April 14, 2009
O'CONNOR, POLVANI LEAD BULLDOGS
PAST NORTHEASTERN, 8-4,
TUESDAY AFTERNOON
BROOKLINE, MASS. - Senior Pat O'Connor (Mattapoisett, Mass.) went two-for-five with a home run and three RBI to help Bryant get a big win over Northeastern, 8-4, at Friedman Diamond Tuesday afternoon. Eric Polvani (Wallingford, Conn.) went seven strong innings on the hill, allowing just two runs to pick-up his fifth win of the year and third in his last three starts.
Northeastern (18-12), who came into this game ranked fourth in the NEIBA poll this week behind Bryant, got on the board early, scoring a run on three hits in the bottom of the first to take the early 1-0 advantage. Husky all-time hits leader Mike Tamsin knocked in the run with an RBI ground out to first to score Matt Miller from third. Polvani then worked his way out of a first and second jam with one down, getting a strikeout and ground out to end the frame.
The Bulldogs (26-10) would answer in a big way, scoring two runs in each of the next three innings to take a 6-1 lead. The run started in the top of the second, as Jeff Vigurs (South Windsor, Conn.) drew a walk with one out and Jordan English (Windsor Locks, Conn.) brought him home with a triple into deep right center field to knot the game up at one apiece. Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.) followed with a slow chopper to second that he beat out for an infield single, scoring English from third to give Bryant the 2-1 edge.
O'Connor tacked on two more in the third, hitting a two-run
blast, his sixth of the season, off of Husky starter JR Ross over
the 375-foot mark in left center field to extend the lead to 4-1.
The senior did it again in the fourth, lacing a two-out single to
right to bring home his third RBI of the game. O'Connor is now
eight-for-21 since returning to the lineup from a leg injury.
Vigurs followed with a line drive single to center, scoring
Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass.) to extend Bryant's
lead to 6-1 and giving the junior catcher a team-best 50 RBI on the
year.
A Frank Compagnone home run that just cleared the fence in left
center brought Northeastern back a little bit, cutting the Bulldog
lead to 6-2.
Bryant showed its two-out prowess again this season, scoring four times with two outs in the contest. Skagerlind helped with that number in the sixth, hitting a single to center to score Vigurs, and Dylan Stone did it in the seventh with a two out base knock to score Connor Carignan (Norwich, Conn.). Skagerlind had two RBI, going two-for-four in the contest.
Polvani went seven strong, giving up just a run in the first and a run in the sixth on his way to his fifth win of the year and third in his last three starts. The junior got out of back-to-back jams in the sixth and seventh, inducing inning-ending double plays in both innings with runners on first and second to escape without any harm done.
Matt Griswold (Berlin, Conn.) worked a perfect eighth, striking out the first two Huskies he faced and getting a ground out to finish the frame. Mark Andrews (Hillsborough, N.J.) finished the game, allowing two runs in the ninth while working in a game for the first time since April 8 against Harvard.
Bryant takes a trip to Boca Raton, Florida to start a four-game series with Florida Atlantic on Friday (6:30 p.m.).
Notes:
- Pat McKenna extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a line drive single to center in the top of the fourth. He is now 27-for-69 during that stretch.
- Jeff Vigurs reached base safely in his 35th-straight game while moving his hitting streak to 13 in a row with his single in the fourth.
- Pat O'Connor and Jordan English each pushed their hitting streaks to nine games.
- Nick Campbell has scored at-least one run in each of the last ten games.
- Tim Norton as now hit in six-straight after his two-for-five performance.
- Bryant had 14 hits in the game with six different players recording two hits in the contest.
Bryant University 8, Northeastern 4 (Apr 14, 2009 at Brookline,
Mass.)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Bryant University... 022 201 100 - 8 14
1 (26-10)
Northeastern........ 100 010 002 - 4 15
1 (18-11)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Pitchers: Bryant University - Eric Polvani; Matt Griswold(8); Mark
Andrews(9). Northeastern -
Ross; Lloyd(6); Zehr(8); Greenblatt(9).
Win-Eric Polvani(5-2) Loss-Ross(2-1) T-2:14
A-41
HR BRY - Pat O'Connor.
HR NU - Compagnone.
