By Tamas Bodrog

Comment Contributor

The Bridgewater State University’s baseball team is nearing the end of their season and have a record of 15-12-1.

The Bears currently sit in fifth place in the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MASCAC) with three games left in the season. Bridgewater State hopes it can make its way into the postseason and have a long playoff run like the previous two seasons.

“If we play to our potential we can make it,” said Bridgewater State head coach Rick Smith. “It’s the end of the season that matters most.”

This past week, the Bears picked up a 12-6 nonconference win over the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth before losing both games in a doubleheader to Salem State University on Saturday.

The win over UMass Dartmouth was significant for senior outfielder John Garabedian. The game marked his 152 straight game starting in centerfield for Bridgewater State, a school record.

Garabedian, who has never missed a game in his four seasons, played through an early season injury to keep his streak alive.

“I love baseball, and when you have a passion in a sport, it keeps you awake day and night,” Garabedian said.

Against Salem State, the Bears lost both games 7-3 and 7-4, respectively. In game one, junior pitcher Patrick Martin suffered his first loss of the season.

Despite the loss, Martin is 5-1 with a 2.06 earned run average to lead the Bears. One of Martin’s favorite moments of his first season as a Bear is when he went back to pitch against his former team, Wheaton College, in late March.

“I completely shut them out,” Martin said. “I did not give them any chances. I try to just bring the best out of myself.”

After making the NCAA Tournament the past two seasons, the Bears are looking to turn their up and down play around and have a late season surge

Smith said if the team could finish with 20 or so wins, it would be a good season.

Bridgewater State will host Western New England University on Friday at 3:30 p.m. before wrapping up their season on Saturday with a doubleheader at Framingham State University.

Tamas Bodrog is a Comment Contributor. Managing Editor Greg Dudek edited this story. Email him at gdudek@student.bridgew.edu.