Softball Swept by Salem State in MASCAC Twinbill

By Jim Fenton

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- The Bridgewater State University softball team dropped a Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference doubleheader Tuesday afternoon.

The Bears committed 10 errors in the twinbill against Salem State University with eight of the 11 runs they allowing being unearned.

The Vikings rallied for three runs in the seventh inning to take the opener, 5-3, the broke a 3-3 tie with a three-run fourth inning en route to a 6-4 win in the second game at Alumni Park.

The nightcap was halted after six innings due to darkness.

Four of the five runs scored by Salem State were unearned in the first game when BSU committed five errors. In the second game, the Bears made five more errors with four of the six runs being unearned.

The Bears, who have lost four games in a row, fell to 14-12 and 5-3 in the MASCAC.

The Vikings improved to 19-10 and are 6-2 in the conference.

Game One: Salem State 5, Bridgewater State 3

The Bears held a 3-2 lead entering the final inning but the Vikings rallied with the three runs on just two hits.

Junior Samantha Gaona-Sullivan (Billerica, Mass.) got things going with a single up the middle. Junior Alanis Toledano (Boston, Mass.) reached on a fielder's choice, and Gaona Sullivan wound up scoring on a groundout to tie the game.

Toledano went to third on the throw and scored the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Tara Perryman (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.).

Junior Abigail LaClair (Wilmington, Mass.), who had walked, scored an insurance run on a single to left by junior Paige Souza (New Bedford, Mass.).

BSU held a 1-0 lead in the first when senior Angelina Lynch (Taunton, Mass.) walked, stole second and scored on a single to left by junior Makayla Ansell (Menifee, Calif.).

Salem State tied it in the second on a sacrifice fly to center by freshman Ellie Kleinheinz (Santa Clara, Calif.), bringing in LaClair, who had singled.

The Bears went up, 3-1, in the third on a two-run double to left-center by sophomore Aubrey Carberry (Dartmouth, Mass.) after Lynch had singled and junior Sydney Schaeffer (Swarthmore, Pa.) doubled.

The Vikings got within 3-2 in the sixth on an RBI single by senior Allison Frost (Auburn, Mass.), bringing in pinch runner Kianny Mirabel-Nunez (Salem, Mass.), a sophomore.

Frost and BSU's Savanah Dubois (New Bedford, Mass.) were the game's only players with two hits.

Freshman Charlie Benesh (Naperville, Ill.) improved to 8-2, striking out three in the win.

Junior Lily Gioiosa (Dartmouth, Mass.) came on with a runner on and nobody out in the final inning and took the loss, falling to 2-2. She gave up two unearned runs and one hit in relief of senior Olyvia Mendonca (Taunton, Mass.). Mendonca gave up three runs, one earned, and struck out four in six-plus innings.

Game Two: Salem State 6, Bridgewater State 4 (6 Inn.)

The Vikings jumped to a 3-0 lead in the first two innings.

Gaona-Sullivan had an RBI hit and LaClair brought in a run with a sacrifice bunt for a 2-0 lead in the first while Kleinheinz added a run in the second with a sacrifice fly.

BSU tied it in the third inning with RBI hits from Schaefer and Mendonca while a groundout by Carberry delivered another run.

But Salem State went back up, 6-3, in the fourth, getting three unearned runs with two outs.

The Bears had three errors in the inning, allowing Kleinheinz, sophomore Abby Richardson (Bluefield, W. Va.) and Frost to score.

BSU scored the final run in the fifth when Lynch singled, stole second and came home on a single to right by sophomore Caitlyn Clark (Clifton, Va.).

The Bears had the bases loaded with no outs after that hit but were unable to score again.

Gaona-Sullivan went 3-for-3 and Richardson had two hits for the Vikings while Ansell was 2-for-2 and Schaefer had two hits for BSU.

Senior Gracie Martineau (Westminster, Mass.) improved to 5-2, going four-plus innings for Salem State. Toledano picked up her first save of the season getting the final six outs for the Vikings.

Junior Lily Gagnon (East Haven, Conn.) is 4-2 after taking the loss, striking out two and giving up two earned runs in six complete innings.

BSU plays its next three doubleheaders on the road, traveling to the University of Massachusetts Boston on Thursday at 3:30 p.m.

Salem State will host Anna Maria on Saturday at noon for a pair of games.