BRIDGEWATER, Mass. – The Bridgewater State University baseball team posted a 3-1 victory over Curry College on Wednesday afternoon at Alumni Park.
The Bears improve to 7-13 on the season as they snapped a nine-game losing streak. The Colonels fall to 6-16 overall.
Senior right-hander Ryan Hayward (Lynn, Mass.) allowed just one unearned run on two hits over six innings of work to pick up his first win of the season for Bridgewater State. Hayward (1-2) walked two and fanned one.
Junior left-hander Samuel Devine (Bourne, Mass.) worked three scoreless and hitless innings of relief to record his first save in a BSU uniform. Devine retired nine of the ten batters he faced and struck out five.
Junior second baseman Scott O'Brien (East Bridgewater, Mass.) paced the BSU offense as he went 3-for-3 with a double, two runs and an RBI.
O'Brien singled and scored the first run of the game on an RBI double off the bat of junior catcher Anthony Licciardello (Haverhill, Mass.) to give the Bears a 1-0 lead in the second inning.
After the Colonels tied it in the top of the sixth with an unearned run, O'Brien helped the Bears reclaim the lead with an RBI single in the home half of the inning. With one out, sophomore first baseman Reed Pike (Bellingham, Mass.) doubled and moved to third on a base hit by senior right fielder Keegan Austin-MacInnis (Lakeville, Mass.). O'Brien then rapped a single into left field to give BSU the 2-1 advantage.
Bridgewater added an insurance tally in the eighth as O'Brien doubled with two outs and came around to score when Licciardello reached on a two-base throwing error.
Senior center fielder Travis Ritchie (Taunton, Mass.) also finished with multiple hits for the Bears as he singled twice in four at bats.
Freshman right-hander Brandon Bercovitz (West Bridgewater, Mass.) got the start on the mound for Curry but did not figure in the decision. Bercovitz gave up a run on four hits and a walk over three innings of work. Sophomore right-hander David Griffin (Hanover, Mass.) was the pitcher of record for the Colonels. Griffin (3-4) allowed a run on three hits in two innings with three strikeouts.
In upcoming action, the Bears host a MASCAC doubleheader with Worcester State University on Saturday afternoon with game one getting underway at noon. The 1996 and 1997 teams will be honored between games of the twinbill. The Colonels travel to Rhode Island College tomorrow afternoon for a 3:30 game with the Anchormen.
