DeAndrade's blasts, school records down: BSU baseball team having triumphant turnaround

BRIDGEWATER – The Bridgewater State University baseball team is in the midst of a 52-win, 22-loss turnaround after a drought of eight consecutive seasons with a sub-.500 record.

The secret?

Standing near the dugout on Wednesday, shortly after a 14-7 win over Wentworth that extended a stretch of 14 wins in the team's last 16 games, fifth-year coach Greg Zackrison kept it simple.

"Just going out recruiting," he said.

“We’ve got a lot of good players here. A lot of my guys here chose Bridgewater over a lot of other good schools. And, truthfully, COVID has helped. Some of our guys have a couple extra years (of eligibility), our pitching staff is relatively older and they’re all in grad school. I’d say last year and the beginning of this year, we’ve been relying on pitching to carry us and lately the bats have been coming alive. This whole class, they’re all clicking together.”

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And to deliver Wednesday's win, one of Zackrison's youngest hauls shined the brightest. As did one of the oldest.

DeAndrade's big day

Freshman catcher Nolan DeAndrade, a 2022 Bridgewater-Raynham graduate, appeared in 13 of the team's 28 games (and only had 42 plate appearances all season) entering play against Wentworth, but rocketed the first and second home runs of his collegiate career over the fence.

“The power is there. Has been since Day 1," Zackrison said. "The biggest thing is adjusting to college pitching. He steps in the box and now college pitchers can throw curveballs for strikes. That’s what he needs to adjust to. Back in high school, when they walked him or pitchers couldn’t throw curveballs for strikes, he feasted. So now he’s just learning. He’s also in the toughest position there is, catcher, so there’s a learning curve of trying to catch (veteran pitchers) Matt Josselyn, Matt Seavey, Tyler Dasilva-Mederios, all of those guys, then trying to go hit. He’s got a lot on his plate. But, he’s done a great job. He’ll just keep getting better.”

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DeAndrade's new home ballpark is located just seven minutes, and two miles, from his alma mater. Never know – maybe one day he'll send a home run ball back to his high school stomping grounds.

“I’ve driven by this field pretty much every day of my life," DeAndrade said. "So, to hit my first college home run on it, it just makes it awesome.”

The first of his career flew over the center field wall (labeled 400 feet from home plate) in the second inning to bring Bridgewater State within one, 3-2. His second was a two-run shot to right-center field in the sixth that gave the Bears their first lead of the game, 7-6, to seal a four-run comeback in the frame.

“As a freshman,” veteran right-hander Tyler Dasilva-Medeiros said with a smile. “I knew his time was coming. For a freshman, he’s a really big kid. Big, talented kid. He makes some freshman mistakes, but he’s learning as the year goes on. He’s just better as it goes.”

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DeAndrade is batting .231 with 8 RBIs and an on-base percentage of .304 in 39 at-bats. He has recorded nine total hits, including three doubles, one triple and the two blasts. In Wednesday's win, he went 2-for-3 with a walk.

“Our field usually plays very big," Zackrison said. "That’s the first time I’ve seen an opposite field home run here by a righty, or a lefty. That shows how much power he has. I think he has the confidence, he just needs to keep working and playing. … He’s going to be a very, very good player. It wouldn’t surprise me if his name is in the record book, too, some day.”

Rewriting the record books

The reason Zackrison added "too" is, Dasilva-Medeiros made history to cap Wednesday's win.

Dasilva-Medeiros, of Taunton, set the program's all-time saves record (16) with his fifth of the season against Wentworth, a mark that has stood since Kevin O'Leary set it in 1996 and school Hall-of-Famer Fred Martin matched it in 1998.

Dasilva-Medeiros entered with the bases loaded in the eight inning, as Bridgewater State led 10-7 with one out. He struck out the first Wentworth batter and drew a fly-out to center field to end the inning. The Bears' lineup tacked on four more runs in the home half of the frame to pull away.

"It was pretty surreal. The last time I pitched was about two weeks ago. (Lately), in the seventh and eighth innings, we've been able to break it open so I missed a couple opportunities. But today felt really good to get out there and have my guys have my back, and for us to battle."

Dasilva-Medeiros has earned five saves and maintained a 0.90 ERA in his eight appearances this season.

"He's been itching" for the record, Zackrison said. "He knows it's been hanging over his head. Now it's done, he can finally relax a little bit and keep doing what he's doing."

Fifth-year right-hander Matt Josselyn, a Whitman-Hanson alum, was also projected to make history in his start against Fitchburg State on Saturday, as he is four innings shy of setting the program's mark for innings-pitched. The current record of 362 was set in 2012.

Last year, Josselyn set the team record for most consecutive scoreless innings (40.1). He debuted this season with a perfect game on Opening Day against Rivier on March 5 (4-0 win) and he currently has a 2.64 ERA and 51 strikeouts through 44.1 innings across seven starts.

“Matt has been a leader on and off the field," Zackrison said. "It’s been pretty cool the way the last two years have run, with the records and success we’ve been having.”

A winning swing

After a combined 81-151 slate from 2013-21, the Bears ripped off back-to-back winning seasons. The team went 30-15 with bid for the NCAA qualifier last spring, and then parlayed a 22-7 off of it this year behind a dynamic lineup.

The Bears have scored double-digit runs 11 times, including a whopping total of 34 in a runaway win over MCLA on April 2.

“Swing the bat hard," Zackrison revealed the key. "We strike out a little bit, but we swing. That’s what we preach all the time: just keep swinging. Also, we have a lot of guys that can run. We put a lot of pressure on pitchers with stolen bases and other stuff like that. We’ve been able to manufacture (runs) when we need to, and luckily we get those big innings.”

Bridgewater State has outscored its opponents 164-70 as it ripped off 14 wins in the last 16 outings, with a team batting average of .322.

“There’s a lot of talent," Dasilva-Medeiros said. "It’s kind of like a brotherhood we have here. I’m just glad to be a part of it. ... When one of us gets down, there’s always one guy to pick us up. It’s a domino effect for this team. Once we get going, it’s hard to stop us.”

Lead-off hitter Scott Emerson (.296 batting average), outfielder Jay Wladkowski (.344) – who mashed a home run Wednesday – outfielder Dan Jasmin (.312), Riley Thornell (.402), Kevin Lindsay, of East Bridgewater (.374) and Jay Molis (.287) are a few of the leaders among the consistent contributors.

The team also features locals such as sophomore pitcher Shane Handrahan (Raynham), senior outfielder Sean Goudy (Weymouth), senior catcher Mathew Pigeon (Canton), freshman utility player Scott Ritz (Quincy), junior Jack Moynihan (Taunton), Cameron Breault (Buzzards Bay), Nathan Labonte (Raynham), Riley Thornell (Wareham) and Owen Bates (Rochester).

“This is a good one," Zackrison said of the collection of talent. "I can’t get too far ahead of myself. We still have three conference series to go, but this is a heck of a group.”