College Notes

Warwick’s Rinn, Bulldogs fall in NEC title game

Brenden Soares
Posted 5/28/15

Warwick native and Moses Brown product Robby Rinn’s bid to make a third-straight NCAA tournament appearance with Bryant fell one game short on Sunday, as the Bulldogs fell to Sacred Heart, 5-4, …

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College Notes

Warwick’s Rinn, Bulldogs fall in NEC title game

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Warwick native and Moses Brown product Robby Rinn’s bid to make a third-straight NCAA tournament appearance with Bryant fell one game short on Sunday, as the Bulldogs fell to Sacred Heart, 5-4, in the Northeast Conference championship game.

The Bryant nine had to take a circuitous route through the losers’ bracket just to get to the decider, eliminating Wagner on Friday and Fairleigh Dickinson the following afternoon after losing its opening game on Thursday to Fairleigh Dickinson by a 7-2 score.

The reward for the top-seeded Bulldogs for sweeping aside the Seahawks and Knights was a meeting with No. 3 seed Sacred Heart, which dropped three of four to Bryant when the two teams met at the start of May.

Thanks in large part to a four-run ninth inning that was kick-started by Rinn doubling home Matt Albanese, the Bulldogs topped the Pioneers, 5-2, and thus set up a winner-take-all clash with the NEC’s automatic NCAA tournament bid on the line.

In the rematch, Sacred Heart drew first blood, capitalizing on a Dan Cellucci fielding error to take a 1-0 lead in the second before adding another run in the following frame.

Bryant responded in its half of the fourth, transforming a 2-0 deficit into a 4-2 advantage, aided by Brandon Bingel’s two-RBI single that finished Pioneers’ starting pitcher Robbie Maguire’s involvement in the game.

The Bulldogs remained two runs up until the top of the seventh, when Sacred Heart halved the deficit courtesy of a Zach Short double down the right field line that drove home Jesus Medina all the way from first base.

Two innings later, third baseman Medina played the starring role in the culmination of the Pioneers’ smash-and-grab job that brought the curtain down on Bryant’s two-year reign as NEC champions.

After fouling off three straight Kyle Wilcox pitches, Medina knocked a base hit to right field, plating the tying run in the form of Jayson Sullivan before moving into scoring position on a wild pitch uncorked by Wilcox.

Wilcox was able to pick up the first out by getting Short to pop out to Bingel, but Victor Sorrento then drilled the first offering he saw from the junior right-hander up the middle to score Medina and break Bulldog hearts.

Bryant had one more opportunity to at least force extra innings in the bottom of the ninth, but Pioneer reliever Dan Wertz put the cherry on top of 5 1/3 innings of hitless ball by retiring the Bulldogs in order.

Despite going hitless in the decider, Rinn had a successful season on a personal level, finishing the campaign with a .332 batting average, 21 doubles, seven home runs and 43 RBIs, leading the team in the latter three categories.

On the awards front, Rinn was selected First Team All-Northeast Conference and was named First Team All-New England by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association.

Other notes 

Toll Gate alumna and current Rhode Island College track standout Destinee Barrette competed in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division III National Championship meet last Friday, finishing 12th with an effort of 51.15 meters...Ex-Titan Dylan Cummiskey was named Second Team All-Little East for his efforts on the mound for RIC this spring. In eight starts, Cummiskey went 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA, notching a team-high 40 strikeouts and three complete games in 54 1/3 innings of work...Hendricken graduate Evan Chomka represented Bentley on the tennis court this spring, compiling a 10-8 record in singles competition for the Falcons...Warwick native Christina Brazeau started all 31 games this season for the Saint Michael’s softball team, picking up a team-leading 22 hits for the Purple Knights.

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