BOSTON, Mass.--Freshmen pitchers Annie Thomas (Lunenburg, Mass.) and Vic Zechello (Foxborough, Mass.) each hurled shutouts, to lead UMass Boston softball to a doubleheader sweep of Bridgewater State University in the Beacons' home opener.

THE BASICS 

Game One: UMass Boston 3, Bridgewater State 0

Game Two: UMass Boston 8, Bridgewater State 0 (6 Innings)

(UMass Boston 6-4) 

(Bridgewater State 7-7) 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

In their first action since Florida, Thomas and Zechello both shut down the Bears and the team's offense came alive when they needed it, to help UMass Boston earn their first doubleheader sweep of the year. 

GAME ONE

Thomas allowed just four hits and no runs and struck out seven batters to lower her team-leading earned run average to an infintesimal 0.18. The freshman allowed just six baserunners to post her third consecutive scoreless outing.

Junior captain Kaitlyn Morse (Arlington, Mass.) provided all the offense Thomas would need, as Morse went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored an an RBI. Gia Raczkowski (Stoneham, Mass.) added a single, a run and an RBI of her own and Morgan Bishop (Ramsey, N.J.) added the Beacons' final hit and run scored. 

Bridgewater ace Kelly McCarthy fell to 6-3 on the season, as she allowed five hits and three runs, two earned. 

UMass Boston took the lead in the bottom of the third thanks to some small ball. Bishop led off the inning with a single and moved over to second on a sacrifice bunt. Morse followed with her second double of the season to plate Bishop and make it 1-0 in favor of the hosts. 

The Beacons added some insurance for Thomas with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Morse led off with a single but McCarthy retired the next two batters. Raczkowski followed with an RBI single and moved to second on the throw home. Freshman Roxanne Vento (Arlington, Mass.) reached on a McCarthy error and Raczkowski raced all the way home on the play to make it 3-0. 

Just as she did in every inning, Thomas allowed one base runner in the seventh, but worked around it, to hand the Bears a 3-0 loss. 

GAME TWO

Zechello was just as good as Thomas in the nightcap, as the freshman allowed five hits and one walk, while striking out two. With the win, Zechello improved to 3-1 on the year and lowered her ERA to 1.75. 

After a quiet first two inning, UMass Boston blew the game open in the third, as they scored six runs to grab a 7-0 lead. 

Kristina Bove (Medford, Mass.) and Lauren Mitsiaris (Taunton, Mass.) led the Beacons in game two, as the pair each finished with two hits, a run scored and an RBI. Morse continued on her red hot start to the year, as she went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and a pair of walks. 

Kathleen Bailey was handed the loss for Bridgewater State, as she allowed five runs, three earned, in two innings of work. Tara McCann came on for the final three innings and allowed three unearned runs. 

The Beacons jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second, when Mitsiaris drove in Raczkowski, who had opened the inning with a double. 

UMass Boston tacked on six more runs in the third. After a leadoff error and a single, Bove drove in Taylor Pawlina (Woonsocket, R.I.) with an RBI single-that also scored Morse on a Bears error. Alexa St. Angelo (Cranston, R.I.) tacked on an RBI single of her own, to make it 4-0 UMass Boston. After a pitching change, the Beacons loaded the bases and made it 5-0 on a wild pitch. Alyssa Tulley (Lowell, Mass.) added an RBI walk and Taylor Marcotte (Agawam, Mass.) capped off the inning with an RBI groundout. 

Bridgewater would try to answer back in the fourth and fifth innings, but both times Zechello stranded a pair of runners. 

UMass Boston earned the mercy-rule win in the sixth thanks to one final Bridgewater error. Morse walked to start the inning and Bove followed with a single. On the relay throw in, the second baseman threw the ball away trying to get Morse advancing to third and Morse was easily able to score to make it 8-0. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• The Beacons have now had three shutout wins in their past four games. On the season, UMass Boston has either shut out their opponent or been shutout in six of their 10 games. 
• Bridgewater State left 13 runners on base. 
• Morse went 4-for-5 on the day and reached base six times. She is now hitting a team-best .423 with a .559 on-base percentage. 
• After the two shutouts, UMass Boston's team ERA dropped to 1.15 on the season. 
• UMass Boston earned their first-ever sweep over head coach Natalia Ardagna's alma mater. With the sweep, UMass Boston improved to 7-7 all-time against the Bears. 
• The Beacons matched their win total from 2015 (6-24) with Thursday's two wins. 

WHO'S NEXT 

UMass Boston will look to tack on a few more wins on Saturday, as they host Emmanuel College for a non-conference doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m.