Karinchak, McCarthy lead Bulldogs past FDU, 6-2, Friday; Saturday DH moved up to 11am

TEANECK, N.J. – Sophomore right-hander James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) struck out 10 over six innings and senior Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) drove in three runs as the Bryant University baseball team defeated Fairleigh Dickinson, 6-2, Friday afternoon at the Naimoli Family Baseball Complex.

The Bulldogs (18-5, 7-0 NEC) are now 24-3 all-time against the Knights (13-13, 4-4) and a perfect 13-0 at "The Mole".

**Saturday's doubleheader between the Bulldogs and the Knights has been moved up due to possible bad weather and will start at 11:00 a.m.**

Karinchak was dominant on Friday, striking out 10 or more batters for the second time this season. He allowed just one run on three hits and walked four over six innings to improve to 6-1. Karinchak struck out back-to-back batters to strand a runner on third in the first inning and then struck out the side in the second. He posted seven of his 10 punch outs in the first three innings and didn't allow a hit until there was one out in the fifth.  

The Bulldogs didn't waste much time in the opener, taking advantage of an erratic start from Joe Flack. Juniors Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.), Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) and Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.) were all hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. McCarthy then drew a two-out bases-loaded walk to bring home the first run.

Bryant added to its lead with two runs in the third and single runs in the fourth and fifth. In the third, senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) reached on a bunt single and Bingel singled through the left side to put two on. Senior Zach Wood (Griswold, Conn.) then laid down a sac bunt that FDU third baseman Bobby Romano fielded but threw away at first, allowing Rinn to score. McCarthy followed with a high pop up down the left field line that carried deep enough to allow Bingel to score and make it 3-0.

In the fourth, Albanese put Bryant up 4-0 with one swing of the bat. With two outs, Albanese drove a 1-0 pitch over the right-center field fence for his fourth home run of the year. An inning later, Wood and McCarthy roped consecutive doubles into the left field corner to make it 5-0.

FDU finally broke through against Karinchak in the sixth. Matt McCann opened the inning with a harmless ground ball to first but the Knights' shortstop hustled down the line and beat the throw to Karinchak for an infield single. Two batters later, Ryan Brennan laced a 3-2 pitch into the right-center gap to score McCann all the way from first to make it 5-1.

The Knights pushed across another two-out run in the seventh. Shane Siebler walked with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch, moved to third on a ground out and scored on a two-out opposite-field single from McCann.

Bryant was able to add a run in the top of the eighth with a two-out rally of its own. Freshman Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) doubled off the right-center wall with two outs and scored on a Fabio single to center two batters later.

Senior Michael Marshall (Maynard, Mass.) and sophomore Justin Snyder (Georgetown, Mass.) worked the final three innings for the Black and Gold. Marshall allowed his first run of the season in the seventh and Snyder struck out three over two scoreless frames to close the door.

Fabio, Wood and Angelini each collected two hits for the Bulldogs in the win. Albanese, Rinn and Wood all extended their hitting streaks to caree-highs as Albanese has hit safely in 14 straight, Rinn in 12 straight and Wood in five straight.

Flack fell to 0-3, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked one, struck out two but hit four batters. Tim Quinn allowed just one run on four hits over the final 4 2/3. McCann finished 2-for-3 with an RBI, run scored and a stolen base.

The Bulldogs and Knights will continue their series on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.