Albanese, Wilcox lead sweep of FDU on Saturday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Freshman Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) had three hits and scored three runs in the opener and sophomore Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings in the nightcap as the Bryant University baseball team swept a doubleheader from Fairleigh Dickinson by the scores of 8-3 and 8-0 on Saturday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.

With the victories, the Bulldogs (36-12, 16-3 NEC) move within a half game of clinching their third-straight NEC Regular-Season title. Bryant is now 17-2 all-time against the Knights (13-29, 4-15).

GAME ONE

Albanese finished 3-for-4 with three runs scored to pace a 13-hit attack for the Black and Gold in game one. Senior Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) earned his eighth win of the year with 5.1 innings of three-run ball.

Bryant opened the first game of the doubleheader with four runs in its first two at-bats. Albanese doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single from sophomore Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) in the first. Freshman Zane Smith (Ilion, N.Y.) started the second with a single, stole second and then scored as classmate Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) doubled to right center. A Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) sac fly and an RBI single from sophomore AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) capped the inning and gave Bryant a 4-0 lead.

FDU got on the board in the fourth as Ed Sprague hit a solo home run. The Knights added two more runs in the fifth as Matt McCann singled with the bases loaded.

The Bulldogs finished their scoring with two runs in the fifth and single runs in the sixth and seventh. Zarozny and McCarthy both clubbed RBI doubles in the fifth and Anderson drilled his fourth home run of the season in the sixth to make it 7-3. Bingel completed the scoring with a two-out single in the top of the seventh.

In earning his eighth win of the year, Schlitter moved into a tie with Mike Florest for second all-time with 26 career victories. He faced the minimum over the first 3.1 innings before Sprauge's homer in the fourth. Schlitter worked into the sixth inning before handing the ball to junior Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) with one out. Lacosse came on and got a fly ball to right that turned into a double play as Albanese threw out Zach Tondi trying to score from third.

Zarozny (2-4, 2RBI), McCarthy (2-4, 2RBI) and Bingel (2-4, 2RBI) all finished with multiple hits and two RBI.

GAME TWO

Wilcox put together one of the most dominating performances of his career in game two, striking out three and allowing just two hits over five scoreless frames to earn his third win of the season. Sophomore James Davitt (Wallingford, Conn.) followed with two perfect innings of relief to close the door.

The hard-throwing right-hander faced the minimum over his five-inning outing before a 50-minute rain delay after the fifth knocked him from the game. Wilcox allowed singles in the second and fourth innings but induced double play balls on both occasions. Davitt came on to strike out two over the last two frames.

Bryant did a majority of its scoring in two innings in game two, plating three runs in the third and four runs in the fifth. In the third, sophomore Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) plated Albanese with a double to right center to open the scoring. Junior Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) followed with a two-run home run, his fourth of the season, to make it 3-0.

An error, walk and hit by pitch loaded the bases with one out for the Bulldogs in the fifth and Mountford drew a walk to bring home the first run. Freshman Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) doubled home a run and sophomore Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) scored Fabio and pinch-runner Joseph Paparelli (Preston, Conn.) with a single through the left side to make it 7-0.

Once the rain had subsided, Zarozny punctuated Bryant's sweep with a laser over the center field wall in the top of the sixth. It was his fourth home run of the season.

Albanese and Zarozny each scored a pair of runs, while Mountford drove in three in his return to the lineup.

The Bulldogs and Knights wrap up their series on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.