Boxscore

NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Bryant's Nick Campbell hit 3-for-5 with a double, drove in three runs and scored two more on Tuesday afternoon as the Southern Connecticut State University baseball team was defeated, 10-0, by No. 25/NR nationally-ranked Bryant in Northeast-10 Conference play at The Ballpark at SCSU. Junior center fielder Karl Derbacher (Northford, Conn.) went 2-for-3 with a walk in the loss for SCSU. With the loss, SCSU falls to 18-15 (8-6 NE-10), while Bryant improves to 27-13 (15-4 NE-10) with the win.

The Bulldogs threatened in the bottom of the second, as they put runners on second and third with one out. However, Jeff Vigurs was cut down at the plate on a ground ball to junior shortstop Mike Diaz (Monroe, Conn.) and the Owls then escaped the inning unharmed when Mark Dondero popped up to second base.

After five scoreless innings, Bryant found the scoreboard with a run in the top of the sixth. With one out, Nick Campbell reached on a single to center field and moved all the way to third on a dribbling bunt single up the first-base line by Pat O'Connor. Vigurs followed with a squeeze bunt up the third-base line to pick up a sacrifice and an RBI as Campbell came home from third to give the Bulldogs a 1-0 lead.

Bryant would break the game open and extend the lead to 5-0 with four runs in the top of the seventh. Taylor Ferguson led off with a single to left-center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After going to third on a Dave Muscatello single, Ferguson came into score on a line-drive single to left by Jason Alexander to give the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Muscatello and Alexander would both come around to score on a two-run double lined down the left-field line by Campbell. Campbell would move to third on a muffed throw at the plate by freshman catcher Nick DeProspo (Worcester, Mass.). The error would prove costly, as Campbell then scored an unearned run on a groundball single through the left side by O'Connor.

The Bulldogs added five runs in the top of the eighth to make it 10-0. Pat McKenna led off with a triple to the warning track in straightaway center field. After Ferguson reached on an infield single, McKenna came into score on a sacrifice fly to center by Dondero. Ferguson then stole second and Muscatello followed with an infield single to shortstop. On the play, Ferguson would score to extend the lead to 7-0 and Muscatello ended up at second as Diaz threw the ball into the first-base dugout. After Alexander worked a walk, Dylan Stone lined a single to left-center to score Muscatello. Then Campbell singled through the left side to drive home Alexander and make it 9-0 Bryant. After a wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third, O'Connor hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Stone with the Bulldogs' 10th and final run of the game.

Sophomore Ed Bethke (Branford, Conn.) started on the mound and took the loss (3-2) for SCSU. Over 6.2 innings, he gave up five runs (four earned) on 11 hits and struck out three.

Eric Loh started and earned the victory (6-2) on the rubber for Bryant. Over 6.2 shutout innings, he gave up five hits, walked three, threw a pair of wild pitches and struck out eight.

The Owls return to action on Thursday, April 17, when they make the return trip to Bryant for a Northeast-10 contest. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at Bryant Baseball Complex in Smithfield, R.I.