Good Friday! Bulldogs earn sweep behind eight-shutout innings from Lacosse

MERION STATION, Pa. – Senior Trevor Lacosse (Watervliet, N.Y.) tossed a career-high eight shutout innings to lead the Bryant University baseball team to a 6-0 victory over Villanova on Friday afternoon at Smithson Field on the campus of Saint Joseph's.

With the victory over the Wildcats (10-15), the Bulldogs (8-11) have now won six-straight games.

Making his first start since March 9, Lacosse was dominant for the Black and Gold on Friday afternoon. The veteran lefty allowed just five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out four on 103 pitches to earn his first win of the season. It marked the longest outing of his four-year career and the first time he has thrown over 100 pitches in an outing. Freshman Ross Weiner (Woodbridge, Conn.) tossed a scoreless ninth to close the door.

Scoreless through the first four innings, the Bulldogs broke through in the fifth with a pair of big two-out hits. Sophomore Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) doubled to the wall in right field with one out and moved to third on a ground out. Senior John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) then fouled off three two-strike pitches and eventually singled up the middle on the eighth pitch of the bat to bring home the first run of the game. Junior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) then hit a slicing drive into the left field corner and Mullen raced all the way around from first to score the second run.

The Bulldogs extended their lead with a three-run sixth inning. Junior AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) opened the inning with a bang as he hammered a 3-1 pitch well over the wall in left field for his second home run of the year. The big fly was followed by singles to center from junior Daniel Palazzo (Rocky Hill, Conn.) and sophomore Joseph Paparelli (Preston, Conn.). Sophomore Jacob Marotta (Bridgewater, Mass.) advanced both with a sac bunt and Fabio slapped a two-strike single back through the middle of a drawn-in infield to bring home two runs and make it 5-0.

Sophomore Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) continued his power surge in the seventh inning to give the Bulldogs a 6-0 lead. Ahead in the count 2-1, Bingel walloped a fastball well over the left field wall for his second home run of the day and fourth of the season.

Fabio finished the day 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored, while Zarozny (3-4, 2B, HR) and Paparelli (2-4, 1R) each had multiple hits. Zarozny also added his fourth stolen base in the past three games. Senior Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) walked in his final at-bat to extend his on-base streak to 15 games. He has now reached safely in 67 of his last 72 games dating back to his sophomore season.

Villanova starter Hunter Schryver allowed four runs on seven hits, walked three and struck out five over five-plus innings in a losing effort.

The Bulldogs wrap up their three-game weekend on Saturday as they take on the Wildcats in Plymouth Meeting, Pa. First pitch is scheduled for 1:15 p.m.