Baseball Slips into Loser's Bracket with 3-0 Loss to Top Seed Bridgewter State

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 seed 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 State in the loser's bracket final at four with the winner of that game moving on to face Bridgewater in 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.

Riley belted the first pitch he saw 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.

Balboni left runners on base for the Rams in each of the first four innings including runners on first and third in the third with one out, but then settled down to retire 16 of the final 18 batters he faced.

Senior 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. Senior designated hitter Pedro Acevedo (Fall River, Mass.) led the Rams at the plate with a pair of singles.

Release courtesy of BSU Sports Information.