BUZZARDS BAY – Senior Dan Whigham (Barre, Mass.) rapped out three hits and drove in three runs in a 7-1 opening game triumph over Massachusetts Maritime and a split of a MASCAC baseball doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field.
Buccaneers freshman Robert Dembitzki (Dartmouth, Mass.) scored on a walk-off wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning to lift Massachusetts Maritime to a 1-0 victory over Westfield in the nightcap.
The Owls jumped out to a 1-0 second inning lead in the opener on Whigham’s sacrifice fly, and the visitors took control of the contest with a four-run second inning rally highlighted by an RBI single from freshman Anthony Crowley (Bellingham, Mass.) and a two-run double off the bat of Whigham.
Freshman Jared Ferrari’s (Waltham, Mass.) two-run single in the fifth closed out Westfield State’s scoring, as sophomore Connor Kennedy (West Barnstable, Mass.) accounted for the lone Buccaneer run of the lid-lifter with an RBI double.
John Gegetskas earned the opening win for the Owls Saturday.
Whigham and Beach each collected three hits as part of a 13-hit attack in the opening triumph for the Owls, who also received two hits each from Barnes and Crowley. Freshman John Gegetskas (Windsor, Conn.) went the distance to earn his fourth win of the spring for Westfield State, as he scattered three hits and struck out eight along the way.
Sophomore Logan Sullo (Acushnet, Mass.) and freshman Riley Fusaro (Nantucket, Mass.) added singles in the setback for Massachusetts Maritime, as senior Alex Rozak (Plymouth, Mass.) allowed just two earned runs and fanned three over three frames of action to fall to 3-5 on the season.
In the second game, back-to-back errors gave the host Buccaneers (20-13, 11-3 MASCAC) runners on first and second to lead off the decisive seventh frame, and after sophomore Billy Keane’s (Braintree, Mass.) bunt base hit loaded the bases, Dembitzki scored on a 2-1 pitch that went to the left side of the backstop for the game-winner.
Keane, who collected two of Massachusetts Maritime’s six hits in the second contest, kept the game scoreless in the top of the seventh by throwing out the potential go-ahead run, as junior Daniel Avery (Milford, Mass.) scattered four hits and struck out nine in going the distance to improve to 5-1 on the season for the hosts.
Senior Justin Thomson (Yarmouth Port, Mass.) matched Avery’s effort for the visiting Owls (18-18, 8-6 MASCAC) by allowing just five hits and striking out five over six scoreless innings. Junior Nate Barnes (Westfield, Mass.) and freshman Tyler Beach (Quincy, Mass.) each had two hits to account for Westfield State second game offensive output, as senior Pete Liimatainen (West Barnstable, Mass.) suffered the setback on the mound in relief to fall to 0-3 on the season.
Massachusetts Maritime, which posted the 11th 20-win season in school history and first since 2008, is seeded second in the upcoming MASCAC championships and will host the winner of Thursday’s opening round elimination game between third-seeded Fitchburg State and sixth-seeded Framingham State on Friday afternoon at Commodore Hendy Field beginning at 3:00 p.m. The Buccaneers are in the double elimination format of this year’s tournament, which will continue next Saturday and Sunday at Salem State.
Westfield State is seeded fourth in this year’s MASCAC championships and will take on fifth-seeded Bridgewater State in opening round single elimination play on Thursday afternoon at Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass.– Story courtesy of Massachusetts Maritime Sports Information
