UCSB breaks open close game late to hand Bulldogs first loss

SAN DIEGO, Calif. – UC Santa Barbara broke open a close game with a nine-run seventh inning and went on to defeat the Bryant University baseball team 16-2 on day two of the Tony Gwynn Classic.

The loss is the first of the year for the Bulldogs (5-1) and puts them at 1-1 in the tournament. The Gauchos improve to 6-1 with the win and will play for the championship on Sunday. Bryant's opponent on Sunday has yet to be determined.

Saturday's game was much closer than the final score suggests as the Black and Gold were in the game for the first six and a half innings. Bryant, however, struggled in key situations as it went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position, while walking eight and hitting six others as a pitching staff.

The Bulldogs scored the first run of the game in the top of the third inning but missed out on a chance to put up a crooked number. Senior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) struck out but reached on a wild pitch, junior Joe Paparelli (Preston, Conn.) was hit by a pitch and classmate Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) walked to load the bases with no outs. Junior Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) followed with a ground ball to third to score Cellucci and make it 1-0. A walk reloaded the bases but UCSB third baseman Ryan Clark made a diving stop on a Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) ground ball to start an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play.

Moments after his big defensive play Clark left his mark offensively, hitting on an 0-1 fastball over the wall in left-center to lead off the bottom of the third. The home run ignited a four-run inning that put the Gauchos ahead for good. A walk and a single followed the home run before Kyle Plantier laced an RBI double off the glove of Bryant third baseman Zach Wood (Griswold, Conn.). Austin Bush and Michael McAdoo tacked on two more runs with consecutive sac flies.

Trailing 5-1 in the fifth, Bryant added a run but once again had a chance to score more. Senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and McCarthy walloped back-to-back doubles to make it 5-2. UCSB starter Noah Davis settled down, however, getting a strikeout and a pop out to end the threat.

The Black and Gold threatened again in the sixth and seventh innings but were thwarted by reliever Chris Clements. Wood opened the sixth with a double to right-center but was stranded and Clements worked around back-to-back leadoff singles in the seventh to keep the UC Santa Barbara ahead 6-2.

In the seventh, the Gauchos sent 14 batters to the plate and needed just three hits to score nine runs. Four Bryant pitchers combined to walk five and hit one in the inning. Dempsey Grover highlighted the outburst with a bases-clearing triple that eluded the dive of Bryant left fielder AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.).

Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) (1-1) pitched the first three innings for the Bulldogs, allowing four runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out just one. Redshirt junior Garrison Banas (Hadley, Mass.) provided effective relief, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits over 2 1/3 innings. Rinn finished the game 3-for-3, while Zarozny went 2-for-4 and is now 6-for-8 in the Tony Gwynn Classic.

Davis earned his first collegiate win for UCSB, allowing two runs on six hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked three. Clements followed with three scoreless innings of relief. Leadoff hitter Andrew Calica scored three runs, JJ Muno drove in two and scored two, Bush drove in three and Grove reached base all five times, drove in three and scored two runs.

The Bulldogs wrap up the weekend on Sunday against an opponent and at a time and place yet to be determined.