Wright strikes out eight but Bulldogs fall to Brown, 5-3, on Sunday

PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Freshman Chris Wright (Cumberland, R.I.) struck out a career-high eight batters but Brown University used a four-run fifth inning to earn a 5-3 victory and a weekend sweep of the Bryant University baseball team on Sunday afternoon at Murray Stadium.

With the loss, the Bulldogs (3-13) have now lost six-straight games and 13 of their last 14 after opening the season 2-0. The Bears (3-6) have now evened the all-time series between the two teams at 7-7.

Sunday's series finale played out like Saturday's two games as Brown's starting pitching kept the Bulldogs at bay until the offense got going. The Bears scored the first run of the game in the third and then opened things up with a four-run fifth.

Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with no outs before Wright struck out Rich Ciufo for the first out. Rob Henry, however, followed with a two-run single to left field to make it 3-0 and chase Wright. Sam Grigo and Josh Huntley added two-out RBI singles to cap the big inning.

Bryant was unable to must much offensively against Brown starter Max Ritchie as he allowed just one run on five hits, walked one and struck out six over 5 1/3 innings. Ritchie stranded a runner on third with a strikeout in the second and then worked out of a one-out jam in the fourth.

Sophomore Tyler Panno (Rivervale, N.J.) opened that inning with a single to left and then took third on an infield error by the Bears. Senior Jacob Marotta (Bridgewater, Mass.) then hit a soft ground ball past the mound but Ciufo fielded and threw home to nab Panno for the second out. Ritchie then got a strikeout to get out of the inning.

Bryant was finally able to get to Ritchie in the sixth as senior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) fouled off several two-strike pitches before working a walk. He took on a single to right field and scored on a single up the middle from Wright. Calvin Farris then came on and got two quick outs to prevent further damage.

The Bulldogs added two more in the eighth, but once again missed out on getting more. Fabio was hit by the first pitch of the inning and freshman Jimmy Titus (Stafford, Conn.) reached on an infield error to put the first two runners on. Gasper followed with a single to right center to make it 5-2. JJ Sliepka was summoned from the bullpen and limited the damage as he allowed only a sac fly the rest of the inning.

Despite the loss, Wright put together the best outing of his young career. He allowed five runs on five hits, walked two and struck out eight in a season-high 4 1/3 innings. Wright struck out the first four batters of the game and had allowed just two hits prior to Brown's big fifth inning.

Junior Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) turned in a second-straight strong appearance out of the bullpen, allowing just one hit over 2 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out two.

Fabio reached base four times with a hit, two walks and a hit by pitch and also scored two runs. Gasper chipped in two singles and has now reached safely in all 16 games this season.

Henry drove in three runs and Jake Rosander reached twice and scored twice for the Bears. Sliepka and Bobby Leyman combined to record the final six outs, with Leyman earning his first save of the season. 

Bryant returns to the diamond on Wednesday when they visit the capital city of Connecticut to take on Hartford. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.