Bulldogs complete weekend sweep of Stony Brook behind Theetge's gem

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Freshman Steve Theetge (Cicero, N.Y.) allowed one run over a career-high 6 2/3 innings to lead the Bryant University baseball team to a 6-2 victory and a series sweep of Stony Brook on Sunday afternoon at Conaty Park.

The Bulldogs (28-7) have now won a season-high eight games in a row and have the most wins in the Northeast (207) since 2011. The Seawolves (17-18) have lost four straight.

Theetge posted his third-straight stellar outing, allowing just one run on six hits in 6 2/3 innings to improve to 4-0. He walked two, struck out two and threw a career-high 105 pitches. Theetge worked out of jam in the first, inducing back-to-back fly outs to strand a pair of runners. It started a string of nine-straight retired for the lefty and he didn't allow his first hit until there were two outs in the fourth. He allowed his only run of the game in the seventh on a two-out double from Andruw Gazzola.

Bryant got him all the run support he needed by scoring runs in four-straight innings. The Bulldogs scored their first two runs with a two-out rally in the second. Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) singled through the left side to start the rally and senior Zach Wood (Griswold, Conn.) followed with a double down the right field line. A walk loaded the bases for sophomore Malik Daley (Northborough, Mass.) who fell behind 0-2 but worked the count full before knocking a two-run single through the left side.

The Black and Gold then added single runs in the third and fourth. Freshman Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) singled to start the third, took second on a ball in the dirt and scored on a hard single to right from senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.). In the fourth, Wood reached on a dropped third strike, stole second and came around to score on a two-out single from junior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.).

Bryant tacked on two final runs in the fifth. Albanese greeted reliever Aaron Pinto with a double to the base of the left-center wall, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a single from Bingel. Senior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) singled to put runners on the corners and then took off for a second and purposely got in a rundown to allow Wood to score from third to make it 6-1.

Sophomore Logan Lessard (Cromwell, Conn.) and senior Michael Marshall (Maynard, Mass.) combined to finish the game for the Bulldogs. Lessard needed one pitch to get the final out of the seventh and then tossed a perfect eighth. The first three batters reached and produced a run against Marshall in the ninth but he rebounded to get a pair of fly outs to end it.

Angelini finished 3-for-4 and reached base four times, while Bingel and Cellucci each chipped in two hits. Wood went just 1-for-4 but scored a career-high three runs.

Tyler Honahan took the loss for Stony Brook, allowing four runs on seven hits over four innings. David Real had two hits and scored both of the Seawolves' runs in the game.

Bryant returns to the diamond on Tuesday when it makes the short trip to Providence to take on Brown. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.