BSC Baseball makes history

Steven M Miller Jr, Staff Writer

Information in this report is courtesy of the Sports Information Department and Mike Holbrook, SID

In a record setting performance, the Bridgewater State College baseball team equaled or tied a number of NCAA and school records as the Bears defeated Newbury College, 57-1, yesterday at Alumni Park.

In a game that lasted only 7 innings, BSC broke the single-game RBI record and tied the single-game hits record for all NCAA Divisions. The Bears registered 54 runs batted in and pounded out 44 hits. The old RBI record of 53 was set by Division II University of Saint Francis of Illinois versus Robert Morris on April 2, 1996. The NCAA hits record of 44 was accomplished by Saint Francis in the very same game.

The Bears shattered the Division III records for most runs scored in a game and greatest margin of victory which was set by Marietta College back in 1999. Marietta defeated La Roche College, 48-0, on April 7, 1999.

Bridgewater scored 13 runs in the first inning, 9 in the second, 9 in the third, 16 in the fourth, 8 in the fifth, and a pair of runs in the sixth. The 16-run fourth inning set the school mark for the most runs in an inning. The previous record was a 13-run fourth innings in a 30-0 win at Fitchburg State on April 27, 2002. Along with their 44 hits, the Bears were also issued 20 base-on-balls and were hit by pitch 4 times.

Junior Steve Smith tied the NCAA Division III single-game record for hits with 7. Entering the 2007 season, nine players had recoded 7 hits in a game at the Division III level. Most recently C.R Braniff of George Fox banged out 7 hits in a game versus Willamette on March 25, 2006. Smith also set the school record for the most hits in a game and the most RBI in a game with 10.
Smith and freshman Mark Claffey also set the school record for the most runs scored in a game with 7. Both the BSC single-game RBI and runs scored records were previously held by current assistant coach Matt Poitras. Poitras scored 6 runs and drove in 9 versus Wesleyan on April 10, 1997. Smith also belted his second home run of the season in the third inning, a grand slam well over the left field fence.

The Bears were also led by senior Andrew Dillon, who was 5-for-8 with 9 RBI and 6 runs scored on the game. Dillon also hit his fifth and sixth home runs of the season in the game. He hit a two-run home run in the first inning and a grand slam in the fifth.

Including Smith and Dillon, Bridgewater State had 12 players who had at least 2 hits in the game. Of those 12, eight players had 3 or more hits on the game. Standing out for the Bears was Claffey who was 6-for-8 with 7 RBI and seven runs scored and junior Kelly LaDow was 4-for-4 with 3 runs batted in and 4 runs scored.

The game was won by freshman right-hander Ben Altman who picked up his second strait win. In 5 innings he gave up only 2 hits, struck out 7 batters and walked one. He was relieved by junior Pat Higham, who gave a run on two hits. He struck out one and did not walk a batter.

The Bears will play a double header versus #10 ranked Wheaton College tomorrow. We will bring you the highlights.


-Here are some link's from the region and the nation:
-Here's the coverage from the Lowell Sun
-The Enterprise has two links. This is the better one.
-Patriot Ledger also has two links. This one is good.
-The Chicago-Sun Times even has coverage.
-I picked this one up from some of the players away messages from SI.