Bulldogs down Northeastern, 10-3

BROWN AND MICHAUD LEAD BULLDOGS TO VICTORY OVER NORTHEASTERN

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Senior Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) had three hits, two RBI and two runs scored and classmate Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.) tied a career-high with nine strikeouts as the Bryant University baseball team defeated Northeastern, 10-3, on Tuesday afternoon at Conaty Park.

With the win, the Bulldogs (29-14-1) wrapped up non-conference play with a 13-10-1 record. They have now defeated the Huskies (24-18) in each of the last two seasons.

Trailing 2-0 after three and a half innings on Tuesday, the Bulldog offense awoke to score 10 runs over its final five at-bats to put the game away. The rally started in the fourth as senior Dan Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) drew a two-out walk. Sophomore Daniel St. George (Shelton, Conn.) followed with a triple to the gap in left-center, scoring Muscatello and pulling the Bulldogs within one, 2-1.

Bryant went right to work in erasing the deficit completely in its next at-bat. Junior Jonathan Scott (Princeton, N.J.) and sophomore Carl Anderson (Sudbury, Mass.) collected back-to-back one-out singles after long at-bats to start the inning before a fielder's choice left runners on the corners with two outs. Brown then stepped to the plate and drilled a double inside the bag at first to score both runners and give Bryant a lead it would not relinquish. Sophomore John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) then hit a chopper to third that was thrown low at first. As the ball scooted away, Brown broke for home and slid underneath the tag to make it 4-2. Mullen eventually scored the fifth run as he stole third and trotted home as the throw sailed into left.

The Bulldogs then added a run in the sixth, three in the seventh and one more in the eighth to round out the scoring. In the sixth, junior Tom Gavitt (North Stonington, Conn.) beat out an infield single with two outs and scored as Anderson followed with a double to the gap in left-center. In the seventh, Bryant loaded the bases with no outs on two singles and a hit by pitch, scoring their seventh run on a wild pitch. Freshman Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) made it 8-3 with an RBI single to left and the ninth run scored on a double play ground out. St. George produced Bryant's final run of the afternoon with a sac fly in the eighth inning.

Bryant's offensive outburst made a winner out of Michaud who struck out nine in six innings of work. He allowed two runs on eight hits and issued just one walk. A one-out home run in the first and a two-out RBI double in the fourth were the only blemishes for Michaud on the afternoon. The Bulldogs turned a 5-4-3 double play to help in the second, he worked around a leadoff double in the third by picking off the runner and striking out the next two, and then struck out the side in the fourth. Sophomore Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.), redshirt-junior Vaughn Hayward (Glendale, R.I.) and senior Salvatore Lisanti (Bronx, N.Y.) all worked an inning of relief to close the door.

Offensively, Brown and Anderson each finished with three hits. Brown also drove in two, scored twice, extending his on-base streak to 29 games. Freshman AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Mullen and Muscatello all scored twice and St. George chipped in a pair of RBIs.

The Bulldogs return to Northeast Conference play this weekend when they head to New Britain, Conn., to face Central Connecticut. The series begins on Friday, May 3 at 3:00 p.m.