Franklin, MA- The Dean College baseball team fell in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday afternoon, losing to ClarkUniversity by final score of 9-8. With the loss, Dean moves to 6-18 (3-5 GNAC) on the season, while the Cougars advance to 17-8 (3-4 NEWMAC).

The Bulldogs struck first in the bottom of the 1st inning when Nick Amendolara (Bayville, NY) reached on an error by the shortstop, allowing JadonMurakami (Aiea, HI) to score and give Dean an early 1-0 lead. After three scoreless frames by starter Domenic Brazeau (Warwick, RI), the Bulldogs would respond in the bottom half of the third. Rylan Secovich (Southwick MA) roped a double, allowing Murakami to score again. 

It would be the fifth inning that allowed Dean to add serious cushion to their lead. Tyler Giambra (Prospect, CT) began the scoring with his second career home run. Shortly after, Secovich laid down another RBI, scoring a run. He would then score a run of his own after advancing to third on an error and a follow-up wild pitch. After five, Dean would lead the Cougars 5-0.

Clark University responded in the 6th inning, scoring their first run to narrow Dean's lead. However, the momentum shifted dramatically in the 7th inning when Clark exploded for seven runs, turning a 5-1 deficit into an 8-5 lead. This included a three-run home run from Ryan Bonja and consecutive base hits from the top of the order. After another hit in the eighth, the Cougars led Dean 9-6.

Despite this setback, Dean remained resilient and scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth. Secovich would continue to conduct the offense, this time scoring both Kyler Lorenz (East Providence, RI) and Colin Favata (Syosset, NY). However, the scoring would end here. Clark would seal the game with a successful pickoff attempt at second base and take the win by a final score of 9-6.

Offensively, Secovich was the star of the show, going 4-4 with four RBIs. Murakami also had a strong performance, recording three hits of his own. Luke Fahey (Glastonbury, CT) knocked two hits of his own, while four additional Bulldogs added one hit each. Owen Critchley (Dayton, ME) ended with the loss on the mound, moving to 2-2 on the season. Brazeau had a solid performance as the starter, going three innings, allowing zero earned runs on just two hits and four strikeouts.

Baseball will hit the road tomorrow afternoon at 3:00PM, playing Bates College in another non-conference matchup.