Baseball Falls To Salem State, 6-5, In MASCAC Championship Game

2015 MASCAC Baseball Tournament Bracket

Buzzards Bay, MA --- Salem State freshman Andrew McLaughin (Peabody, MA) pumped out five 2/3 frames of relief and sophomore Andrew Deloury (Andover, MA) earned tournament MVP honors to help lead the second-seeded Vikings to a 6-5 triumph over #3 Worcester State in the MASCAC Baseball Tournament Championship game this afternoon at Hendy Field.

In a rematch of last year's conference tournament title game, the Vikings (25-13) claimed their second MASCAC Tournament title in the last three years and third overall as they also captured the leagues automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.

The Lancers (27-16), who forced a second game against unbeaten Salem State, defeated them 9-6 in earlier this morning. Worcester State fell in the quarterfinals to the Vikings, 6-0, but came back and posted a 6-1 win over Mass Maritime and a 4-0 triumph over Framingham State to stay alive through the semifinals.

Worcester State made their eighth MASCAC Championship game appearance since the tournament started in 2001.

With the game tied up 5-5 entering the top of the ninth, Salem State scored the deciding run by taking advantage of a high throw by the third baseman to get freshman Dan Connors (Danvers, MA) speeding for home on an attempted squeeze bunt.

McLaughlin (5-0), however, completed his outstanding performance on the hill with a scoreless ninth to put the stamp on a come-from-behind victory. He fanned two in his seventh appearance while permitting one earned run to go with three hits. 

Down 4-2 entering the fifth, the Vikings pulled even on a fielding error by the shortstop and an infield RBI single by freshman Jose Cedano (Lawrence, MA).

SSU took their second lead of the contest in the top of the eighth as junior Mike Davis (Peabody, MA) drove in Deloury on a sacrifice fly. DeLoury started off the frame with a three bagger to the deep part of center field.

Bolio helped the Blue and Gold respond in the bottom of the same frame on a lead-off triple of his own to the gap in right center. Senior Nick Gikas (Danvers, MA) followed by bringing him in on a successful squeeze bunt to tie up the game at 5-5.

Salem State started off the second game of the championship series by producing a single run on a fielding error by the third baseman.

WSU came right back, juiced the bases and plated runs on a sacrifice fly by senior David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) and a squeeze bunt by senior Cody Osburn (Sacramento, CA) to go ahead 2-1.

The Vikings promptly tied the game on a run scoring triple by Deloury, however the Lancers notched solo tallies over the next two stanzas to double up their opponents, 4-2.

Senior Zach George (Attleboro, MA) hammered a long fly ball to score sophomore Mike Powers (Weymouth, MA) in the bottom of the second and Bolio stretched out an RBI triple to help bring in Osburn with two away in the third.

Senior Ben Libuda (Auburn, MA) was dealt the loss for the Lancers (5-3) for allowing the go-ahead run to score in the top of the ninth. 

The Lancers outslugged their counterparts, 9-8, with the multi-hitters being sophomore Jake Ryan (Whitinsville, MA), who also had a three-bagger and was stranded in the bottom of the seventh, Barry and Bolio.

The repeat hitters for the Vikings were Connors and Beliveau.

In the opener, Bolio and Ruggiero both recorded three hits apiece and combined for four runs and three RBI's. To also pace an attack that outslugged their opponents, 15-11, Ryan, Barry and Powers all chipped in with two hits each.

The Lancers built up a quick 8-0 advantage and never looked back.

Apart of a four-run top of the first to start off the game, Ruggiero drove in Ryan and he crossed home plate for the 2-0 lead before Gikas and sophomore Brian Bonacquisti (Pittsfield, MA) tacked solo RBIs.

In the very next frame, Ruggiero, Osburn and Bolio strung together a trifecta of consecutive hits to plate runs before Gikas had a safety squeeze to cap off the scoring.

Salem State broke up the shutout in the bottom of the third when Deloury touched the plate on a wild pitch and then the Vikings made it an 8-4 contest on a three-run home run to right center by Davis.

The Lancers got one run back in the as Osburn helped score Barry on a deep fly ball to right field in the top of the eighth, but then Salem State pulled closer by scoring one more time in the very same stanza as Beliveau had an RBI single to trail 9-5.

The Vikings rallied one final time in the bottom of the ninth when freshman Dan Connors (Danvers, MA) rapped out an RBI single up the middle for to pull within three while runners stood on first and second. However, senior Zach Zona (Auburn, MA/St. Peter-Marian) ended the game on a fly out to force the second game.

Zona (4-3) went the distance on 140 pitches (94 strikes) as he fanned 12, permitted six runs (five earned) on 11 base-knocks with a trio of walks.

Junior Cato LaCroix (Holliston, MA) absorbed the loss for the Vikings (3-2) as he failed to get out of the top of the first. Classmate Peter Gonski (E. Lyme, MA) was a bright spot in the bullpen with six frames of six-hit baseball before he was lifted in the top of the eighth.

Beliveau, Deloury and senior Kevin Carens (Northboro, MA) all had two base-knocks each for the Vikings. Overall, Deloury was 4-for-6 with four runs scored on the day out of the ninth slot in the order.