Courtesy Westfield State Sports Information

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Josh Blair was 4 for 4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI and Matt Kelly was 3 for 5 with two doubles and two RBI to lead Westfield State University to a 12-3 victory over Salem State University in the first round of the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) baseball tournament championships on Thursday, May 5.

Westfield, 20-20 overall and the No. 1 seed, advances to the winner’s bracket of the four-team double elimination tournament and will host either No. 2 seed Worcester or No. 3 seed Bridgewater on Saturday at 12:30. All remaining tournament games will be played Saturday and Sunday at Westfield.

The other first round game between Worcester and Bridgewater is being played Thursday night in Worcester with a 7:00 p.m. opening pitch. Salem, 16-19, will play in Saturday’s loser’s bracket game at Westfield with a scheduled start time of 9:30 a.m.

The Owls belted 17 hits, including seven doubles, in their convincing win over Salem, with all but one starter hitting safely. Leading 4-1 after five innings, Westfield broke it open with a six-run outburst on seven hits in the sixth inning to take a commanding 10-1 lead.

Salem took a short-lived 1-0 lead, scoring a run in the top of the first inning off winning pitcher Roman Mondalto, who hurled six effective innings in boosting his record to 6-1. Mondalto issued two walks in the first frame and an RBI single to Matt Burgess.

Westfield countered with a run in the home half of the first on an RBI single by Blair. The Owls took the lead for good by scoring twice in the third, including another RBI single by Blair.

Westfield added another run in the fifth on an RBI single by Alex Cloutier before crossing the plate six times in the sixth. Pete Hogan led off the sixth by pounding a double and hot-hitting Kevin Greene, who was 3 for 6 with three runs scored and a double, rapped an RBI single. Hogan drove in the sixth run by smacking his second double in the inning.

The Owls capped their scoring in the seventh with RBI doubles from Kelly (off the left field fence) and Jeff Ackerman.

Westfield’s other top hitters were Hogan (2 for 4, two doubles, RBI) and Andrew Medeiros (2 for 5, two runs scored).

Burgess (2 for 4, double, RBI) and Steve Butkus (2 for 4) led the Vikings.

Mondalto allowed three hits and four walks and struck out four in six innings. Pitching in relief were Kevin Zyrkowski and Connor Buckley.

Losing pitcher Jeff Borges pitching five complete innings. He struck out eight by gave up six runs, two walks and 10 hits.

Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

Worcester, MA --- Junior classmates Tyler Ferreria (Fall River, MA/Stang) and Dave Billotte (Norton, MA) along with sophomore teammates Keane Costa (Fairhaven, MA) and Jose Palanco (Lawrence, MA) all tallied three hits apiece as #3 Bridgewater State defeated second-seeded Worcester State, 18-5, this evening at Tivnan Field in the opening round of the MASCAC baseball tournament.

The Bears (21-14) move on to the winner’s bracket game at 1 PM on Saturday against top-seed and host Westfield State. The Lancers (22-13) will play Salem State at 9:30 in the losers bracket elimination game.

The previously four accounted for 10 of BSU’s 18 runs and 12 of their 18 base-knocks. Sophomore David Pierce (E. Bridgewater, MA) and classmate Tyler Dennis (Stoughton, MA) both added two hits apiece for the visitors.

Billotte actually reached base in each of his six plate appearances with three hits, two walks and he was hit by a pitch on the final occasion. 

Sophomore Chris Creen (Worcester, MA/St. John’s) and junior Kyle Wilson (Norwich, CT) were both 2-for-4 to lead the Blue and Gold.

Bridgewater State opened the contest with an eight spot in the first inning as they took advantage of a pair of miscues in the inning. Costa, Billotte, Polanco and sophomore John Garabedian (Mansfield, MA) all had RBIs in the frame while Dennis had a two-run single before the inning ended.

The Bears would tack on another run in the top of the second to make the score 9-0 on a sacrifice fly by Polanco.

Worcester State stopped the bleeding when they pushed across a run in the bottom of the third. Junior Jack Rafferty (Thompson, CT) reached on a double and then he would cross home plate on an error in the infield.

After Bridgewater State recorded runs in the top of the fourth on a wild pitch and an run-producing ground-out by Polanco, the Lancers would score twice more to make it an 11-3 contest with RBIs from Wilson and junior Joe Eramo (Shirley, MA).

The Bears would effectively put the game out of reach by outscoring the hosts by a 7-2 margin in the final five innings. Ferreira highlighted the attack with a two-run homer in the sixth and then Pierce tacked on a solo shot in the eighth.

Worcester State registered solo runs in the seventh and ninth on RBI’s by senior Paul Rodriguez (San Antonio, TX) and classmate Nick Fluegge (Ware, MA).

Junior Corey Baptista (Fall River, MA/Connolly) was dominant as he went the distance and set a new school record in the triumph. Baptista allowed five runs (two earned), scattered 10 hits, issued two free passes and he fanned 12. Baptista also had 11 outs that were scooped up on the ground.  

Baptista (6-2) now has eight complete games this year, passing the previous mark that was held by both Kevin Cadres and Tim Hart, who each accomplished the feat in back-to-back seasons in 2001 and 2002.

Baptista’s 72 strikeouts are also now the third-most in one season. Should Bridgewater State’s season continue, Baptista has a chance to pass Mike Marini (89, 1998) and Cadres (96, 2001).

Senior Chad Kasik (Dudley, MA) was dealt the setback for Worcester State. Kasik (5-3) went the first three innings yielding nine runs (three earned) on seven hits while he walked one and punched out one. Kasik also plunked two batters.

Sophomore Kyle St. Thomas (Bridgewater, MA), sophomore Matt Brown (Brookfield, MA) and Joe Piscitelli (Worcester, MA) combined for the final seven frames for WSU. The bullpen would allow the final nine runs (five earned), 11 hits, three walks and four strikeouts.