Baseball Sweeps Anna Maria to Wrap Up Regular Season

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University baseball team is headed to the postseason with a 27-8 record after finishing the regular-season by sweeping a doubleheader.

The Bears took a pair of games from Anna Maria College Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park, winning the opener, 13-1, then rallying in the bottom of the sixth for a 6-4 victory in the second game.

BSU went 21-3 in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference and will be the No. 1 seed in next week's tournament. The Bears will open on Thursday against an opponent to be determined.

On Friday, BSU clinched its fifth straight MASCAC regular-season title (three outright, two shared) with a win at Anna Maria.

The Bears, who won the conference by five games, are 84-24 in MASCAC regular-season games the past five seasons.

In the opener against the AMCATS (25-17, 15-11), BSU junior Rylan Secovich (Southwick, Mass.) broke the program's single-season record for stolen bases.

Secovich has 38 steals, surpassing the 37 compiled by Jason Arraiol in 2003.

Game One: Bridgewater State 13, Anna Maria 1

The Bears had 15 hits with five players getting at least two.

Secovich led the way, going 4-for-4, driving in two runs and stealing a pair of bases.

Sophomore Jamie Luna (Warwick, R.I.) was 3-for-4 with two RBI while senior Ryan Flaherty (Duxbury, Mass.) and junior Benjamin Sepeck (Whitman, Mass.) had two hits and two RBI each.

Sophomore Cam Beltramini (Hanson, Mass.) also had a pair of hits.

Senior Danny Jasmin (East Meadow, N.Y.) improved to 3-0, allowing a run and four hits while striking out seven in 4 1/3 innings.

Senior Matt Kustigian (Charlton, Mass.) struck out two in relief.

BSU built a 9-0 lead in the first three innings.

The Bears scored three in the first with Flaherty and Luna having RBI hits while an infield error brought in a run.

In the second, senior Joshua Selander (Granby, Conn.), Sepeck, senior DJ Prampin (Worcester, Mass.) and Luna had RBI singles.

Flaherty had an RBI single down the line in left and Sepeck drove in a run with a single up the middle.

Anna Maria had an unearned run in the fourth to make it 9-1, but the Bears scored three times in the bottom of the inning.

Secovich had an RBI single, freshman Nick Berube (Swampscott, Mass.) scored on a wild pitch and Beltramini brought in a run with a sacrifice fly.

The last run was in the fifth with Sepeck singling and eventually scoring on a wild pitch after a fielder's choice and stolen base.

Game Two: Bridgewater State 6, Anna Maria 4

The Bears trailed, 4-3, going into the bottom of the sixth when they scored three times.

Sepeck walked and scored on a double to left-center by Flaherty. After Prampin walked, Berube singled in the go-ahead run. A fielder's choice then scored Prampin with the insurance run.

BSU led, 2-0, in the first on a two-run double to left by Flaherty with two outs.

The lead was 3-0 in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Beltramini before Anna Maria scored all four of its runs in the sixth.

A fielder's choice by junior Josh Batchelder (Lake Worth, Fla.) brought in a run to make it 3-1.

Junior Jonathan Guardascione (Boynton Beach, Fla.) delivered a three-run double to right field to give the AMCATS their first lead of the day.

Junior Jaden Arruda (Seekonk, Mass.) picked up the win, improving to 3-1, pitching one inning of relief.

Starter Chase Beach (Orleans, Mass.), a sophomore, went five scoreless innings and struck out eight, giving up just two hits. Senior CJ Hess (Providence, R.I.) picked up his fourth save, striking out two in the final inning.

Flaherty moved into second place on the Bears' all-time runs batted in list as he how has 148 RBI in three seasons at BSU. He surpassed former teammate Jay Wladkowski who drove in 145 runs from 2021 to 2024. BSU Hall of Famer Steve Smith is the Bears' all-time leader with 162 RBI.