Zarozny clubs four doubles as Bulldogs topple San Diego State, 10-2, Friday night

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Senior AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) clubbed a program record four doubles and seniors Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) each drove in three runs as the Bryant University baseball team defeated San Diego State, 10-2, in game one of the Tony Gwynn Classic on Friday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.

The victory extends the Bulldogs' record-breaking start to 5-0 and they will now play for a spot in the championship game on Saturday at 4:00 p.m. eastern against UC Santa Barbara. The Aztecs fall to 1-5 with the loss and will play Kentucky on Saturday night.

Bryant came out of the gates with a tremendous amount of energy on Friday night and never looked back, scoring six runs in the first two innings on its way to a convincing win. Junior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) sparked the Black and Gold as he led off the game with a single, alertly took second and third on consecutive wild pitches and scored on a single from classmate Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) to make it 1-0.

Zarozny then ignited a five-run second-inning outburst with his first of four doubles, a flare down the right field line. A hit batter and a walk loaded the bases before Zarozny eventually came around to score on a wild pitch with two outs. Albanese then worked a walk to reload the bases and Rinn and McCarthy followed with consecutive two-run doubles to make it 6-0.

Bryant would add to its lead with two more doubles in the fifth inning. Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) doubled with one out to knock SDSU starter Marcus Reyes from the game and Zarozny greeted reliever Dalton Douty with a ringing two-bagger to left-center to make it 7-0.

The Aztecs finally got on the board with single runs in the fifth and sixth innings. Dean Nevarez doubled with two outs in the fifth and scored on a triple from Hunter Stratton. In the sixth, a walk and a single put runners on the corners before a balk brought home the second run.

The Black and Gold responded in the seventh as Zarozny belted a double off the top of the center field wall to score Bingel and make it 8-2. An RBI double from Rinn and a run-scoring single from McCarthy in the ninth capped the Bryant scoring.

Sophomore James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) was dominant once again for the Bulldogs on Friday, allowing just two runs on five hits over six innings to earn his second win. He struck out six and issued just one walk. Energized from the beginning, Karinchak struck out four in the first two innings and allowed just three runners to reach second in the first five innings. Classmate Justin Snyder (Georgetown, Mass.) relieved Karinchak in the seventh and pitched the final three innings to earn his second save. He was lights out too, striking out five and allowing just one hit.

Bryant's 2-6 hitters combined to go 13-for-23 with eight doubles, nine RBI and seven runs scored in the game. The Bulldogs' eight doubles are the third-most in a single game in program history. Albanese finished 3-for-4 with two runs, Rinn had two hits, three RBI and two runs scored, McCarthy had two hits and three RBI, Bingel had two hits and two runs scored and Zarozny finished 4-for-4 with two RBI. The four hits are also a career-high for Zarozny.

Reyes suffered the loss for SDSU, allowing seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nevarez was the only Aztec to post multiple hits as he finished 2-for-4.

Bryant and UC Santa Barbara will play at 4:00 p.m. eastern with the winner advancing to the Tony Gwynn Classic final on Sunday.