Bulldogs hit program record nine home runs in 21-8 victory in game one Sunday

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – The No. 20 Bryant University baseball team hit at least one home run in each of the first six innings and finished the game with a single-game school record nine on its way to a convincing 21-8 victory over LIU Brooklyn in the first game of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at LIU Field.

With the win, the Bulldogs improve to 35-9 overall and 18-3 in the NEC. The nine home runs break the previous record of seven that was set earlier this year at Fairleigh Dickinson, while the 21 runs are the most for Bryant since scoring 21 against USC Upstate on Mar. 2, 2014. The Blackbirds fall to 14-30 overall and 8-13 with the loss.

Bryant got home runs from eight different players, also a school record, with junior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) leading the charge with the first multi-home run game of his career. He finished 2-for-4 with a career-high five RBI. Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.), senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.), senior Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.), senior Zach Wood (Griswold, Conn.), junior Zane Smith (Ilion, N.Y.), senior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) and senior AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) added the other seven.

Rinn scored three times, junior Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) went 2-for-2 with three runs scored, Wood finished 3-for-3 with three RBI and three runs scored and Zarozny went 2-for-3 with three RBI and two runs scored.

Bryant used a solo home run to right field from Rinn to get on the board in the first. He worked a full count before lining his fourth home run of the year into the short porch in right. It was also Rinn's 151st career RBI, tying him with Kevin Brown and John Mullen for the Division I program record.

It continued in the second as Wood and Cellucci reached to open the inning. Zarozny then failed on two sac bunt attempts before driving a 1-2 pitch into the right field porch for a three-run home run.

LIU rallied to score two runs and make it 4-2 in the bottom of the second but Wood quickly extended Bryant's lead in the top of the third. Rinn walked, Albanese singled and Wood followed with a towering three-run home run over the left field wall to make it 7-2.

A solo shot to deep left from Bingel in the fourth made it 8-2 and McCarthy hit a monstrous two-run home run to deep left center in the fifth to make it 10-3. LIU made a pitching change following the McCarthy home run but Fabio drilled his first home run of the game four batters later to make it 13-3.

The Bulldogs put the game away with three more home runs in the sixth. An error and a walk put two on for Smith who launched a three-run home run off the side of the athletic center beyond the right field wall. Cellucci made it back-to-back home runs as he hit his first of the season into the netting above the left field wall. Two batters later, Fabio lined a 1-2 pitch into the netting for his second home run of the afternoon. For Cellucci, it was his first home run since May 15, 2014.

Freshman Steve Theetge (Cicero, N.Y.) benefited from the offensive explosion, improving to 6-0 on the year. He allowed eight runs (five earned) on 10 hits, walked two and struck out four over 5 2/3 innings. Theetge limited the damage, however, inducing three double plays on the afternoon to run his team-leading total to 10. Senior Michael Marshall (Maynard, Mass.) recorded the final four outs.

Cory Hart took the loss for LIU, allowing 10 runs, eight hits and five home runs in four innings. Harrison Preschel and Kyle Ruth each had two hits and two runs scored for LIU Brooklyn.