By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team began the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference schedule by winning a doubleheader.

The Bears defeated Fitchburg State University, 9-4, in the first game Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park with three players combining for nine RBI and seven hits.

In the second game, BSU edged the Falcons, 7-6, on a walk-off RBI single by senior Victoria Becker (Abington, Mass.) in the bottom of the seventh inning.

The Bears (11-5) have won nine of the last 11 games following a 2-3 start to the season earlier this month. Fitchburg State falls to 1-13.

Game One: Bridgewater State 9, Fitchburg State 4

In the home opener for the Bears, junior Sydney Schaefer (Swarthmore, Pa.) was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBI while junior Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.) was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI and sophomore Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBI.

BSU took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on a bases-loaded double to left-center by Carberry after senior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) walked and Schaefer and Ansell reached on singles.

The hit was the 100th for Ansell in her career at BSU.

The Bears went in front, 4-0, in the second on a two-out double to left by Schaefer, scoring pinch runner Savanah Dubois (New Bedford, Mass.), a junior, after senior Emily Eastman (Cranston, R.I.) had reached on an error.

Fitchburg State scored its first run in the third on an RBI double down the left-field line by sophomore Carolyn Brodeur (Ashby, Mass.).

BSU opened a 7-1 lead in the fourth inning when Ansell hit a two-out, three-run homer to left after Lynch was hit by a pitch and Schaefer walked.

Brodeur had an RBI single to left-center in the fifth to make it 7-2 before Schaefer contributed a two-run dowble down the line in left in the bottom of the inning for a 9-2 edge.

The Falcons scored single runs in the sixth and seventh on an RBI single by sophomore Lauren Ahearn (Danvers, Mass.) and a run-scoring double by junior Jessica Mueller (Fitchburg, Mass.).

Junior Olivia Hargreaves (Weare, N.H.) was the winning pitcher, improving to 2-2. She struck out nine and scattered seven hits.

Game 2: Bridgewater State 7, Fitchburg State 6

After holding a 4-0 lead early, BSU fell behind, 6-5, in the sixth inning but rallied for single runs in the sixth and seventh for the sweep.

With the game tied at 6, Ansell led off the final inning by reaching on an error. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Carberry and scored on Becker's single to right.

Lynch went 3-for-4 and drove in five runs for the Bears while Carberry and Becker added two each hits.

Senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.) boosted her record to 3-1, allowing one earned run and two hits in two innings of relief. Junior Lily Gagnon (Dartmouth, Mass.), the starter, struck out three in five innings.

BSU took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a two-out RBI double to left by Carberry, scoring Schaefer, who had singled.

The lead went to 4-0 in the second when Lynch doubled to right-center, scoring Gagnon and sophomore Sarah Silvia (East Bridgewater, Mass.), who had walked, and sophomore Isabel Bishop (Lynn, Mass.), who singled.

But the Falcons got within 4-3 in the third with three unearned runs, junior Julia Cooper (Lumberton, N.J.) contributing an RBI single.

BSU made it 5-3 in the fourth when Lynch homered to left with two outs.

Fitchburg State scored a run in the fifth on an RBI hit down the right-field line by sophomore Emily Bennett (Gorham, Maine) and took the lead, 6-5, in the sixth, getting a pair of runs on errors.

BSU tied it in the bottom of the sixth when pinch hitter Ella Staffier (Marshfield, Mass.), a senior, singled to left and scored on Lynch's double to left.

The Bears will play a non-conference doubleheader at home on Tuesday at 3 p.m. against Plymouth State.

The Falcons are at Elms for a doubleheader at 2 p.m. on Tuesday.