Rinn picks up four hits, Bulldogs drop spring break finale to Coastal

CONWAY, S.C. – Junior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) had four hits, drove in two runs and scored twice but Coastal Carolina hit three home runs and held off a late rally from the Bryant University baseball team to post a 10-7 victory in the series finale Sunday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium.

The loss drops the Bulldogs to 2-11 on the season and wraps up their spring break trip with a 2-5 record. The Chanticleers (13-6) won both games of the two-game series and have won four-straight.

Coastal jumped out quickly on Sunday, plating three runs in the first inning. An infield error put the leadoff batter on and Connor Owings' one-out double made it 1-0. G.K. Young followed with a high fly ball to left-center that bounced off the top of the wall for a two-run home run.

Bryant cut into the deficit with single runs in the second and fourth inning. In the second, Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) walked with one out and immediately stole second. Rinn brought him home with a double to the base of the center field wall.

Rinn played a part in Bryant's fourth inning as well, singling through the right side with one out. He scampered all the way around the diamond to score the Bulldogs' second run as junior Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) dropped a double just out of the reach of a diving Anthony Marks in right-center.

Coastal answered with a run of their own without the benefit of a hit in the bottom of the fourth. Tyler Chadwick walked on four pitches to start the inning, went to second on a sac bunt, to third on a passed ball and scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2.

The Bulldogs pulled within a run again in the fifth but missed out on an opportunity for more as they stranded two. Sophomore Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) singled with one out, extending his on-base streak to 11 games, and senior John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) and Fabio each walked to load the bases. Rinn then beat out a potential inning-ending double play ball to bring home Albanese and make it 4-3.

The Chanticleers ballooned their lead with a pair of home runs over the next two innings. Back-to-back walks put two on in the fifth and Zach Remillard delivered a three-run home run to left field. David Parrett pushed the lead to five with a leadoff home run in the sixth. Parrett's two-run single in the seventh capped the scoring  and gave the Chanticleers two huge insurance runs.

Bryant battled to the end and made things interesting with a four-run eighth inning. Rinn opened the inning with his third hit of the ballgame, pinch-hitter senior Matt Zanotta (Schenectady, N.Y.) reached on an error and sophomore Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) singled off the glove of the third baseman to load the bases with no outs. Senior Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) then fell behind 0-2 before hitting an opposite field double off the top of the left field wall to bring home a pair of runs. Two batters later, Albanese hit a ground ball to between first and second that was knocked down and then bobbled, allowing two more runs to score and make it 10-7.

Freshman James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits over four innings in his second start of the season. He walked one and struck out four. Senior Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) allowed four runs over two innings of relief, while freshman Logan Lessard (Cromwell, Conn.) and classmate Ross Weiner (Woodbridge, Conn.) each tossed an inning out of the bullpen.

Rinn matched a career high with his four hits, while Albanese finished with two hits and reached base three times. The Bulldogs, however, struck out 14 times in the game 26 times on the weekend against the Chanticleers.

Zack Hopeck earned the win on Sunday, allowing one run on two hits over three innings. He walked two and struck out five. All but two starters finished with a hit for Coastal, while Remillard and Parrett each drove in three.

The Bulldogs open up the New England portion of their schedule this week with a trip to Chesnut Hill, Mass., to take on Boston College on Wednesday, March 18. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.