Game 7
#1 Bryant 8, #2 Sacred Heart 0

Box Score

Lakewood, NJ - Bryant has waited four full years for this moment.  In their first season of NCAA Division I postseason eligibility, the Bulldogs are heading to baseball’s version of the Big Dance.

All nine Bryant starters reached base and sophomore starter Kevin McAvoy turned in a stellar effort as the Bulldogs topped two-time defending champion Sacred Heart for the second straight day. 

The 8-0 shutout completed the Bulldogs’ ascension from the losers’ bracket to the NEC Tournament title. It also prevented Sacred Heart from becoming the first team since Central Connecticut in 2004, and the third team in league history, to “three-peat” at the annual four-team championship event.

“It’s been our goal since the beginning of the season, and we’ve been working our hardest to get here,” said Bryant's sophomore leadoff hitter, Tournament MVP Jordan Mountford.

Winning the NEC Tournament title had been about the only thing Bryant was unable to accomplish during its first four years of the reclassification process to Division I.  The Bulldogs, who have played a full NEC schedule since 2010, have finished atop the league’s regular season standings three times in four years.

McAvoy, the 2012 NEC Rookie of the Year, went the distance for the championship game victory.  On his way to making the nine-member All-Tournament Team, the right-hander allowed only three hits and two walks over 9.0 masterful frames.

His effort lowered Bryant’s NEC Tournament ERA to 2.20.

“Going into the game, I knew we were going to hit the ball well. We’ve been hitting well all tournament, so I really just attacked and got ahead on fastballs,” said McAvoy, who needed only 94 pitches to complete Sunday's clincher.

After suffering a lop-sided defeat at the hands of LIU Brooklyn in Thursday’s NEC Tournament opener, Bryant’s bats exploded.

The Bulldogs won their next four Tournament games by scoring an average of 10.25 runs per contest.

Bryant hit .319 for the tournament with Mountford leading the way. The sophomore outfielder, who batted .175 during his rookie season of 2012, capped off an unbelievable championship weekend with a 2-for-5 showing.

Mountford led off the title game with a single and came around to score the game’s first run as part of Bryant’s three-run first inning off Sacred Heart starter Nick Leiningen, who had won his two previous starts at the NEC Tournament.

Although one run would be all McAvoy would need on the mound, the Tournament MVP gave his starting pitcher some insurance with a run-scoring double in the eighth. 

Over five games in Lakewood, Mountford hit. 526 (10-for-19) with a tournament-high nine runs scored and six RBI.

NEC Player of the Year Kevin Brown, whose laser home run to right led off the third inning, also drove in six runs over the weekend as did John Mullen.

Brown hit .400 with four walks and scored five runs on his way to All-Tournament honors.

In addition to Mountford, McAvoy and Brown, Bryant placed John Healy and Carl Anderson on the All-Tournament Team.

Healy allowed only one run on three hits over 8.0 innings in a 16-1 elimination game win over LIU Brooklyn. Anderson, an outfielder, batted .350 with four RBI and six runs scored.

In denying Sacred Heart the chance to accomplish a rare NEC Tournament feat, the Bulldogs accomplished one of their own.

They were the first team to suffer a Day 1 loss and come back to win the tournament since Mount St. Mary’s in 2008.  Central Connecticut also achieved the feat in 2004.

“We worked hard all year. We took a step back in the first game, but we worked really hard to get back,” said McAvoy.

Sacred Heart DH Dan Perez, a two-time first team all-NEC selection, had one hit on Sunday to cap his All-Tournament Team worthy performance. He hit .412 with a homer, three RBI and four runs in four games.  SHU starter Troy Scribner, the 2012 NEC Tournament MVP, picked up All-Tournament accolades for the fourth straight season.





All-Tournament Team
Jordan Mountford (BRY), OF - Most Valuable Player
Kevin Brown (BRY), 3B
John Healy (BRY), RHP
Kevin McAvoy (BRY), RHP
Carl Anderson (BRY), OF
Troy Scribner (SHU), RHP
Dan Perez (SHU), DH
Justin Topa (LIU), RHP
John Ziznewski (LIU), SS

2013 NEC Baseball Champions