MASCAC SEMIFINALS: Salem Edged by Bridgewater, 7-4

THE BASICS

Salem State, 4 at Bridgewater State, 7

Records: 

Salem State Vikings (21-16)

Bridgewater State Bears (29-8)

Location: Bridgewater, Mass. - Alumni Park

Date: Friday, May 8, 2026

THE LEAD: The No. 2 seed Salem State baseball team dropped its Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) semifinals matchup at No. 1 Bridgewater State, 7-4, on Friday afternoon at Alumni Park. 

HOW IT HAPPENED:

• Bridgewater struck first in the bottom half of the first inning thanks to a sacrifice fly from Joshua Selander. However, Salem grabbed its first lead in the top of the third when Owen Duggan (Billerica, Mass.) was hit by a pitch that allowed the first Vikings run to come in. In the next at-bat, Ethan Stepputtis (Prospect, Conn.) drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to deep right, which gave the squad a 2-1 advantage. 
• After the Bears tied things up again at two in the fourth, the Vikings retook the lead with an RBI single off the bat of Jonny Payne (Seekonk, Mass.) that was rifled past Bridgewater's diving third basemen. 
• The Bears threatened to take the lead again in the bottom half of the frame when the hosts had runners on second and third with one out. Despite the threat, Nolan Currier (Maynard, Mass.) escaped the jam by retiring the next two batters via strikeout and a groundout. In the top half of the seventh, Salem grabbed its largest lead of the day when Duggan ripped a single up the middle, making it 4-2.
• Even with the two-run deficit, Bridgewater would not go quietly as the Bears pulled back ahead with a five-run eighth and had a 7-4 lead. In the final inning, Salem had a chance to cut into the deficit when Duggan drew a one-out walk. Unfortunately, Bridgewater's pitcher Chase Beach retired the next two hitters for the 7-4 win.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS: 

• Duggan led the Salem offense with two RBIs on the day. Stepputtis and Payne were the other Viking hitters to record an RBI on Friday.
• Currier earned the no-decision in the start after going 6.0 IP while allowing four hits, two runs (one earned), and striking out five.
• Nick Krompegal (Bristol, Conn.) ended up with the loss by tossing 1.1 IP and giving up four hits, five runs (four earned), and striking out one.
• Four different Bridgewater hitters had an RBI on Friday (Rylan Secovich, Joshua Selander, Logan Petrosino, and Jeyden Espinal).
• Bears starter Danny Jasmin ended up with a no-decision as well after going 2.2 IP and allowing one hit, two runs (zero earned), and striking out three.
• Beach ended up with the win for the Bears after coming in for relief. He finished with a final line of 3.0 IP, giving up two hits, one run (zero earned), and striking out six.
• Bridgewater held the slight advantage in hits, 8-5.

UP NEXT:

No. 2 seed Salem will now play in an elimination game against No. 3 seed Worcester State on Saturday, May 9, at 10:00 a.m. The winner of tomorrow's elimination game then heads to the MASCAC Championship against No. 1 seed Bridgewater State and would have to beat the hosts twice. The Championship would take place 30-minutes after the elimination game.