Bulldogs nipped, 1-0, by Xavier

BASEBALL DROPS PITCHING DUEL, 1-0, TO XAVIER

MASON, Ohio – Senior Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.) allowed just one unearned run over seven stellar innings but Xavier mustered the lone run of the afternoon as it defeated the Bryant University baseball team 1-0 on Tuesday at Prasco Park.

The loss snapped the Bulldogs' (4-7-1) four-game win streak. It was their first meeting with the Musketeers (6-8).

In a game dominated by pitching, Xavier used a two-out rally to plate its only run in the third inning. Brian Bruening doubled to left-center, moved to third on a passed ball and scored on a slow chopper to third from Vinny Nittoli.

Both offenses were dormant for the rest of the afternoon thanks to superb starting pitching. Xavier's Scott Klever kept the Bulldogs off balance all afternoon, allowing just four hits over 7.1 scoreless innings. He allowed a leadoff single but induced a 4-6-3 double play to avoid trouble. In the fourth, Bryant put runners on first and second with one out but Klever got a fly out and a ground ball to first to end the threat. A strikeout-throwout double play ended the Bryant fifth before Klever escaped his biggest jam of the afternoon. Sophomore Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) started the inning with a perfect bunt single and an infield error followed to put two runners on. Junior Tom Gavitt (North Stonington, Conn.) advanced both runners with a bunt but the Bulldogs were unable to score as Xavier second baseman Selby Chidemo made a diving play up the middle to rob sophomore Daniel St. George (Shelton, Conn.) of a game-tying single.

Michaud was just as good for the Black and Gold. The right-hander tossed a season-high seven innings, allowing just five hits while striking out five. After allowing the two-out run in the third, Michaud went on a tear, retiring 11 of the next 12 Musketeers. He got a strikeout to end the third, erased a leadoff single in the fifth with a double play to start a string of 10-straight Musketeers set down. He got a strikeout and two ground outs in a perfect fifth, three fly outs in the sixth and retired the first two batters in the seventh before Stephen Schoettmer singled to center. Michaud ended his afternoon by inducing a ground ball to short.

Bryant put the tying run on base in each of the last two innings but it didn't prove fruitful. They left a runner on first in the eighth and senior Adam Claire's (Litchfield, Conn.) two-out single in the ninth could not spark a rally.

 Sophomore Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) came on in relief in the eighth inning and recorded his fifth-consecutive scoreless outing. He allowed a leadoff single and eventually faced a first-and-third situation but got out of the jam by inducing an inning-ending 6-3 double play. Anderson's bunt single in the sixth inning extended his career-high hitting streak to seven games.

The Bulldogs will now have two days off before starting a three-game series with Ohio State on Friday in Columbus, Ohio.