April 9, 2009
LATE RALLY PUSHES BROWN PAST
BRYANT, 8-6, THURSDAY AFTERNOON
Box Score
PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Brown University rallied for five runs in the
bottom of the seventh inning to turn a three run deficit into a two
run lead as the Bears edged past the Bulldogs, 8-6, at Murray
Stadium on Thursday afternoon. The loss moved Bryant's record to
24-10 on the year while evening the season series with the Bears at
one game apiece.
Jordan English (Windsor Locks, Conn.) drove in
three runs on the day while Tim Norton (Barnstable,
Mass.) had three hits to pace the Bryant offense. Starting
pitcher Kevin Cobb (Acton, Mass.) did not factor
in the decision, going 6.1 innings while allowing six runs on six
hits and striking out five to remain at 6-0 on the year.
The Bulldogs broke the scoreless tie in the top of the second,
as Pat O'Connor (Mattapoisett,
Mass.) led off the inning with a double off the wall in
right center field and later came around to score on a ground out
to second by English, putting Bryant on top 1-0.
Brown responded with two of their own in the bottom of the
second, getting back-to-back singles to start the inning before
Robert Papenhause scored both runs with a triple to center that was
just past the dive of center fielder Nick Campbell
(Raynham, Mass.). Cobb retired the next three batters in a
row, getting help from Norton and Vigurs, who combined to cut down
a run at the plate to keep the deficit at 2-1.
Bryant exploded for a five run rally in the top of the third,
with everything coming with two outs in the frame. Pat
McKenna (Orange, Conn.) and Dylan Stone
(Portsmouth, R.I.) started a run of six-straight men
reaching base, each beating out infield singles to put runners on
first and second with two down. Campbell tied the game with a sharp
single to center and O'Connor followed with a walk to load the
bases, chasing Bear starter Josh Feit after 2.2 innings.
Vigurs then stepped to the plate in his favorite position,
batting with two outs and runners in scoring position where he was
12-for-26 on the season entering the game. The junior catcher laced
a two-strike pitch from Brown reliever Rob Wilcox down the line in
left for a double to bring in two runs and put the Bulldogs up 4-2.
English finished the rally with a bloop single into right center,
plating O'Connor and Vigurs to extend the lead to 6-2.
Cobb ran into trouble in the bottom of the third, allowing a run
on a sacrifice fly by Pete Greskoff and then walking the bases
loaded with two outs. The senior then stepped-up, striking out Ryan
Zrenda looking to strand the bases loaded and hold the Bryant lead
at 6-3.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings
as Cobb settled into his start, only allowing three men to reach
over those three innings. He would be replaced in the seventh
inning by Brent Almeida (Fairhaven, Mass.) who
took the loss in relief.
The Bears put together a five-run rally of their own in the
bottom of the seventh to take an 8-6 lead. Matt Nuzzo slugged a big
two-run home run over the left field fence to start things with one
out, cutting the deficit to one. Papenhause drove in his third run
of the game with a sac fly later in the inning to bring home the
tying run, while Zrenda slapped a single through the right side to
give Brown its second lead of the game at 7-6. Daniel Rossoff
finished the rally, hitting a shot to left with two outs that was
just out of the reach of left fielder Connor Carignan
(Norwich, Conn.), scoring Zrenda from first on a close
play at the plate that he just beat with a head first slide to put
the home team up two.
Bryant loaded the bases against Brown closer Matt Kimball in the
top of the eighth, getting infield singles from Vigurs and Norton
and a walk from Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.).
But Kimball got Carignan to strike out looking and McKenna swinging
to escape the jam.
Matt Griswold (Berlin, Conn.) was solid out of
the bullpen for the Bulldogs, retiring all four batters that he
faced to keep Bryant within two.
Kimball got the Bulldogs to go down in order in the ninth to
finish the two inning save, striking out two more to finish the
game with five total to clinch the win.
Bryant finishes a stretch of four games in four days on Friday
when they host UMass Lowell at the Bryant Baseball Complex. The
Bulldogs will honor the 2008 team that put together the most wins
in program history in a pregame ceremony.
Notes:
- Pat McKenna extended his hitting streak to 14 games after
beating out an infield single in the first.
- Jeff Vigurs reached base safely in his 33rd-straight
game while moving his hitting streak to 11 in a row with his double
in the third.
- Pat O'Connor and Jordan English each pushed their hitting
streaks to seven games, while Tim Norton has now hit in
four-straight.
- Nick Campbell has scored at-least one run in each of the last
eight games.
Brown 8, Bryant University 6 (Apr 09, 2009 at Providence,
RI)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bryant University... 015 000 000 - 6 12
0 (23-10)
Brown............... 021 000 50X - 8 13
0 (12-12-1)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Bryant University - Kevin Cobb; Brent Almeida(7); Matt
Griswold(7). Brown -
Feit, Josh; Wilcox, Rob(3); Backowski, A(6); Kimball, Mat(8).
Win-Backowski, A(2-1) Save-Kimball, Mat(6) Loss-Brent
Almeida T-2:30 A-107
HR BRWN - Nuzzo, Matt.
