April 21, 2008
NO. 25 BRYANT PROVES READY FOR DIVISION I RANKS WITH
7-4 VICTORY OVER BROWN UNIVERSITY MONDAY AFTERNOON
Boxscore
PROVIDENCE, RI - The Bryant University baseball team, in
preparation for next year's move up to the Division I ranks, took
to the road for a test run Monday afternoon, an endeavor that
couldn't have been more successful as the Bulldogs scattering 10
hits over nine innings to top Brown University, 7-4, at Murray
Stadium.
The Bulldogs (31-14) took advantage of the temporary switch from
the Northeast-10 Conference's wooden sticks to Division I's
aluminum bats, ripping a pair of home runs in the victory while
staying perfect on defense.
Sophomore Jeff Vigurs (South Windor, Conn.) got
the scoring started in the top of the opening frame, knocking in
the first two tallies with a two-out double to right center to
plate senior co-captain Jason Alexander (Simsbury,
Conn.) and sophomore Nick Campbell (Raynham,
Mass.), who got on board via a leadoff single and a walk,
respectively.
Taylor Ferguson (Charlton, Mass.) followed
Vigurs with a double of his own to bring home another run for the
3-0 lead after one.
Brown (14-23) came back with a single run in both the second and
third to narrow the deficit to 3-2 before Bryant picked up two more
in the top of the fourth. Those came off the bat of senior
designated hitter Mark Dondero (Medfield, Mass.),
who took rookie starter Conor Burke over the leftfield fence with
one on and one out for his second homer of the season.
The score would stick at 5-2 for the next two-and-a-half frames,
with the Bears going to their fourth hurler of the day to open the
seventh. And on a 2-0 pitch from new pitcher Peter Moskal,
Alexander upped Bryant's lead to four runs, ripping the offering
deep over the fence in left with just one away in the inning.
In the home half of the frame, with senior starter Luke
Cowan (Houston, Tex.) over 100 pitches, Matt Nuzzo was
just feet foul of bringing in two for the Bears with a deep ball
down the left line. But the junior completed the task three pitches
later, roping Cowan's last toss of the day to left centerfield for
a line-drive home run.
Cowan's day would end there in favor of senior co-captain
Adam Vuolo (Walpole, Mass.), who got the next
batter to end the inning with a strikeout looking.
Junior Dave Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) drove
a first-pitch single to left center to lead off the ninth, and
Bryant tacked on an insurance run three batters later when Campbell
lined a two-out double down the left field line for the 7-4 final.
Vuolo would finish out the game for the Bulldogs, pitching to
four Bears and allowing one hit for his third save of the season.
Cowan moved to 2-1 with the win, letting up nine hits and four
runs in 6.2 innings of work. The senior fanned two and walked two.
Burke took the loss for Brown, moving to 1-1 on the year in the
four-inning appearance, handing out five runs off five hits with a
trio of strikeouts.
Alexander, Campbell and Vigurs all two-hit on the afternoon,
with Alexander leading the offense with a 2-for-2 day (RBI, 2 runs
scored, 2 walks). Robert Papenhause led Brown at the plate, going
3-for-5 with one run scored while Nuzzo registered three RBI.
The Bulldogs return to the Bryant Baseball Complex and
Northeast-10 Conference play Tuesday, April 22, when they host
UMass Lowell in a 3:30 bout in Smithfield, RI. Brown will make the
return visit to Bryant on Wednesday, April 30 for the final game of
the two-contest set.
--
Bryant 7, Brown 4
-------------------------------------------
Bryant.............. 300 200 101 - 7 10 1
Brown............... 011 000 200 - 4 10 0
------------------------------------------------
Win - Cowan (2-1). Loss - Burke (1-1). Save - Vuolo (3).
