwood, Mass.) reached safely three times for the Bears in five plate appearances as he singled, walked, and was hit by a pitch. Wladkowski also stole a base, scored two runs and made a couple of terrific running catches in right field.

Bridgewater pushed across three runs in the bottom of the second inning. Simon doubled, Wladkowski reached on an infield single, and DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) walked to load the bases. Cam James (Ipswich, Mass.) then produced a clutch two-out single to plate Simon and Wladkowski with the first two runs of the afternoon. After a double steal, Prampin raced home on a wild pitch to make it a 3-0 game.

The score stayed that way until the top of the eighth inning when Jacob Hurrell (Haverhill, Mass.) smashed a two-out, two-run homer over the left-centerfield fence to cut the deficit to 3-2. The Falcons had the tying run on second with two outs when BSU second baseman Scott Emerson (Peabody, Mass.) made an outstanding grab on a looping line drive off the bat of Matt Smith (Flanders, N.J.).

The Bears sent ten batters to the plate in the decisive seven-run eighth to put the game out of reach. A bases clearing three-run double by Flaherty was the big blow of the inning. Mathew Pigeon (Canton, Mass.) brought home the first run of the frame with an RBI single, and Emerson connected for two-run single while Simon capped off the scoring with a sacrifice fly. Falcon pitching hit three batters in the inning.

Lefthander Joseph Harnett (North Attleboro, Mass.) pitched well in the setback for Fitchburg State. Hartnett (1-3) gave up three runs on seven hits over seven full innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

Hurrell went 1-for-3 with a walk and his team-leading fifth home run of the season to pace the Falcon offense. Jake Santulli (Wolcott, Conn.) reached safely three time with a double and a pair of walks. He also scored a run.

The Fitchburg bullpen allowed seven runs on four hits with a walk and three hit batters.

The two teams wrap up the three-game MASCAC series on Saturday afternoon at Michael P. Riccards Field in Fitchburg. Game one of the doubleheader is slated to get underway at noon.