Six-run fourth sinks Bulldogs, 6-4

SIX-RUN FOURTH PUSHES BUCKEYES PAST BULLDOGS ON SUNDAY

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Bryant University baseball team jumped out to a 4-0 lead but Ohio State scored all the runs they would need in the fourth inning on its way to a 6-4 victory on Sunday afternoon at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium.

The Buckeyes (12-6) six-run fourth inning gave them the series victory over the Bulldogs (5-9-1). Bryant wrapped up its spring break trip with a 5-3 record.

Trailing 4-0, Ohio State's offense awoke in the fourth inning as it plated six runs. It was a foot away, however, from being another scoreless frame for Bryant starter Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.). The Buckeyes put runners on second and third with one out but Schlitter struck out Jacob Bosiokovic for the second out. He then induced a weak ground ball to second base but Joe Ciamacco beat the throw by a step and both runners never stopped running and scored on the play to make it 4-2. Ciamacco's hustle started a string of five-straight hits that gave Ohio State the lead. Brad Hallberg beat out an infield grounder to third, Greg Solomon made it 4-3 with an RBI single to left, Craig Nennig tied the game with a single to right and Tim Wetzel completed the rally with a two-run single to right to make it 6-4.

Quiet for the first two innings, Bryant's offense erupted to plate four runs in the third inning. Sophomore Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) singled to start the inning, senior Adam Claire (Litchfield, Conn.) stroked a one-out single to right-center and sophomore Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) reached on an infield error to load the bases. Classmate John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) followed with a two-run double down the left field line to give the Bulldogs the lead.

The Black and Gold extended the lead with small ball execution. Senior Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) laid down a perfect safety squeeze to score Anderson from third to make it 3-0. Then, with two outs, Brown took off for second and as the throw went down to second, Mullen took off for home, scoring before Brown was tagged out to make it 4-0.

Both pitching staffs settled down following the big innings. Ohio State's Brian King allowed a two-out walk in the fourth but left the runner at third, worked around a leadoff walk in the fifth and then retired the Bulldogs in order in the sixth, his final inning of the afternoon. Greg Greve relieved King in the seventh and tossed two scoreless innings. He allowed the leadoff batter to reach in each of his two innings but induced a 4-6-3 double play in the seventh and a 6-4-3 twin-killing in the eighth. Trace Dempsey

Schlitter settled down as well, retiring seven batters in a row before allowing a leadoff single in the seventh. He got a pair of ground outs and a strikeout to retire the Buckeyes in the fifth and induced two more ground outs and got a pop out to end the sixth. Sophomore Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) came in for Schlitter with a runner on in the seventh and got out of the inning, striking out Patrick Porter looking to strand a runner on second. Lacosse closed his outing with a scoreless eighth, picking off a runner before striking out the final two batters.

The Bulldogs will now return home to open their 2013 home schedule and their Northeast Conference slate against Mount St. Mary's on Friday, March 22. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.