Angelini's walk-off homer gives Bulldogs series win over Wagner

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Junior Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth to give the Bryant University baseball team a scintillating 3-2 victory on Sunday afternoon against Wagner College.

Angelini's home run not only gave the Black and Gold the victory on Sunday, it won the series against the Seahawks. Bryant now leads Wagner by one game heading into the final three games of the regular season next weekend.

Bryant fought out of a 2-0 hole on Sunday, tying the game on a solo home run from freshman Sam Owens (Scituate, R.I.) in the seventh. Junior Craig Lacey (Westfield, Mass.) earned his second victory of the weekend and his fifth of the season as he tossed the final 1 2/3 innings.

Game Information

Bryant 3, Wagner 2

Records: Bryant (29-20-1, 19-6), Wagner (33-16, 18-7)

Location: Conaty Park (Smithfield, R.I.)

W|L|S: Craig Lacey (5-1) | Koby Bishop (2-2)

Coach Owens' Comments

"Great team win for us on senior day and on Mothers Day. Just a nice way to end the day. The game could have gone either way. We created scoring opportunities but they pitched well. On the same end of it, we pitched awesome all weekend long. Fortunate that we were home and got to bat last and Nick got a mistake over the middle and put a good swing on it. Sam had a big hit to get us back in it, Tyler made a big play at third and Vito and Craig were really good for us. Really happy for the team.

We have struggled scoring runs but yet we found a way to beat the team we are competing the most with two out of three on the second to last weekend. That's a good sign going forward.

Sam tanked that ball. He got a good swing on it and I knew it was gone. Both of them were no doubters. They didn't make too many mistakes but when they did we put some good swings on it"

Key Moments

• Trailing 2-1, Owens worked a full count before clobbering the payoff pitch over the left field wall.
• Moments later, Wagner put a runner at second with one out but junior Tyler Panno (Rivervale, N.J.) made a diving play down the line to take away a hit.
• Angelini delivered his first-career walk-off home run to left field.

How it happened

• Wagner took advantage of two Bryant errors to score in the second. A throwing error opened the inning and then Joe Silvestrone's ground ball to short was misplayed, allowing a run to score.
• The Seahawks made it 2-0 on a two-out single from Silvestrone in the fourth.
• Bryant pushed across its first run in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) walked and sophomore Chris Wright (Cumberland, R.I.) moved him to second with a single through the left side. Wright then took off for second and was thrown out, allowing Gasper to sneak in from third.
• It remained 2-1 until Owens stepped up in the 7th. He took a 2-2 pitch low and then drilled the next offering well over the left field wall.
• Then in the ninth, Bishop retired the first two Bulldogs before Angelini deposited the 1-0 pitch well beyond the left field wall.

Stats

• Bryant out-hit Wagner, 9-6, on the day.
• Sophomore Vito Morgese (Warwick, N.Y.) matched his career high with 7 1/3 innings of two-run ball. He allowed just five hits, walked three and struck out four.
• Lacey pitched the final 1 2/3 innings, allowing just one hit and one walk.
• Redshirt freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) picked up three hits.
• Angelini hit his fourth home run of the year.
• Gasper walked twice and scored.
• Wright finished 2-for-4.
• Owens hit his second home run of the year.
• Wagner's Pat Gallagher allowed one run on five hits over 4 2/3 innings.  

Game Notes

• Bryant ends the weekend with a one game lead over Wagner for first place in the NEC standings.
• Bryant and Wagner split the six games they played this year.
• All three games in the series were decided in the ninth inning or later.
• Bryant earned its second walk-off victory of the weekend and its fourth of the year.
• The Bulldogs are 29-12 all-time against Wagner.
• The Bulldogs improved to 8-2 in one-run games this season.
• A day after setting the DI program record hits in a single season, Ward became just the third player in program history to collect 90+ hits in a single season. He now has 91, eight shy of the program record.
• Ward collected three hits for the 10th time this year. It was his 27th multi-hit game of the year.
• Gasper has walked 98 times in his career, the second-most in DI program history.  
• Angelini collected his second-career walk-off hit. He hit a walk-off single last May against Northeastern.
• Angelini hit his first home run since April 13 at FDU.
• Wright posted his 12th multi-hit game of the year.
• Wright has now hit safely in nine-straight games.
• Owens hit his first home run since April 14 at FDU.
• Morgese matched his career-high with 7 1/3 innings. It was his fourth quality start of the year.
• Morgese has now allowed just one earned run over his last three starts (18 2/3 innings).
• Lacey picked up his second win of the weekend and now has a career-high five wins.
• Bryant's pitching staff posted a team ERA of 1.50 on the weekend. They allowed just 19 hits, including just one extra-base hit, walked 13 and struck out 25.
• Bryant now has a 2.64 team ERA in league games.  

Up Next

Bryant hosts UMass Lowell in its final non-league game of the year on Tuesday. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.