McAvoy headlines sweep with 12 Ks

** DUE TO INCLEMENT WEATHER, SUNDAY'S GAME WITH ALBANY HAS BEEN CANCELLED. **

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.) struck out a career-high 12 batters and tossed his second-straight complete game shutout to lead the Bryant University baseball team to a 6-0 victory over Albany on Saturday morning at Conaty Park. The Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 14-4 victory in game two.

McAvoy's gem and the offensive outburst in game two gave the Bulldogs (14-8) their 11th win in 13 games and a series sweep over the Great Danes (4-13). Saturday's second game was called due to rain in the bottom of the fifth inning. The series finale originally schedule for Sunday has been cancelled as well.

GAME ONE

A week after blanking Delaware, McAvoy (3-1) put together arguably the most dominating start of his collegiate career against the Great Danes. He allowed just six hits, struck out 12 and only issued one walk. He struck out the first two batters of the game, whiffed the side in the third, punched out two in the fourth and finished off his gem by striking out the side in the seventh. Over his last five starts, McAvoy is 3-0 with a 3.24 ERA, 36 strikeouts and just five walks in 33.1 innings.

Bryant scored all the runs it would need in the second and third innings. In the second, an infield error and a hit batter opened the inning and freshman Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) plated the first run with a one-out single to right field. Junior Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) made it 2-0 with a double down the left field line.

The Bulldogs tacked on four runs in the third to complete their scoring. After sophomore Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) was hit with a pitch, the Black and Gold strung together six-straight hits to plate four runs. Freshman Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) doubled home a run, sophomore Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) and Bingel swatted back-to-back RBI singles and Anderson capped the inning with an RBI knock of his own.

Anderson finished the day with a career-high four hits (4-for-4) and drove in two. Junior Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) added two hits, Bingel finished with two hits and two RBI and Gavitt scored a pair of runs.

GAME TWO

Bryant waisted little time in the second game, scoring four runs in the first and five in the third on its way to a rain-shortened victory.

Anderson and junior John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) opened the game with back-to-back singles before an error allowed Anderson to come around to score. A Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) RBI single made it 2-0 and RBI hits from Daniel St. George (Shelton, Conn.) and Bingel pushed the lead to 4-0.

In the third, the Bulldogs used just one hit to score five runs. Four walks and a throwing error allowed two runs to score and McCarthy capped the big inning with a bases-clearing double to the wall in left center to make it 9-1.

Bryant added two runs in the fourth and three more in the fifth before the game was called to complete its scoring. Anderson laced a two-run double in the fourth and Albanese tripled home two before scoring on a wild pitch in the fifth. The game was officially called following a four-pitch walk to St. George.

Sophomore Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) started game two for Bryant and took a no-hitter into the fifth inning before settling for a two-hitter. He allowed four runs on six walks and struck out two to earn his first collegiate victory. Three walks and a hit batter led to a run in the second but Wilcox escaped further damage with a 1-2-3 double play. The Great Danes pushed across two runs in the fourth thanks to a pair of walks and a wild pitch and Chris Lepre's one-out single through the left side in the fifth finally broke up the no-hitter. Wilcox ended his afternoon with a strikeout to strand a runner at second.

Anderson finished game two 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored, while McCarthy added two hits and four RBI. Mountford scored three times and Mullen, Rinn and McCarthy both scored twice.

On the afternoon, Anderson went a perfect 7-for-7 with four RBI and two runs scored. Bingel (3-5, 3 RBI, 2 R) and Mountford (3-5, 1 RBI, 3 R) both collected three hits.

Bryant returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Brown at Conaty Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.