Owls Snap Bears 16-Game Win Streak with 2-1 Victory

WESTFIELD, Mass. – Westfield State first-year starter Griffin Pollard (Mystic, Conn.) threw a quality start with six innings of one-run ball then Ethan Quinn (Northfield, Mass.) and AJ Moore (Long Beach, Calif.) followed in relief to hold the Bears to just five hits in a 2-1 MASCAC victory from Bud and Jim Hagan Field in Westfield, Mass. on Friday afternoon.

The Owls, which snapped the Bears' 16-game winning streak, improve to 10-8 in the MASCAC and 13-20 on the season. Bridgewater, who are currently receiving votes in the D3baseball.com top 25 poll, lose just their second league game of the season, sliding to 15-2 in the conference and 21-6 overall.

All the scoring in the game was done early with Bridgewater taking advantage of a failed pickoff in a run down as Nick Berube singled into left to bring in DJ Prampin.

Beyond the second inning, the Owls played clean baseball the rest of the way and got just enough offense to prevail. In the bottom of the fourth, TJ May (North Granby, Conn.) led off the frame with a single, then Antonio Scalise (Pittsfield, Mass.) scalded a long fly ball out to left field which one-hopped up against the wall, scoring May for a RBI double.

Kaen Smith (Washingtonville, N.Y.) dropped down a sacrifice bunt to move Scalise 90 feet away, then Jeremiah Bobbi (Lebanon, Conn.) drilled a hard-hit grounder to the left side, forcing Berube to make a diving stop on the infield grass with his throw to home plate not in time as the Owls took a 2-1 lead.

Pollard and the Owls pen would not relinquish the one-run advantage for the remainder of the game. In his final inning of work, he pitched around a one-out walk, getting Prampin to fly out to the warning track in left field to end the frame. He picked up his third win of the season after throwing six innings, allowing one unearned run on three hits. He walked three and struck out three.

With little margin for error, Westfield turned to another freshman arm in Quinn who bridged the seventh and eighth innings to get to Moore. Dominick Zuliani poked a one-out single down the left field line, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate. Quinn struck out the next batter, then in the next at bat, Scalise fired a dart to second base to cut down Zuliani trying to advance into scoring position, completing the seventh with the Owls clinging to a one-run lead.

Quinn came back out for the eighth inning and was just as sharp, striking out two while forcing a rollover grounder to Connor Benvenuto (New City, N.Y.) to retire the side in order.

In the ninth, the Owls turned the ball over to their dependable closer in Moore who allowed a leadoff single to Joshua Selander but then steadied to record the final three outs. Benvenuto made a nice play at third to record the first out of the inning, charging hard on a slow chopper before firing to first as his only play to get the runner, moving Selander to second as the tying run. Moore forced soft contact to the next two hitters with both Bears hitters getting the barrel underneath the ball, a pop up to Chase Racine (Pittsfield, Mass.) in foul territory, then a sky-high pop up on the infield to Nick Lenfest (Westfield, Mass.) to seal the win.

Moore locked down his fifth save of the season, which leads the MASCAC. Quinn has now posted three scoreless appearances out of the bullpen this season.

Bridgewater matched the Owls pitching through the middle and late innings with Matt Kustigian registering four scoreless frames in relief to keep the Bears behind by one. Jaden Arruda was tabbed with the loss after allowing two runs on seven hits over four innings. He walked one and fanned two.

The Owls did a great job of putting the ball in play and limiting free passes, striking out just four times as a team in 31 at bats while only issuing three walks as a staff.

May and Sam Palmer (Medfield, Mass.) both had two hits for the Owls with Palmer also stealing two bases. Zuliani was aboard three times for the Bears, generating two hits and a walk.

The series shifts to Bridgewater State tomorrow as the Owls travel east for a doubleheader against the Bears beginning at 12:00 P.M.