Game One: Bridgewater State 7 Ð Westfield State 6
Game Two: Bridgewater State 15 Ð Westfield State 10
WESTFIELD Ð Bridgewater State held off a late-inning rally by Westfield in the opener, then overcame an early deficit in the second game to sweep Westfield State, 7-6 and 15-10, in Mass. State Conference baseball action April 18.
The Bears improved to 18-7 overall and 6-2 in the conference. Westfield fell to 10-16 and 3-5.
In the opener, a five-run third-inning uprising vaulted the Bears to a 6-0 lead. They led 7-1 when Westfield rallied for three runs in the sixth and two in its final at bat.
The Owls were unable to come up with timely hits in several innings and stranded nine base runners. In addition, only three Bridgewater runs were earned as the Owls committed seven errors.
Bridgewater senior Christian Perry (Middleboro/Coyle Cassidy) was 3 for 4 with two doubles and an RBI. Hot-hitting Ryan Fitzgerald (Middleboro/Coyle Cassidy) was 2 for 3 with a triple and two runs scored. Ryan McCann (New Bedford) was 3 for 4 with a double and RBI and Steve Smith (Taunton) was 2 for 4 with two RBI.
For Westfield, sophomore catcher Chris Hebert (South Hadley) hammered his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot in the fifth. Freshman second baseman Justin Parr (North Attleboro) was 2 for 4 with a double and RBI, and sophomore shortstop Troy Ferguson (Rochester) tripled.
Aiden Powers (Braintree) was the winning pitcher; he hurled into the sixth inning, allowing eight hits, four runs and striking out eight.
In the second game, Westfield led 6-0 after the first inning as it knocked Bridgewater starter Peter Starr out of the game. But Bridgewater came back to score seven runs Ð all seven with two outs in the fourth - to take the lead for good, 7-6.
The Bears led 9-8 when they put away the game with a six-run outburst in the seventh, with the big blow a grand slam homer by Fitzgerald.
Bridgewater outhit Westfield, 21-10. Fitzgerald was 4 for 4 with a homer, triple, two singles, six RBI and two runs scored. Jay Houser (Easton) and Perry were both 3 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI, with one of PerryÕs hits a double.
Jay Brown and Shaun Geary (Mashpee) both belted a double and single for Westfield, while Parr was 1 for 3 with three RBI.
Martin Anderson (Meriden, CT) was the winning pitcher; he hurled five complete innings to improve to 3-1. Jon Souza (Taunton) recorded his second pitching save.