PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - March 8, 2023 - The Dean College baseball team hung on for a 7-6 victory over Bluffton University on Wednesday at the Snowbird Baseball Classic.

The Bulldogs (1-3) will play a pair of games in North Port tomorrow against Heidelberg and Rhode Island College.

The Beavers (2-3) plated a run in the second on a sac fly to take a 1-0 lead. 

Dean then scored four times in the top of the fourth. First-year Teddy Benoit (Holden, Mass.) singled in a pair and later scored on a first-year Jacob Paschetto (East Longmeadow, Mass.) sacrifice fly. Senior Brian Dovidio (Ramsey, N.J.) had an RBI single in between. 

Bluffton put single runs on the board in the sixth and seventh to cut the Dean lead to 4-3. 

The Bulldogs responded with three runs in the top of the eighth. Dovidio got the scoring rally going with an RBI single. Dean then scored on a bases loaded hit by pitch and another sacrifice fly. 

The Beavers did not go quietly as they started a rally in the bottom of the eighth. They ended up scoring three times on a double and a pair of sacrifice flies before junior Kyle Simpson (Prospect, Conn.) got a big strikeout to end the inning. 

Sophomore Danny Goyette (Holliston, Mass.) came in to work the ninth and earned the save to secure Dean's first win of the season. 

First-year Zach Handfield (Auburn, Mass.) was credited with his first collegiate victory with two innings of relief. He allowed one run on one hit and struck out one. 

Dovidio finished with four hits, while Paschetto, Benoit and first-year Tyler Giambra (Prospect, Conn.) had two hits apiece.