Baseball Splits MASCAC Twinbill with Worcester State

WORCESTER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team split a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) doubleheader with Worcester State University on Tuesday afternoon at Kevin D. Lyons Field.

Bridgewater dropped the opener in walk-off fashion, 8-7, and earned the split with an 8-1 victory in game two. The game two win clinched at least a share of the MASCAC regular season title for the Bears (24-7, 18-3 MASCAC) who won the season series against the Lancers, two games to one. BSU defeated Worcester at home on Patriots' Day, 5-1.

The Bears, who have won 17 straight conference series dating back to 2024, can secure the MASCAC regular season title outright with one win in the upcoming three-game series with Anna Maria College. 

Game Two: Bridgewater State 8, Worcester State 1

Freshman lefthander Ethan Palmer (Attleboro, Mass.) went six strong innings in his second collegiate start to lead the Bears to an 8-1 win victory in game two and a split of the doubleheader. Palmer (2-0) allowed just one unearned run on four hits with a walk and three strikeouts to pick up his second win of the season.

Bridgewater jumped on top with a run in the first as sophomore Cam Beltramini (Hanson, Mass.) doubled with one out and scored on an RBI singled by senior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.). The Bears later loaded the bases with one out in the frame but could not add on to the lead.

Worcester answered with a two-out rally in the bottom of the first. Singles by junior Kevin Doyle (Bridgewater, Mass.) and senior Nathan Thurber (Framingham, Mass.) put runners on the corners before an infield error brought home Doyle with the tying run.

Senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) belted his team and MASCAC-leading ninth home run of the season in the top of third, a two-run shot over the right field fence, to give the Bears a 3-1 lead. Prampin increased his career home run total to 24 as he grabbed sole possession of fourth place on the Bears' all-time list.

Bridgewater tacked on three more runs in the fifth as the Bears capitalized on a Worcester error. After an out, junior Benjamin Sepeck (Whitman, Mass.) walked, advanced to second on a Prampin single and came around to score when freshman Nick Berube (Swampscott, Mass.) reached on an error. Sophomores Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.) and Jeyden Espinal (Fall River, Mass.) followed with back-to-back RBI singles, Espinal on a bunt, to make it a 6-1 game.

Two more Worcester errors led to a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. Senior Josh Selander (Granby, Conn.) and Sepeck both reached on infield errors with one out. Prampin plated Selander with an RBI single, the 100th RBI of his career, and Sepeck scored on an RBI single by Luna to push the BSU advantage to 8-1.

The Bears outhit the Lancers in game two, 13-4. Prampin went 3-for-4 with with two runs and three RBI while Luna (2-4, 2 RBI) and Beltramini (2-4, run) also recorded multiple hits.

Game One: Worcester State 8, Bridgewater State 7

The Lancers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh to overtake the Bears.

Doyle had a two-out, walk-off RBI single to score the winning run with two outs.

Senior Mason Bates (Shrewsbury, Mass.) bunted for a hit and advanced on a wild pitch and abandoned stolen base before scoring on an error. Junior Cameron Early (Worcester, Mass.), who reached on the error, scored the winning run on the hit by Doyle.

BSU had broken a 6-6 tie in the top of the seventh. Espinal was hit by a pitch, went to third on a single by Beltramini and scored on a two-out balk.

The Bears struck first, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the opening inning. Junior Rylan Secovich (Southwick, Mass.) singled to left, went to second when Beltramini walked and scored on a single to left by Flaherty. Beltramini scored on a single by Sepeck. Flaherty came home on an error.

Worcester State got one run back in the bottom of the first. Doyle doubled to right with two outs and scored on a single up the middle by Thurber.

The Lancers tied it in the second inning on a two-run double to center by junior Ryan Jewett (Natick, Mass.). Bates had reached on an error and Early was hit by a pitch. The two moved up on a wild pitch.

BSU retook the lead in the fourth inning on a Flaherty RBI single. Secovich had singled with with two outs and went to third on a single by Beltramini before scoring on Flaherty's hit.

Worcester State tied it in the fourth when Doyle drew a bases-loaded walk with two outs, making it 4-4.

In the fifth, the Bears went back ahead, with a pair of runs. After Espinal was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs,  Secovich delivered a two-run single to center.

Sophomore Riggs Caitlin (Dedham, Mass.) tripled to score two runs and tie the game again in the bottom of the fifth.

BSU loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth when Beltramini walked, and Flaherty and Selander singled. But the next three batters were retired to end the threat.

The Bears had 13 hits with Secovich, Flaherty and Secovich getting three hits each.