BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Caldwell College freshman Adric Saxon (Coral Springs, FL/Broward CC) had three runs batted in, including a two-run home run, to pace the Cougars' baseball team to a 6-3 victory over the University of Bridgeport in a non-conference game Thursday afternoon at Bluefish Stadium. The win improves Caldwell's overall record to 8-5 on the season, while the Purple Knights fall to 5-4.
Bridgeport opened the scoring in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs on a run-scoring double by Seth Desautel and a sacrifice fly from Mike Buswell. The Cougars retaliated in the top of the fifth, when Saxon hit his fourth home run of the season following a walk by freshman Omar Velazquez (Astoria, NY/Long Island City). Junior Chris Chiarappa (Elmont, NY/Holy Trinity) and senior Billy Ryan (Toms River, NJ/Manchester) hit back-to-back singles, with Chiarappa eventually scoring on an error and Ryan coming home on a groundout by sophomore Jorge Torres (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) to make the score 4-2 Caldwell.
Saxon recorded his third RBI of the game in the top of the sixth with a sacrifice fly that plated Velazquez, who had tripled, for a 5-2 lead. Bridgeport got a run back in the bottom of the eighth on Gary Vera's RBI single. But Torres restored the three-run lead in the top of the ninth with another grounder that scored Saxon from third for a 6-3 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth, freshman reliever Buddy Riggs (Coral Springs, FL/Taravella) walked the first batter before getting a double play and striking out the final Purple Knight for his second save of the season.
Freshman starter Robert Casal (Howard Beach, NY/St. Francis Prep) fanned eight batters while giving up five hits and two runs in seven innings of work to improve to 3-1. Bridgeport's Tony Danella allowed eight hits and five runs in six innings to take the loss.
The Cougars take the field on Saturday, Mar. 31 for a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader with Bloomfield College. The CACC opener is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. at Breslin Field in Lyndhurst, N.J.
