Softball Splits Doubleheader with Salem State

Game One Box Score | Game Two Box Score

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Bridgewater State College and Salem State College split a Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) softball doubleheader this afternoon in Bridgewater. 

Salem blanked the host Bears by a margin of 10-0 in the opening game of the twinbill, while Bridgewater returned the favor with a 9-0 shutout victory in game two which was stopped in the fifth inning due to the eight-run mercy rule.

The doubleheader marked the conference opener for both teams as Bridgewater State is now 8-9 on the season (1-1 MASCAC) while Salem is 12-5-1 (1-1 MASCAC). 

Katelynn Fanning (East Boston, MA) shut down the Bridgewater offense is game one as the sophomore right-hander tossed a complete game, six-hitter.  Fanning did not walk a batter and struck out six as she picked up her sixth win of the season and third shutout.

After scoring an unearned run in the fourth inning to break a scoreless tie, the Lady Vikings put the game well out of reach with three runs in the sixth and six more in the seventh.

Freshman designated player Sarah Brown (North Attleboro, MA) and senior left fielder Jess Baird (Worcester, MA) had two hits apiece for Salem in the opener.   Brown singled and scored the first run of the game in the fourth inning and drove in a run with a base hit in the sixth.  Baird doubled in a run in the sixth and singled and scored in the seventh. Senior catcher Amanda Scola (Leominster, MA) capped off the Lady Vikings’ six-run seventh inning with a two-run double.

BSC senior righty Jamie Ducinski (Duxbury, MA) was tagged for the loss in the circle for the Bears.  Ducinski (2-5) went the distance giving up ten runs on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.  Only five of the ten runs were earned as a result of four Bridgewater errors.

Game two was a different story for the Bears as freshman right-hander Meghan Dunn (Colchester, CT) hurled her second shutout of the season.  Dunn (4-2) allowed just two hits and walked two as she induced seven ground outs and four infield pop ups.

After being kept off the scoreboard by Fanning over the first nine innings of the doubleheader, the Bridgewater State offense finally came alive as the Bears exploded for eight runs in the third.  With one out, junior DP Heather McPherson (Mansfield, MA) singled and came all the way around to score the Bears’ first run of the day on a double by senior second baseman Lauren Cucinotta (Franklin, MA).  Bridgewater also got RBI doubles in the inning by junior first baseman Penny King (Hanover, MA) and junior right fielder Tracey Sanko (Windsor, CT), and the Bears also took advantage of three Salem errors.

Sanko went 1-for-3 at the plate in game two and added a pair of singles in the opener.  She also stole three bases in the doubleheader as she tied Angela Vecchione (1998-2001) as the Bears’ all-time leader in stolen bases with 60.  McPherson finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base.

Fanning (6-3) suffered the loss in the circle for the Lady Vikings in the nightcap as she allowed four runs on five hits in 3 2/3 innings of work with three walks and a pair of strikeouts.  Brown doubled in three at bats for one of Salem’s two hits in game.