Bulldogs complete weekend sweep of Mount

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Tom Gavitt (North Stonington, Conn.) and sophomore Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) both hit home runs in the second inning of game one and freshman Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) drove in three runs in game two as the Bryant University baseball team swept Mount St. Mary's 8-3 and 12-3 on Sunday afternoon at E.T. Straw Family Stadium.

The Bulldogs are now 31-10 overall and 11-1 in Northeast Conference play after their four-game sweep of the Mountaineers (13-20, 6-10). Bryant has now won 30 or more game in eight-straight seasons and has defeated the Mount 18-straight times. Sunday's first game was the completion of Friday's game that was suspended in the top of the fourth inning.

GAME ONE

Gavitt's solo home run gave the Black and Gold a lead and McCarthy followed suit two batters later with a two-run blast to left to make it 3-0 Bryant before the rains came on Friday. 

Once the teams resumed play on Sunday, Bryant quickly went to work and tacked on three runs in the fifth to make it a six-run game. Sophomore Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) singled, Gavitt singled and sophomore AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) brought in a run with a base knock through the left side. A McCarthy single plated the second run and Zarozny scored on a wild pitch to cap the inning.

Bryant completed its scoring with single runs in the seventh and eighth. In the seventh, freshman Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) drove in Zarozny with a sac fly to center. The Bulldogs then scored in the eighth as Gavitt hit into a double play with the bases loaded.

Taking over for junior Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.) in the fourth, Patterson earned his third win of the season. He allowed three runs on four hits and struck out six in six innings. The Mount touched him for a two-out single in the fifth and a two-run double in the ninth. In between, he allowed just three baserunners and finished off the victory with a ground ball to first.

McCarthy, Zarozny and freshman Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) all had three hits in Bryant's 16-hit attack. Gavitt had two hits and two runs scored, Zarozny scored three times and McCarthy drove in three runs.

GAME TWO

Bryant raced out to a 4-0 lead and scored five runs in the eighth inning to complete the weekend sweep with a 12-3 victory.

The Bulldogs scored once in the first, twice in the second and once more in the fourth to open their four-run advantage. Junior Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) singled, stole second and scored on an Albanese sac fly to give the Black and Gold a first inning run. In the second, Rinn doubled and came around to score on a wild pitch and freshman Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) plated McCarthy with a single to make it 3-0. Fabio brought home McCarthy again in the fourth with a sac fly to push the lead to four.

Mount, however, rallied in the bottom of the inning. A double and an infield error brought home the first run and Chris DelVecchio's RBI single plated the second. Tommy Quealy followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 4-3 and put runners on the corners with just one out. Sophomore Michael Marshall (Maynard, Mass.) was then summoned from the Bryant bullpen and he got line drive to short that classmate Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) turned into an inning-ending double play as he fired back to first to double off the runner.

The Mountaineers threatened again in the fifth as Brandon Scott and Andrew Clow led off the inning with consecutive singles. Marshall came back strong though and induced a 4-6-3 double play ball from Kory Britton before getting Zach Hostetter to fly out to left to end the inning.

Senior lefty Jonathan Cohen (Norwalk, Conn.) came on in the sixth and he was also able to escape a tight situation. DelVecchio started a two-out rally with a double but Cohen got a fly ball to center to strand runners on first and second and keep the Black and Gold ahead by one.

Bryant's offense rewarded its bullpen by scoring three times in the seventh and five more times in the eighth to put the game away. Albanese singled and Zarozny walked to start the inning and junior John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) scored one with a single up the middle. Rinn followed with an RBI single of his own and Mullen eventually scored on a passed ball to make it 7-3.

The Bulldogs then erupted in the eighth. After a walk and a bunt single opened the inning, Anderson scored a run with an RBI single and Albanese plated two with a triple into the right field corner. A fielder's choice ground out and a wild pitch would account for the final two runs the Bulldogs scored in the game.

Bingel and junior Alex Lagos (Wrentham, Mass.) combined to retire the final six batters of the game, with Lagos striking out a pair in the ninth. Marshall was credited with his first collegiate victory after tossing 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Cohen added two scoreless innings as well. Sophomore Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) started and allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits in 3.1 innings.

Offensively, Anderson (2-6, 2R), Albanese (2-5, 3RBI, 2R), Rinn (2-4) and Fabio (2-4, 2RBI) all collected multiple hits for the Bulldogs. McCarthy and Zarozny each added a pair of runs scored to cap their outstanding weekends. Zarozny hit .500 with two home runs, four RBI and nine runs scored, while McCarthy hit .500 with two home runs, six RBI and seven runs scored.

The Bulldogs return welcome Northeastern to Conaty Park on Wednesday, April 30 to begin a five-game homestand. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.