March 12, 2008

TOP-RANKED MOUNT OLIVE SWEEPS BRYANT IN NON-CONFERENCE BASEBALL DOUBLEHEADER WEDNESDAY NIGHT, 12-4 AND 5-4

Game 1 / Game 2

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. -- The Bryant University baseball team dropped a pair of contests to nationally top-ranked Mount Olive College, falling 12-4 in Game One and dropping a tight 5-4 nightcap Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs (8-6) took a 3-2 lead in the top of the second in Wednesday's opening game, after Dylan Stone (Portsmouth, RI) knocked out a two-run triple and Mark Dondero (Medfield, Mass.) followed with a double.

Bryant scored again in the third on back-to-back doubles from Pat McKenna (Orange, Conn.) and Jeff Vigurs (South Windor, Conn.) to go up, 4-2.

But Mount Olive responded, scoring three runs in the third and fourth innings, and another four in the sixth to blow the game open for a final score of 12-4.

Luke Cowan (Houston, Texas) went 3.1 innings in the loss, moving to 1-1 on the season. Vigurs and McKenna had two hits apiece, while Stone notched a pair of RBI.

In the nightcap, Mount Olive's Jason Sherrer hit a walk-off two-run double with nobody out to cap off a three-run seventh inning and a 5-4 victory over the Bulldogs.

Bryant got the scoring started in the top of the first, getting two more runs in the third and another in the fifth to go up 4-2 on the home team.

But in the bottom of the seventh, the Trojans led off the inning with an opposite-field single, followed by a single up the middle. The Trojans loaded the bases when Alex Vertcnik beat the throw to second on a Josh Harrison sacrifice attempt. Erik Lovett pulled Mount Olive within one, 4-3, on a linedrive single off the glove of second baseman Dave Muscatello (Hopkinton, Mass.). Sherrer then drove a pitch to the left field fence to drive in the winning runs, 5-4.

Brent Almeida (Fairhaven, Mass.) threw five solid innings for the Bulldogs, giving up a pair of runs on five hits. Adam Vuolo (Walpole, Mass.) took the loss in the game, while Taylor Ferguson (Charlton, Mass.) had a trio of hits and scored three runs. For the day, Sherrer was 4-for-6 with nine runs batted in.

The Bulldogs fall to 8-6 on the year, while the Trojans extend their winning streak to 23-straight games. The two teams conclude their three-game series with a single game Thursday at Scarborough Field. First pitch is 6 p.m.