Bulldogs open weekend with 8-3 victory on Friday

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Sophomore Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) had two hits and scored three runs and classmate Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) hit a pair of triples to lead the Bryant University baseball team to a 8-3 victory over LIU Brooklyn in game one of their NEC series on Friday afternoon at Conaty Park.

With the win, the Bulldogs (16-16, 7-2 NEC) have now won six-straight games for the second time this season and are .500 for the first time this year. The Blackbirds are now 12-25 and 5-8 on the season.

LIU Brooklyn was able to score the first run of the game in the top of the first. Charles Misiano was hit by a pitch and Brian Lamboy walked to start the game. A fly ball to center moved Misiano to third and he came around to score on a sac fly from Bobby Webb.

The Bulldogs responded with two runs in each of the first two innings. Fabio beat out an infield single to open the first and came all the way around to score as classmate Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) tripled to the gap in right-center. Junior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) followed with a slow ground ball to first that brought Albanese home from third to make it 2-1.

In the second, junior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) started a two-out rally with a single off the foot of the LIU pitcher. He advanced to second as the throw to first was wild and then scored on a single down the right field line from classmate AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.). Senior Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) then roped a triple into the right field corner to score Zarozny from first and make it 4-1.

The Blackbirds closed the gap to a single run with single runs in the third and fifth. Misiano singled with one out in the third, stole second, advanced to third on a wild pitch and then scored on a passed ball. In the fifth, Anthony Capo walked with one out, stole second and scored as Brian Lamboy hit a line drive that went in and out of the glove of a leaping Fabio at second. The Blackbirds nearly tied the game on the next batter as Tom Jakubowski beat out an infield single to second but Rinn was able to alertly throw home to nab Lamboy trying to score from second.

Bryant then put together a huge two-out rally in the sixth to extend their lead. Junior Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) singled with two outs and no one on base to start the rally and Cellucci and Fabio drew back-to-back four-pitch walks to load the bases. Mountford then placed a two-out, two-strike single into shallow left-center to score two runs. Albanese followed with an RBI single of his own to make it 7-3.

Junior Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) started for the Black and Gold and lasted six innings. He allowed three runs on just three hits, walked three and struck out five to earn his fifth-straight win. Classmate James Davitt (Wallingford, Conn.) took over in the seventh and was dominant for the third-straight outing. He allowed just one hit over three scoreless innings to earn his first collegiate save.

Bingel led the way offensively with two triples, a single and an RBI on the day. Fabio (2-3, 3R), Mountford (2-5, 3RBI) and Albanese (2-5, 2RBI) al finished with multiple hits.

The Bulldogs and Blackbirds continue their series with a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Conaty Park. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.