FINAL SCORE: Apprentice School 3, Briarcliffe College 2

RECORDS: Apprentice School 27-12, Briarcliffe College 20-19

LOCATION:  Robin Roberts Stadium/Springfield, IL.

EVENT: USCAA Small College World Series

SEEDING: Apprentice School (4); Briarcliffe College (5)

IN BRIEF: A two-run single from Lee Rossi with one-out in the bottom of the sixth gave the Builders their first lead of the day and a 3-2 win over Briarcliffe College in the opening round of the 2014 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series on Monday afternoon.

ON THE FIELD

• The Bulldogs scored a run in the top of the first as they took advantage of an Apprentice School error for an unearned run.  Anthony Puma had a one-out single and went to second on a walk to Brandon Fischer.  Following a strikeout, Ben Wright had a grounder that was bobbled to load the bases and Gus Mejia drew a bases-loaded walk to give them a 1-0 lead.
• Briarcliffe pushed a run across in the top of the fifth as Joseph Fiorino started with a double to left center and then stole third.   Fischer followed with a sacrifice fly to center for a 2-0 lead.
• Apprentice School got on the board with a run in the bottom of that inning as Zach Harding started with a triple to right field.  He was replaced by Thomas Richardson as a courtesy runner and Richardson scored on a groundout by Thomas Dudley.
• In the bottom of the sixth, Brian Belvin started with a single to left and went to second as Mark Labrador drew a walk.  Both advanced a base on a wild pitch before Rossi took a pitch up the middle to score Belvin and Labrador.

BEHIND THE BOXSCORE

• For five innings, starting pitchers Ben Wright and Chris Perry held teams in check.  Perry threw five innings for the Builders allowing six hits and struck out four.  Wright went 5.1 for Briarcliffe allowing seven hits with four strikeouts.
• The Builders did have a hit in every inning after the first and finally struck through in the last two innings.    Rossi and Belvin had two hits each for the Builders.
• Sam Massie came into pitch in the sixth inning and took the win with two strikeouts.  He's now 4-0 on the year.
• The game had eerie similarities to last year's first game for the Builders in the 2013 United States Collegiate Athletic Association Small College World Series as the Builders defeated Briarcliffe 2-1 on a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth.

NEXT UP – Cincinnati-Clermont/Victory

The Builders play on Tuesday afternoon at 1:30 pm against the winner of the #8-seed Victory University and #1-seeded University of Cincinnati-Clermont.