Box Score (Updated 5/19 at 10:40 p.m. to indicate that Friday's game will start at 5 p.m. (not 3 p.m.).)
RINDGE, N.H. – Junior right-hander Matt Blandino (Bristol, Conn./Bristol Central) pitched eight shutout innings, facing only three batters over the minimum, to lead No. 4 seed Felician University to a 3-0 victory over No. 5 seed University of Bridgeport in first-round play at the NCAA Division II East Regional Baseball Tournament on Thursday morning at Dr. Pappas Field.
Felician (34-19) next plays on Friday at 5 p.m., when it takes on tournament host, top seed, and No. 3 nationally-ranked Franklin Pierce University (45-6) in the winners' bracket of the seven-team, double-elimination event.
Felician put its leadoff runner on base in each of the first two innings, and brought him home on both occasions. In the first, Bruce Strickland (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) drew a walk, was sacrificed to second base by Ralph Caccavale (Massapequa, N.Y./Plainedge) and scored on a single to right field by Andrew LaMura (Brick, N.J./Red Bank Catholic).
Jason Polgano (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) doubled to start the bottom of the second and scored on a two-out hit by Ronnie Grant (Burlington, N.J./Burlington Township).
Blandino (9-4), meanwhile, carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning before Tyler Gambardella (West Haven, Conn./West Haven) reached with two outs on a grounder in the hole to deep shortstop. In the seventh, Blandino yielded a one-out single to Casey McCone (Milford, Conn./Foran), then watched as Alnaydo Rodriguez (Bronx, N.Y./Warner University) pulled a fly ball down the right field that crossed the fence inches foul. Rodriguez eventually struck out and Blandino followed by inducing a groundout to maintain the two-run lead.
Golden Falcon junior third baseman J.R. Meneses (Lake Worth, Fla./Zion Lutheran) launched a solo home run to left field in the bottom of the seventh for the final margin.
Blandino threw 91 pitches, 67 for strikes. Sophomore righty Danny Naif (Jackson, N.J./Jackson Liberty) entered to start the ninth and worked around a single and a walk to retire the Purple Knights (27-23-1) and earn his 10th save of the season, extending his Felician record.
Grant was 3 for 3 and Polgano had a pair of doubles for Felician.
The game was played in one hour, 53 minutes.
