Posted: May 11, 2024
Vikings Advance to MASCAC Baseball Tournament Championship Round
Westfield St.
(27-16)
1
Salem St.
(23-14)
2
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Westfield St. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 1 |
|
Salem St. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 2 | 6 | 0 |
SALEM, Mass. – Salem State pitcher Nick Bamforth (Stoneham, Mass.) scattered six hits in 7.2 innings and leftfielder Antonio Belgrove's (Stamford, Conn.) sliding catch to double-off Devin Slattery (Ware, Mass.) on second base, with one out in the top of the ninth propelled the Vikings into the championship round of the MASCAC Baseball Tournament with a thrilling 2-1 victory over Westfield State in an elimination game at The Central Campus Baseball Field on Saturday.
No. 1 Salem State (23-14) faces No. 2 Bridgewater State for the conference championship while the Owls end their season at 27-16.
Both starters pitched into the seventh as Bamforth improved to 4-0 on the year with the win. Bamforth allowed one run and a walk and had three strikeouts. Sean McNamara (Lowell, Mass.) suffered the loss to go to 4-3 after allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts and a pair of walks. Jake Boucher (Wallingford, Conn.) earned his sixth save in 1.1 innings of work.
Boucher drove in Mark Smith (East Haven, Conn.), who singled and stole second, with the game's first run with a base hit to center in the bottom of the first.
Westfield State put a runner on in the fifth and sixth innings, but each time catcher EJ Field (Gloucester, Mass.) gunned out the runner attempting to steal to end the inning.
Three straight two-out singles by Salem State extended the lead to 2-0 in the sixth inning. Belgrove and Aiden Lynch (North Andover, Mass.) hit back-to-back singles before Owen Duggan (Billerica, Mass.) plated a run with a base hit to left, However, Westfield State escaped further damage when leftfielder Sean Clark (Dudley, Mass.) threw out Lynch trying to take third.
The Owls threatened in the eighth as a two-out double by Robinson Guerrero Baez (Dominican Republic) to left center and pinch-hitter Chase Racine's (Pittsfield, Mass.) walk put runners on first and second. Boucher came in to relieve Bamforth and Alex Martin (Shrewsbury, Mass.) came through with a base hit to left to cut the deficit to 2-1.
Slattery hit a one-out double in the ninth for the Owls, and Justin Neidel (Attleboro, Mass.) hit a sinking line drive to left that appeared to tie the game, but Belgrove picked the ball of the top of the turf and easily doubled off Slattery to end the game.
Smith went 2-for-4 with a run for Salem State. Baez finished 2-for-3 with a double and run for the Owls.