Bulldogs victimized again by late rally

NORWICH, Conn. – Stony Brook scored four runs in the ninth inning to come from behind and defeat the Bryant University baseball team, 8-5, on Saturday afternoon at Dodd Stadium.

The Bulldogs (16-9) saw their six-game winning streak come to a close as they surrendered a last-inning lead for the fourth time this season. The Seawolves (14-10) evened the all-time series at 1-1 with the victory. The two teams will meet again on Sunday.

Trailing 5-4 entering the ninth, Joshua Mason drew a leadoff walk to start the rally. He moved to second on a wild pitch with one out and scored the tying run on Robert Chavarria single up the middle. Three batters later, Cole Peragine turned on an inside pitch and sent it over the left field wall for a three-run home run to make it 8-5.

Bryant raced out to another early lead on Saturday, scoring four times in the first. Freshman Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) was hit, junior Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) walked and classmate John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) blasted a double to the base of the center field wall to make it 2-0. After a ground ball out, senior Tom Gavitt (North Stonington, Conn.) launched an 0-2 pitch just over the wall in left field to extend the lead to 4-0. It was the third home run of the year for Gavitt.

With their ace Frankie Vanderka settling down after the first, the Seawolves rallied to tie the game with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Stony Brook strung four-straight hits together to score the first run on a Casey Baker single before Anthony Italiano lofted a sac fly to right to make it 4-2. A strikeout ended any further damage but the Seawolves came right back in the fifth to tie it. A hit batter and an infield error put two on with one out and Kevin Courtney laced a single to right to plate a run. Cole Peragine then tied the game with a bloop single to left.

The Bulldogs responded quickly, breaking the tie in their very next at-bat. The first two batters of the inning reached for Bryant but a fly ball to center turned into a double play as the umpires ruled the runner on second left early. On first with two outs, Anderson stole second and sophomore Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) came through with a clutch two-out single to left to give Bryant a 5-4 lead.

Senior righty Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) earned a no decision after he allowed four runs (three earned) on nine hits over six innings. He struck out six and didn't walk a batter. Freshman Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) took over in the seventh and struck out two over two scoreless innings of relief. Junior Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) suffered his third loss of the season, allowing four runs in the ninth.

Offensively, the Black and Gold managed just six hits on the afternoon. Anderson scored a pair of runs, while Mullen and Gavitt each drove in a pair.

The Bulldogs will play a doubleheader on Sunday, facing Stony Brook at 12 p.m. and Connecticut at 4:00 p.m.