Bulldogs falter late in loss to Huskies

BULLDOGS FALL TO HUSKIES, 11-6, ON WEDNESDAY

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team scored six runs over the first two innings but Connecticut scored the final eight runs on its way to an 11-6 victory on Wednesday afternoon at Conaty Park.

The loss snaps a 16-game home winning streak for the Bulldogs (25-13-1) dating back to last season. The Huskies (25-16) have now won four of the five games in the all-time series.

Wednesday's midweek contest started with a crazy first inning that lasted 45 minutes and featured seven combined runs. UConn started the scoring with three runs on four hits. Billy Ferriter started a string of four-straight hits with a single through the left side, LJ Mazzilli followed with a single to center and Vinny Siena made it 1-0 with a single to center. Mazzilli then scored on a passed ball and Bobby Melley capped the scoring with an RBI single to right-center.

Bryant immediately responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Senior Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) started the rally with a two-out single through the right side and sophomore John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) followed with a single through the left side. A walk loaded the bases and sophomore Daniel St. George (Shelton, Conn.) knocked a 3-2 pitch through the left side to score two runs. The Bulldogs then tied the game as St. George and classmate Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) pulled off a successful double-steal, with Anderson sliding head first into home. Senior Adam Claire (Litchfield, Conn.) gave the Bulldogs the lead as he trickled a ground ball down the third base line that just stayed fair.

The Black and Gold added to their lead with a pair of runs in the second. Senior Dan Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) reached on an infield error to start the inning and freshman AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) walked to put the first two runners on base. Brown then laced a two-run double to the gap in left-center to push the lead to 6-3.

UConn's pitching staff, however, was stellar after that, shutting the Bulldogs out over the next four innings to allow its offense to catch up. The Huskies started their rally with two runs in the fourth and took the lead with two runs in the sixth. In the fourth, Bryan Daniello and Max McDowell both walked and then scored on a two-run double from Eric Yavarone. In the sixth, a hit batter and a single ended senior Joseph Michaud's (Milford, Conn.) afternoon and brought out sophomore Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.). He hit the first batter he faced to load the bases and then induced a fly ball to right-center but it dropped due to a miscommunication, allowing two runs to score. Lacosse escaped further damage as he left the bases loaded by inducing a fly to left.

Bryant's offense was silenced by five Connecticut relievers. Pat Butler came on in the second and allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits over two innings. Willie Nastasi worked just one out before Dan Feehan entered and left runners on second and third with a ground out and a pop out. Feehan then left Claire on third in the fifth. He closed his afternoon with a perfect sixth and Ryan Moore and David Mahoney closed the door. Moore tossed a scoreless seventh and Mahoney pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth.

The Huskies put the game away with four runs over the final two innings. Ferriter's two-out fly ball to left in the eighth was dropped, allowing him to come all the way around the bases and score. They added three two-out runs in the ninth to cap the scoring. UConn loaded the bases with two hits and a walk and Yavarone produced a two-run single to center. Stanley Paul's RBI single to left closed the scoring.

Michaud struggled in just three innings, suffering his third loss of the year. He tossed a scoreless second, worked around a leadoff single in the third and recorded a scoreless fifth. Michaud allowed seven runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out three over 5.1 innings. Lacosse tossed 1.2 scoreless and senior Salvatore Lisanti (Bronx, N.Y.) tossed a scoreless eighth.

Offensively, Brown finished with three and Claire and Mullen each chipped in with two. Brown and St. George both drove in a pair of runs.

The Bulldogs return to Northeast Conference play this weekend as they welcome LIU Brooklyn to Smithfield for a four-game series beginning on Friday, April 26 at 3:00 p.m.