Bulldogs host LIU in NEC weekend series

GAME INFORMATION
Bryant University (19-16, 9-7 NEC) vs. Long Island University (20-13, 12-4)
Thursday, April 21 – 3:00 p.m. I Friday, April 22 – 2/5 p.m. I Saturday, April 23 – 1:00 p.m.
Smithfield, R.I. – Bryant Baseball Complex
Live Stats I Webcast I Game Program 4/21

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant University baseball team (19-16, 9-7 Northeast Conference) welcomes Long Island University (20-13, 12-4) to the Bryant Baseball Complex for the first of four outings Thursday afternoon looking to continue their current six-game win streak. The Bulldogs swept Mount St. Mary's last weekend in Smithfield, R.I. and have a chance to close the three-game gap with the top-seeded Blackbirds in the latest NEC standings. Bryant has won nine of the last 12 outings and have posted a 9-3 mark at home in 2011 (6-2 vs. NEC).

Scouting Bryant

The Bulldogs enter this weekend's series with a 9-7 conference mark in 2011 and have the opportunity to move into a tie for first place with Monmouth in the NEC standings. Bryant took two from Harvard University on Tuesday afternoon, 3-2 and 12-2, giving the Bulldogs the 3-0 season sweep. Winners of six-straight, the Bulldogs are averaging 5.8 runs per game while allowing 10 total runs during the stretch. Bryant is currently sitting in a three-way tie for third place in the latest NEC standings with Sacred Heart and Central Connecticut.

At the plate, Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) has found his groove, posting a .412 batting average including four runs and four RBIs since April 15. Brown leads the team with a .529 slugging percentage during the 6-0 run and has a team-high .565 on-base percentage. Not only has the left fielder performed at the dish but on the base path as well, going 4-for-4 in stolen base attempts. Fellow outfielder, Connor Carignan (Norwich, Conn.) has stepped up as of late, registering a team-best seven runs and eight hits since the winning streak began.

On the hill, Bryant has received strong performances from a quartet of pitchers, allowing 29 hits in the past 46.0 innings (1.58 per game) and has struck out 47 batters in that time. Righty John Michael Ryan (Worcester, Mass.) has allowed just seven runs in five starts this season and has earned wins in his past three starts. Peter Kelich (Jackson, N.J.) picked up NEC Pitcher of the Week accolades on Monday afternoon after dealing eight Ks in a complete-game shutout win over Mount St. Mary's April 16.

Scouting the Blackbirds

LIU enters the weekend series tied for first place with Monmouth University (15-5, 20-13)in the latest NEC standings with 12 league wins. The Blackbirds swept conference foe Quinnipiac University last weekend by a combined 27-13 margin and have not lost since April 13 when the team dropped a 3-2 decision against intrastate rival Fordham University.

In the batter's box, the Blackbirds rely on Catcher Tyler Jones and his .434 batting average through 33 games this season. Jones has accounted for 29 runs and 24 RBIs while posting a .549 slugging percentage. After batting .667 over a five-game stretch, Long Island University rightfielder Julian Castro was named Akadema Northeast Conference Co-Player of the Week on Monday afternoon. The junior drove in eight runs, including seven RBIs during the Blackbirds' four-game sweep of Quinnipiac. Castro notched hits in each of the five games he played this week and went 2-for-3 with an RBI, a run, a walk and a steal in the series-opening 4-1 win over the Bobcats on April 15. For the week, Castro slugged .750 and had an on-base percentage of .722. His 8-for-12 performance raised his season batting average 65 points to .347.

Four different Blackbirds are batting above .300 while seven have recorded double digit RBIs. LIU has batted a collective .284 in 2011 and is leaving 7.5 runners on base per outing.

On the mound, LIU has three different pitchers with at least four wins, as Sophomore righty Justin Topa tops the rotation with a 5-5 mark in eight starts and 10 appearances. Topa has accounted for a team-best 43 Ks while issuing 13 walks.

Kelich earns NEC Pitcher of the Week Honors

Two days after dealing eight Ks in a complete-game shutout win over Mount St. Mary's, righty Peter Kelich (Jackson, N.J.) was recognized as the Northeast Conference Akadema Pitcher of the Week by the league office Monday afternoon.

This distinction marks the third time this season a Bryant pitcher scooped up conference weekly honors, as Mark Andrews (Hillsborough, N.J.) received the previous two.

The sophomore starter twirled a complete-game two-hit shutout of Mount St. Mary's in the first half of Saturday's doubleheader, and was responsible for the lone goose egg in Northeast Conference baseball this past weekend.  

The right-hander allowed only one base runner to reach scoring position over 7.0 innings of work. He struck out eight batters and walked two en route to the 3-0 NEC victory. After allowing a walk and single, both with two outs, in the first inning, Kelich proceeded to retire 11 batters in a row until the Mount's Josh Winter reached on a infield hit in the fifth. The win was the 11th at the collegiate level for the 6-foot-1 righty, but his first complete game. Kelich, who did not allow an extra-base hit against the Mount, has not surrendered a home run in 43.2 innings this season.

Bulldogs vs. Blackbirds all-time

The Bulldogs currently hold a 7-1 edge over LIU all-time, having swept the Blackbirds in the 2009 campaign by a combined 28-12 margin in Brooklyn, N.Y. March 27-28. Bryant traveled back to New York for the 2010 matchup, and left with a 3-1 series win, outscoring the home side, 39-14.

John Michael Ryan tossed six Ks in six innings as Mark Andrews picked up the save in the team's 3-1 win over the Blackbirds in the first meeting. Bryant would post 15 runs in game two of the 2009 series, as Jordan English (Windsor Locks, Conn.) and Tim Norton (Barnstable, Mass.) went a combined 4-for8 with eight total RBIs in the 15-7 victory. Now-coach Kevin Cobb hurled eight innings and 10 strikeouts, outdueling LIU's pitching staff for the 3-2 win in the third game before the Bulldogs took the series final Sunday, 7-2, for the sweep.

In the 2010 series, Bryant continued to dominate, taking the first two outings, 5-0 and 6-1, before falling to Long Island, 11-8, in the second half of the Saturday doubleheader. The Bulldogs would come out spraying the ball all over the diamond on Sunday, posting a remarkable 21 runs, with Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.) and Norton totaling eight RBIs on a combined 5-for-9 performance at the dish. Kelich would pick up his seventh win of the season after throwing 6.0 innings.

Three up... three down

- Senior Mark Andrews is now the all-time career leader in appearances (93).
- Jamie Skagerlind is now second all-time for career putouts at 1,196.
- Sophomore Joe Michaud made his first start of 2011 on Tuesday at Harvard and dealt three strikeouts in 3.0 innings.
- This weekend's series marks the first time Long Island will be playing at the Bryant Baseball Complex.
- The Bulldogs are 25-8 in Smithfield, R.I. since the 2010 campaign.
- Bryant had two six-game winning streaks last season.