Bulldogs jump out early but fall to UConn, 6-3, Wednesday

STORRS, Conn. – The Bryant University baseball team scored three runs in the top of the first but the University of Connecticut used a three-run fifth inning to rally and defeat the Bulldogs, 6-3, Wednesday afternoon at J.O. Christian Field.

With the loss, the Bulldogs fall to 20-7 overall and are now just 1-2 in mid-week games against New England opponents. The Huskies improved to 16-15 overall and are now 6-3 all-time against the Black and Gold.

Wednesday's matchup featured two plays in centerfield that changed the complexion of the game. The first occurrence came in the UConn's deciding three-run fifth inning. With a runner on second and one out, Jack Sundberg hit a soft fly ball to center. Bryant center fielder Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) raced in and appeared to make a diving catch. He alertly got up and fired to second to double-off the runner. The umpires, however, ruled that Albanese trapped the baseball and the Huskies had runners on the corners with one out. With new life, Bryan Daniello hit a chopper to the right side that the Black and Gold couldn't turn into an out, allowing a run to score. Bobby Melley then doubled into the left field corner to score two and make it 6-3.

The second big play came in the eighth inning as the Bulldogs attempted to rally. Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) singled to open the inning and chase reliever Joe Rivera. UConn called on lefty reliever Doug Domnarski to face senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) greeted him with a deep drive to right center. Sundberg, however, sped after the fly ball and made the catch as he crashed into the fence. He got to his feet and fired back in to double-off Bingel to thwart the rally.

After a shaky start, the Huskies' bullpen was the difference in Wednesday's game. Jack Riley, River, Domnarski and Randy Polonia combined to allow just four hits and strikeout nine over the final eight innings. Riley came on with a man on in the second and pitched 2 2/3 scoreless. Rivera, who had thrown just 1 1/3 innings all year, followed with 3 1/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief, Domnarski pitched the eighth and Polonia struck out the side in the ninth to earn his fifth save.

Bryant had no trouble getting to UConn starter Sam Nepiarsky, chasing him eight batters into the game. Junior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) was hit by a pitch to start the game and then went to third as Rinn laced a single to right field. Albanese then followed with a booming double to the base of the wall in left center to make it 2-0. Sophomore Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) made it 3-0 with a sharp single to center to score Albanese.

The Huskies started to chip away with two runs in the bottom of the second. Joe DeRoche-Duffin and Willy Yahn opened the inning with singles and Connor Buckley was walked to load the bases with no outs. Freshman Craig Lacey (Westfield, Mass.) then induced back-to-back ground balls but the Bulldogs were unable to turn a double play, bringing home two runs to make it 3-2.

DeRoche-Duffin brought the Huskies even in the fourth with a leadoff home run to left field.

Making his first-career start, Lacey allowed three runs on five hits over 3+ innings. Sophomore Ross Weiner (Woodbridge, Conn.) suffered the loss, allowing a run on one hit in 1 1/3 innings of work. Senior Michael Marshall (Maynard, Mass.) and redshirt-junior Garrison Banas (Hadley, Mass.) combined to blank UConn over the final three innings. Banas struck out four of the seven batters he faced.

The Bulldogs return to Northeast Conference play this weekend when they host Wagner at Conaty Park. The series begins Friday at 3:00 p.m.