Click here for Westfield State-Salem State Box Score

Click here for Bridgewater State-Framingham State Box Score

Click here for Framingham State-Salem State Box Score

Courtesy Bridgewater State Sports Information

Salem State 3, Westfield State 1

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Fourth-seeded Salem State knocked of number two Westfield State, 3-1, in an elimination game of the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday morning at Alumni Park in Bridgewater.

Salem (30-11-1) advances to the loser’s bracket final today at 4:00 PM versus Framingham State.  Framingham, the number two seed, dropped a 3-0 decision to top-seeded Bridgewater State in the winner’s bracket final.  Westfield ends the season with a record of 20-18.

The Vikings plated an unearned run in the top of the second as Brett Cahill (Gloucester, Mass.) walked to lead-off the inning and advanced to third on a throwing error.  Cahill would trot home with the first run of the game one batter later on Westfield’s second infield error of the frame. Salem made it a 2-0 game in the fourth as Kyle McElroy (Newburyport, Mass.), Chris Cocci (Wakefield, R.I.) and Matt Burgess (Kingston, Mass.) strung together three consecutive singles all coming with two outs. 

Westfield cut the deficit in half with a run in the bottom of the seventh as Kyle Colesanti (Mount Kisco, N.Y.) singled with one out, moved to third two batters later on a base hit by Dan Rokitowski (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.), and scored on Kevin Greene’s (Worcester, Mass.) two-out, RBI single.

Salem added an insurance tally in the eighth as Steve Buitkis (Reading, Mass.) rapped a base hit to lead off the frame and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt.  Nick Conti (Lynn, Mass.) then ripped a double to left to plate Buitkis and give the Viking’s a 3-1 lead.

Ryan Hyjek (Tolland, Conn.) got the win on the mound for Salem as he worked the first 6 1/3 innings.  Hyjek (6-2) allowed one run on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts.  Ryan Beliveau (Lynn, Mass.) picked up his second save of the season as he recorded the final eight outs.  Beliveau gave up four hits and fanned three.

Mike Molta (Nantucket, Mass.) suffered the loss for Westfield as he went eight innings giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits with three walks and three strikeouts. Westfield out-hit Salem by a margin of 11-6 but left 11 runners on the base.  Rokitowski paced the Owls with a 4-for-5 performance at the plate while Josh Blair (Westfield, Mass.) went 3-for-4 with a triple.

Bridgewater State 3, Framingham State 0

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – Jim Balboni (Townsend, Mass.) tossed a complete game shutout and Sean Riley (Fairhaven, Mass.) belted a leadoff homer to lead top-seeded Bridgewater State to a 3-0 victory over number three Framingham State in the winner’s bracket final of the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park.

Bridgewater (29-13) advances to the tournament championship round on Sunday at noon.  Framingham (26-15) will take on Salem in the loser’s bracket final at four with the winner of that game moving on to Sunday’s final round.

Balboni (6-4) scattered six hits, walked just one and fanned seven as he threw 102 pitches.  The shutout marked the Bears’ second straight to begin the tournament as Corey Batista (Fall River, Mass.) blanked Salem on four hits in Bridgewater’s 1-0 victory on Thursday.

Riley belted the first pitch he saw well over the right-field scoreboard to open the bottom of the first inning.  The Bears tacked on two more runs in the frame as Jose Polanco (Lawrence, Mass.) followed with a bunt single, while David Pierce (East Bridgewater, Mass.) and Ian Williams (Taunton, Mass.) each walked to load the bases. Trevor Lawson (Easton, Mass.) knocked in Polanco with a sacrifice fly which also advanced Pierce to third and Williams to second.  Keane Costa (Fairhaven, Mass.) then gave BSU a 3-0 lead on an RBI ground out to short which plated Pierce from third.

Balboni left runners on in each of the first four innings but then settled down to retire 16 of the final 18 batters he faced. Ryan Stoller (Milton, Mass.) went seven plus innings in the loss for the visiting Rams.  Stoller (4-4) gave up three runs on four hits and five walks while striking out two.

Salem State 5, Framingham State 3

BRIDGEWATER, Mass. -- Fourth-seeded Salem State posted a 5-3 victory over number two Framingham State in an elimination game at the 2012 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Park in Bridgewater. 

Salem (31-11-1) advances to the championship round on Sunday as the Vikings will take on top-seeded Bridgewater State at noon.  Framingham ends the season with a record of 26-16.

Framingham got on the board in the bottom of the first as Cam Couillard (North Andover, Mass.) singled with one out and went to third on a two-out single by Pedro Acevedo (Fall River, Mass.).  Couillard then scored on the back end of a double steal.

Salem jumped ahead with four runs in the top of the second as Matt Burgess (Kingston, Mass.) belted a three-run homer and Kevin Salines (Melrose, Mass.) added an RBI double later in the frame.  Conti gave the Vikings a 5-1 lead in the fourth with  a run-scoring single. Salem made a pair of two-out fielding errors in the bottom of the ninth which led to two runs scoring, but Salem starter Ed Deren (Westford, Mass.) fanned Justin Forman (Watertown, Mass.) with runners at the corners to end the game.

Deren (6-3) went the distance on the mound for the Vikings as he allowed three runs (one earned) on nine hits with three walks and five strikeouts.  He also hit two batters and stranded 11 base runners. Salines, Steve Buitkus (Reading, Mass.), Brett Cahill (Gloucester, Mass.) and Kyle McElroy (Newburyport, Mass.) paced the Salem 12-hit attack with two hits apiece.

Matt Roberge (Lowell, Mass.) went 3-for-4 to lead the Ram offense, while Couillard and Chris Blydell (Lynn, Mass.) each added a pair of hits. Ryan Bowen (Hudson, Mass.) suffered the loss on the hill for Framingham.  Bowen (4-2) went the first 6 2/3 innings giving up five runs on 11 hits with a walk and three strikeouts.