By Jim Fenton

SALEM, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University men's tennis team is riding a four-match winning streak and is tied for the top spot in the Little East Conference.

The Bears scored a 6-1 victory over Salem State University Thursday afternoon, improving to 3-0 in the conference, even with Rhode Island College.

BSU coach David Purpura became the program's winningest coach, moving his record to 48-58 since taking over in 2017.

Purpura had been tied at 47 wins with Barry Gorman, who coached from 2009-13. His first victory came back on April 4th of 2017, a 5-4 win at Suffolk University.

The Bears (6-4) won all three doubles matches and five of the six singles matches against the Vikings (4-5, 2-2).

The team of senior Adam Beatrice (Rockland, Mass.) and junior Khiem Nguyen (Burlington, Vt.) took No. 1 doubles over senior Quentin Wilkins (Hamilton, Mass.) and junior Mark Wood (Lynn, Mass.), 6-3.

No. 2 doubles went to freshman Will Horton (Lakeville, Mass.) and senior Ryan Hebert (Taunton, Mass.) over freshman Ian Ronan (Quincy, Mass.) and freshman Jesse Rubera (Haverhill, Mass.), 6-3.

Juniors Tom Ayson (Plymouth, Mass.) and Anthony Lucas (Weymouth, Mass.) prevailed at No. 3 doubles over junior Michael Muttiah (Colombo, Sri Lanka) and senior Michael Makiej (Andover, Mass.), 6-1.

Horton defeated Wilkins at No. 1 singles, 6-3, 6-1, while Beatrice was a 6-1, 6-1 winner at No. 2 over Wood.

Ayson won No. 4 against Rubera, 6-4, 6-1, while Lucas defeated Muttiah, 6-1, 6-1, at No. 5 and Hebert was a 6-0, 6-0 winner at No. 6 over Makiej.

The lone Salem State win was provided by Ronan at No. 3 singles as he defeated Nguyen, 6-3, 1-6, 6-3.

The Bears are 17-1 in singles play against Little East opponents and 8-1 in doubles competition.

BSU will play its next-to-last home match of the regular season, taking on UMass Boston Saturday at noon.

Salem State plays Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. at the University of Southern Maine.