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The Bryant Bulldogs are putting on quite a late-season charge toward the America East regular season title. Their latest victim, the Maine Black Bears, had a front row seat to just how good the Bulldogs have become. UAlbany also had a weekend for themselves as they went on the road and swept the UMass Lowell River Hawks to keep their postseason alive. With two weeks left in the season, every game is very important as we head to the tournament.
NJIT also had a good weekend as they went to UMBC and took two of three from them. The top three spots in the league stay the same because of last weekend’s results. It is not just about the top of the league; the bottom of the standings has some interest as well. The Great Danes have six conference games left, the River Hawks have only three, and those games will be at NJIT on the final weekend of the season. UAlbany also has the tiebreaker on UMass Lowell by sweeping the series. Now, it is the River Hawks that may need some help to get to the postseason.
Here is how last weekend went. The Black Bears made the trip to Smithfield, RI, to face a Bryant team that was on a roll. In Game 1, down 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, DH Braydn Durand hit a three-run HR inside the right field foul pole to give the Bulldogs a 5-3 lead. Landon White came out of the Bulldogs’ pen to register save #6 on the year for Kyle Rizy (6-0) and the Bulldogs won 5-3. Game 2 went extra innings. Maine took a lead in the top of the 11th on a Brody Rasmussen double to center field, 8-7 Maine. In the bottom of the 11th, the Bulldogs came back against Black Bears closer Sebastian Holt (2-2). Durand hit his second HR in consecutive days, this one to left center field. to tie the game at 8-8. Later, Zac Zyons hit a single to right center that scored Matt D’Amato with the walk-off run for a 9-8 Bryant win in 11 innings. On Sunday, the Bulldogs broke the game open with the long ball in the seventh. A three-run HR from RF Charlie Saul was followed by a two-run HR from Gavin Noriega to right center field to make a winner of Jackson Vanesko (4-3). Gianni Gambardella (5-3) took the loss. With the sweep, Bryant (26-16-1, 13-5) now has a four-game lead on Maine (19-25, 12-9).
UAlbany (16-27, 6-12) went to LeLacheur Park with a gotta have it mentality. They needed a series win over the River Hawks (17-28, 8-13) to have any chance of postseason baseball. Friday night, it was the Dylan Banner show. He threw his first complete game of the season as he threw 111 pitches, 75 for strikes, retired 12 in a row, allowing only two baserunners over the final seven innings on walks. His performance earned Banner AE Pitcher of the Week as the Great Danes won 6-1. On Saturday, the Great Danes looked like they were in trouble. Down 7-3 in the top of the ninth, UAlbany scored nine runs to pull out a 12-9 victory. Luke Myers hit a three-run HR, the big blow in the inning. Matthew Mariano pitched 5.1 innings out of the pen and got the win (3-6). Dylan Bedder, who allowed five earned runs in the ninth, took the loss (0-3). On Sunday, the Great Danes scored six runs in the first two innings to get a 7-2 series sweep win. Levi McAllister got the big hit, a bases-clearing triple in the second. He was 2-5 with 5 RBI. This weekend, UAlbany hosts UMBC in a big series. UML has non-conference games with Boston College
NJIT (23-22, 10-8) took two of three from UMBC (18-21, 8-10) on the road. They took two on Friday, with a 4-3 win in Game 1 on an RBI triple by SS Ray Ortiz to the gap in left center field. He scored on a throwing error. Ortiz was 3-for-3 with 2 RS. Nick Remy 6-1) took the loss for UMBC, and Morrissey (5-3) got the win. In Game 2, the Highlanders scored in six of the seven innings played. Ortiz was 3-for-3, 2 RBI, and 3 RS. He was one of five hitters who had a multi-hit game. They would win 15-5. On Sunday as Nick Remy came back with 2-1 innings of three-hit baseball. He is now 7-1. Danny Wyatt, with a walk-off HR to left, was the game winner off Tyler Kim (0-1).
The America East Player of the week is Gavin Noriega of Bryant. He batted .523 and slugged .824 in a 4-0 week for Bryant. He had two doubles, four RBI, and nine runs scored. His freshman teammate, Michael Belcher, was the America East Rookie of the Week. He went five against Maine and allowed three hits, zero runs, with two walks and seven strikeouts. It is the third time he has been named Rookie of the Week.
Next week, it’s the final weekend of the season in America East.
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