Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. - Bridgewater State College senior J.T. Mooney (North Attleboro, MA) drove in pinch runner Seob Yoon (Tokyo, Japan) from second base with a game-winning single with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning to lift the Bears to a 6-5 win over MCLA in MASCAC Baseball Tournament action this afternoon at Alumni Park in Bridgewater.

The second-seeded Bears (24-14) will advance to the winner's bracket championship game on Saturday at 1 PM against fourth-seeded Westfield State College. Westfield rallied to defeat top-seeded Worcester State, 9-7, this afternoon in Worcester. MCLA (20-14) will take on Worcester in an elimination game on Saturday at 10 AM. Worcester will host the remainder of the tournament.

Junior Ben Altman (East Taunton, MA) was sensational in relief for the Bears as he picked up his first win of the season. Altman (1-0) hurled four scoreless innings after coming into the game to start the tenth inning. He retired 12 of the 14 batters he faced, giving up just two hits and striking out three.

With two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the 13th, freshman David Dole (West Bridgewater, MA) lined a pinch hit double down the right field line. Yoon was called in to run for Dole and senior Brendon Elliot (Brockton, MA) was intentionally walked for the third time in the game. That brought up Mooney who ripped a base hit through the hole between short and third to plate Yoon with the winning run.

Junior James Greeley (Newton, MA) suffered the loss on the mound for the Trailblazers. Greeley came on in relief to start the bottom of the tenth and allowed just the one run on five hits with two walks and four strikeouts.

Bridgewater trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, but rallied to send the game into extra innings. Senior Brad Koneski (North Dighton, MA) reached on an error to lead off the frame and swiped his fifth base of the afternoon to put the tying run on second. Junior Mark Claffey (Bellingham, MA) singled sending Koneski to third, and senior Kelly LaDow (East Falmouth, MA) hit a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game up at 5-5.

BSC got the scoring started in the first inning as Koneski singled, stole second and third, and scored on a double by LaDow. MCLA tied the game with a run in the third, but Elliot belted his eighth home run of the season, a two-run blast in the bottom half of the inning, to put the Bears back on top, 3-1.

Back-to-back RBI doubles by freshman Rick Massey (Pittsfield, MA) and sophomore Paul Procopio (Pittsfield, MA) evened things up for the Trailblazers in the top of the fifth. Koneski put the Bears back in front in the sixth as he drove in Jeff Puopolo (Brockton, MA) from second base with an RBI double. Puopolo had singled with one out in the inning and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Brian Medairos (Brockton, MA).

That lead was short-lived however as MCLA plated two runs in the seventh to take a 5-4 lead. Junior Ken Recore (Averill Park, NY) walked to lead off the inning and moved to second as senior Anthony Russo (Marcy, NY) reached on an error. Sophomore John Ripepi (Amsterdam, NY) sacrificed the runners to second and third, and Massey followed with a two-run single to put the Trailblazers on top.

Massey finished 3-for-6 in the game with a run and four RBI, while Procopio went 2-for-6 with two doubles and an RBI. Recore was 1-for-3 with two walks and three runs scored.

Koneski (2-for-6), Claffey (2-for-4), Mooney (2-for-7) and Medairos (2-for-5) each had two hits apiece for the Bears who banged out 13 hits in the game. MCLA pitchers also walked eight batters and hit two.

Junior Sean O'Neill (Norwood, MA) got the start on the mound for the Bears and went 8 2/3 innings. O'Neill gave up five runs (four earned) on five hits with five walks and a career-high 15 strikeouts.

Senior Andrew Gaines (Holyoke, MA) went the first nine innings for the Trailblazers as he allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hitters. Gaines also walked six batters, hit two and struck out six.

Courtesy Worcester State Sports Information

Worcester, MA --- Fourth seeded Westfield State took advantage of a pair of miscues and scored four runs in the top of the ninth to advance to the winners bracket of the semifinal round of the MASCAC Tournament with a 9-7 victory over #1 Worcester State this afternoon at Fitton Field.

The Owls (21-14) will play Bridgewater State, who defeated MCLA earlier 6-5 in 13 innings, at 1 PM while the Lancers (26-13) entertain the Trailblazers at 9 AM. Both games will be played at Lake Park.

With two outs and a runner on first, who reached on an error in the infield, sophomore Pete Hogan (Weymouth, MA –C) notched an RBI triple on a 1-2 count to start the rally. Junior Mike Trachtenburg (Newton, MA-CF) then hit a ground ball to third that was misplayed allowing Horgan to cross the plate and knot the game 7-7. The Owls would later score a pair of insurance runs when Trachtenburg came home on a passed ball and on an RBI double by junior Ben Wagner (Cumberland, RI-SS).

Third-year closer Dave Glass (Pittsfield, MA) came in for the bottom of the ninth and with one out issued he walk to Jake Sanderski (Millbury, MA), the second batter of the inning. Sanderski advanced to third on consecutive wild pitches, but Glass nailed down his third save of the season as he induced a strikeout and a fly-out to end the contest.

Westfield State junior Phil Towne (Franklin, MA), who tossed a scoreless seventh and eighth, improved his record to 2-1 while senior Pat Good (Hull, MA) drops to 5-1 in the setback after he allowed four runs (none earned) to score.

The Lancers started the scoring in the top of the first when sophomore Nick Fluegge (Ware, MA-1B) jacked his 10th homer of the season onto Interstate-290 to put WSC up 3-0.

With runners on second and third in the top of the second, Owls sophomore Pete Grillo (Shrewsbury, MA-2B) plated two runs to slice the lead to 3-2. Westfield State knotted the game up 3-3 in the next frame on a run-producing single by junior Kevin Lyons (Braintree, MA-RF).

Junior Nick Dortona (Malden, MA-3B) helped give the Lancers some breathing room as he hammered a two-run double to centerfield to make the score 5-3.

Westfield State got a run back in the sixth then Hogan scored on an infield RBI base-hit by senior Brad King (Perth, Ont.-LF) before the Blue and Gold tacked on a pair in the bottom of the inning on consecutive RBIs by junior Ryan Laprade (Leominster, MA-2B) and sophomore Ryan Raleigh (Cranston, RI-SS).

In the seventh, the Owls took advantage of another error in the infield to plate junior Jeff Fields (Pittsfield, MA-P/DH) on an infield single and cut the lead to 7-5. Fields reached on a lead-off error and then moved into scoring position when he stole second and reached third on a passed ball.

Junior Joey Lucier (Brockton, MA) earned a no-decision after he tossed the first 6 1/3 innings allowing five runs (one earned) on seven hits while he fanned four and walked two. Fields and senior Jeff Perches (Albany, NY) combined to allow seven runs off of 11 hits while Fields issued four free passes. The pair also struck out two.

Worcester State committed five errors in the contest as only one Westfield State's nine runs was earned.

Freshman Matt Kelly (Weymouth, MA-3B) paced the Owls 12 hit attack as he notched a pair of infield singles. Sanderski went 3-for-4 with a run while Fluegge was 2-for-4 as he crossed the plate twice and drove in three runs.