Mullen drives in four in 11-6 loss

SIX-RUN FOURTH PROPELS RADFORD PAST BRYANT, 11-6

RADFORD, Va. – Freshman John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) hit his first career home run and drove in four runs but Jeff Kemp drove in five runs and Radford University rode a six-run fourth inning to an 11-6 victory over the Bryant University baseball team Saturday afternoon at the RU Baseball Stadium.

Silenced following its two-run first inning, the Highlanders (7-8) awoke in the fourth inning to retake the lead, 8-4, with six runs. Matt Mack grounded out on the first pitch of the inning but the next four Highlander hitters all reached against Bulldogs (4-7) starter, Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.). Cory Turner walked, Phil Bondi moved him to third with a single and Carl Travers walked to load the bases with one out. Batting ninth, Josh Gardiner dropped a single into shallow center to score a pair of runs and tie the game at 4-4. Following a Zach Costello fly out to right, Brett Mollenhauer worked a walk to reload the bases and Jeff Kemp promptly unloaded them with a bases-clearing triple to right-center. Matt Hillsinger capped the big inning with a first-pitch RBI double off of freshman reliever Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.).

Radford tacked on insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Mollenhauer doubled down the left field line to start the inning, Kemp followed with a single and Hillsinger's hard ground ball to second took a high hop over Joseph Carcone's (New Hartford, N.Y.) head to score the run. In the seventh, a one-out walk to Gardiner and a Costello single put runners on the corners with one out before Kemp delivered a clutch two-strike, two-out, two-run double off the right field wall.  

Trailing, 2-0, after the first inning, the Bulldogs didn't wait long to fully erase the early deficit, plating four runs in their next two at-bats. Leading off the second inning, Mullen sent a 1-0 fastball over the left field wall for his first career home run.

In the third, junior Dan Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) stroked  a leadoff single to center and classmate Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) followed with his second home run in as many days, a gargantuan two-run shot over the right-center field wall, to give the Black and Gold the lead, 3-2. Bryant wasn't done though, as senior David Soltis (Plainville, Conn.) ripped a single right back through the box and classmate Mike DelPonte (Tewksbury, Mass.) chopped a single through the right side to put runners on the corners. Mullen came through again with one out, scoring Soltis with a ground out to short to finish the Bulldogs' scoring in the inning.

Despite the big six-run fourth, the Black and Gold continued to fight. Brown and Soltis started the fifth with consecutive singles to chase Radford starter Mark Peterson. Jeff Maxwell came on and retired the next two batters on a pop up and strike out before Mullen came through again for the Black and Gold. Mullen sent a 1-1 pitch screaming into the right-center gap, bringing home both runners to cut the deficit to 8-6.

The five-run cushion was more than enough for Radford reliever Jeff Maxwell. Entering in the fifth, Maxwell notched four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits. After allowing Mullen's two-run double in the fifth and a Joseph Carcone bunt single to start the sixth, Maxwell retired the final 12 Bulldogs in order to pick up his first career victory.

Unlike game one, Radford jumped out to the quick lead in the first inning. Mollenhauer worked a one-out walk to start the inning, moved to second when Kemp was hit by a pitch and to third on a throwing error by the Bulldogs. Michaud struck out Hillsinger for the second out but Mack singled up the middle to score Mollenhauer. Kemp, who was running on the pitch, moved over to third and then scored as Connor Carignan (Norwich, Conn.) slipped in center.

Brown finished with three hits, two runs, two RBI and Mullen drove in a career-high four runs with his double and home run. Soltis also finished with two hits and scored two runs. Michaud allowed eight runs on five hits in 3.2 innings and McAvoy allowed three runs on six hits over three innings of relief. Bryan Menduke (Oakland, N.J.) and Ryan Granat (Long Valley, N.J.) combined for 1.1 scoreless innings.

Kemp finished with three hits, five RBI and two runs, and Mollenhauer scored three runs for Radford. Peterson lasted four innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with six strikeouts.

The Bulldogs and Highlanders finish their three-game series on Sunday with a 2:00 p.m. first pitch. The game was originally scheduled for 1:00 p.m. but was moved back an hour due to daylight savings time. Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) will get the ball for Bryant in the rubber match.