Bulldogs suffer heartbreaking walk-off in series finale Sunday

MERION STATION, Pa. – The Bryant University baseball team scored twice in the top of the eighth and twice in the ninth but Saint Joseph's rallied to earn a walk-off victory in the bottom of the ninth to complete a weekend sweep of the Bulldogs with a 5-4 victory on a chilly Sunday afternoon at Smithson Field.

The Bulldogs (3-17) have now lost 10-straight games and have been swept in each of the last three weekend series. The Hawks (5-11) now lead the all-time series 3-2 and have won five of their last six.

Down a run and down to their final out in the ninth, junior Malik Daley (Northborough, Mass.) singled to keep the Bulldogs' hopes alive. Senior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) then drew a five-pitch walk to put two runners on. SJU reliever Matt Morella then uncorked back-to-back wild pitches to score freshman pinch runner Bryan Hart (Franklin, Mass.) with the tying run. Morella then struck out sophomore Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) but the pitch went to the backstop, allowing Angelini to reach and Fabio to score the lead run.

SJU, however, rallied with two outs and no one on in the ninth. After the Bulldogs turned a double play for the first two outs, Brian Lau singled to keep the Hawks alive. Cal Jadacki followed with a ground ball to deep short that freshman Jimmy Titus (Stafford, Conn.) fired to second for what appeared to be the final out of the game. Lau, however, was ruled safe. After a walk, Matt Cuppari flared a single into center to score the game-winning runs.  

As was the case of most of the weekend, the Bulldogs struggled to get key hits with men in scoring position early in Sunday's game. They hit into an inning-ending double play with two on in the second and squandered leadoff doubles in the third and fourth innings.

In the third, senior Jacob Marotta (Bridgewater, Mass.) led off with a double to left field and freshman James Ciliento (Mahwah, N.J.) laid down a sac bunt but was ruled out for interference at first base. A two-out error eventually put runners on the corners but a pop up to shallow left ended the threat.

Junior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) then led off the fourth with a double to left field and stole third. Freshman Chris Wright (Cumberland, R.I.) was then hit by a pitch to put runners on the corners but SJU starter Lucas Rollins induced a soft pop up before fielding a comebacker to start an inning-ending 1-6-3 double play.

The Hawks used the momentum to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the fourth. Brian Lau picked up SJU's first hit of the game with one out and Cal Jadacki followed with a double to right field. The next pitch was in the dirt and bounced just far enough away from freshman Gaby Cruz (Miami, Fla.) that Lau took off from third. Cruz scooped up the ball and raced back to home but Lau slid in just ahead of the tag for the first run.

SJU extended its lead with runs in the fifth and sixth. Marc Giacalone reached on an infield error, moved over to third on a pair of wild pitches and scored on a two-out single from Lau in the fifth. Dominic Cuoci then led off the sixth with a double and came around to score on an infield error.

Bryant made things interesting in the eighth as Fabio and Angelini stroked back-to-back one-out singles through the left side. After a ground out moved both into scoring position, Gasper walked to load the bases. A wild pitch plated Fabio and Wright hit an infield single to the right side to make it 3-2. Cruz nearly tied the game but his hot smash to third was fielded cleanly by Giacalone for the third out.

Despite the loss, Wright put together one of his best outings of the year on the mound, allowing two runs (one earned) on just two hits over 4 1/3 innings. He walked four and struck out five on the afternoon. Sophomore Nathan Wrighter (Windsor, N.Y.) tossed two scoreless innings of relief and junior Logan Lessard (Cromwell, Conn.) suffered the loss, allowing the two runs in the ninth.  

SJU received another strong outing from its starting pitcher as Rollins scattered seven hits over 7 2/3 innings. He struck out one and walked a batter. Hayden Seig earned the win after getting the final out in the top of the ninth. Lau had three hits, an RBI and a two runs scored for the Hawks.

The Black and Gold finished the weekend 6-for-45 with runners on base and 3-for-24 with runners in scoring position. Gasper led the Bulldogs with a pair of hits in Sunday's finale.

After playing 20-straight games on the road, the Bulldogs are scheduled to play their first home game of the season on Tuesday afternoon against Brown. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Conaty Park.