April 30, 2008
NO. 23/26 BRYANT FALLS TO DIVISION I BROWN UNIVERSITY,
10-5, WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TO SPLIT SERIES
|
|
Mark Dondero went 2-for-3
with
a runs scored in Wednesday's loss.
|
Boxscore
SMITHFIELD, RI - Despite early and late-inning runs from the
Bryant University baseball team Wednesday afternoon, visiting
Division I opponent Brown University exploded for a seven-run top
of the tenth to take a 10-5 win away from the Bryant Baseball
Complex, handing the Bulldogs their second loss in as many days.
The Bears (20-24) took six hits off the closing combination of
senior Adam Vuolo (Walpole, Mass.) and sophomore
Eric Polvani (Wallingford, Conn.), touching
Bryant's fourth and fifth pitchers of the day for seven runs and a
10-3 lead in the top of the extra frame.
Designated hitter Conor Reardon led off the inning with a double
down the right field line before Matt Nuzzo topped off his 3-for-5
day (RBI, 2 runs) with an intentional walk to put runners on first
and second for Nick Punal. A fielder's choice off Punal's bat got
the lead runner at third, but a costly error by first baseman
Dylan Stone (Portsmouth, RI) loaded the bases for
Robert Papenhause with just one out.
Vuolo gave up back-to-back RBI singles to give Brown the 5-3
lead, but the scoring wasn't close to over as Polvani took over on
the hill. With the bases still loaded, a wild pitch brought home
Matt Colantonio, while pinch hitter Peter Greskoff singled to
center for the third run of the inning.
Steve Daniels tripled to plate two more, and scored himself on a
JJ Eno single to right the next at bat before Polvani found his way
out of the inning.
Junior Pat O'Connor (Mattapoisett, Mass.) got
two back in the bottom of the 10th for the Bulldogs
(36-16) with his eighth home run of the season - a two-out, two-run
shot off Andrew Bakowski - but it wouldn't be enough to keep the
home team from dropping back-to-back contests for the first time
since mid-March.
Both Wednesday's defeat and Tuesday afternoon's 5-3 loss to
Northeastern University were against Division I opponents and
played with aluminum bats rather than the Northeast-10 Conference
wooden bat norm.
But it was the Bulldogs that came out with bats blaring to start
out the game, as senior co-captain Jason Alexander
(Simsbury, Conn.) ripped a double down the left field line
off starter Josh Feit to lead off the game.
The third baseman moved to third on an error and came home on
the next batter for the early 1-0 lead.
The home side tacked on two more in the second, when
Dave Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.) singled home
Jeff Vigurs (South Windor, Conn.), who led off the
frame with a walk. Alexander then singled to center to plate
Mark Dondero (Medfield, Mass.) and take a 3-0
advantage.
But the Bears would hold the Bulldogs to just two more hits and
no runs through the ninth while getting lone runs back in the
third, fourth and eighth to knot the score at 3-3.
Two RBI days from Papenhause and Daniels led Brown on the day as
they shook the Bryant staff for 17 hits. Papenhause was near
perfect at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs
scored.
A 3-for-3 day from Alexander - who recorded an RBI, two runs
scored and was hit by a pair of pitches - led Bryant offensively,
while Dondero also chipped in a multi-hit afternoon (2-for-3, run
scored). The Bulldogs scattered eight hits off a five-man Bear
pitching combination.
Vuolo (1-3) took the loss for Bryant, allowing five runs (four
earned) on four hits in 1.2 innings of work, while Rob Hallberg
notched his first win of 2008, moving to 1-3 in a two-frame
appearance.
Bryant returns to Division II play Friday, May 2 when the
Bulldogs travel to Orangeburg, NY for a 1:00 p.m. faceoff with
Dominican College before rounding out Northeast-10 Conference
action Saturday, May 3 with a doubleheader at Pace.
--
Score by
Innings
R H E
---------------------------------------------
Brown............... 001 100 010 7 - 10 17 1
Bryant University... 120 000 000 2 - 5 8 2
---------------------------------------------
Win - Hallberg (1-3). Loss - Vuolo (1-3). Save - None.
