Baseball hosts LIU Brooklyn in NEC series

BASEBALL HOSTS LIU BROOKLYN IN FOUR-GAME WEEKEND SERIES

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Looking to snap a three-game losing skid, the Bryant University baseball team welcomes LIU Brooklyn for a crucial Northeast Conference series this weekend at Conaty Park.

The Bulldogs (25-13-1, 13-3 NEC) have lost four of their last five after winning 19-straight, while the Blackbirds (14-23, 10-6) have won seven of their last eight league games and enter the weekend three games back in the standings.

Bryant owns a 10-5 advantage in the all-time series but the Blackbirds have won four of the last seven meetings. The Bulldogs swept LIU in 2009 and took three-of-four in 2010 before the Blackbirds won two-of-three in a rain-shortened series in Smithfield. The two teams split their four-game series last year in Brooklyn.

On the field, the Bulldogs will have their hands full with one of the hottest teams in the conference. LIU dropped three-of-four to Sacred Heart in its first series of the year but has responded by splitting with Central Connecticut, taking three-of-four from Fairleigh Dickinson and sweeping Mount St. Mary's last weekend. The Blackbirds feature one of the top prospects in the region in Friday starter Justin Topa. The hard-throwing righty is 5-4 with a 3.59 ERA on the year and has struck out 56 in 62.2 innings. Teams are hitting just .245 against him. As a staff, the Blackbirds have posted a 6.27 ERA and opponents are hitting an even .300 against them. Jordan Wilcox (3-3, 5.80) will start game two, Kevin Needham (2-0, 3.05) game three and Sunday's starter is still up in the air.

Offensively, the Blackbirds have one of the most potent offenses in the league, hitting .280 as a team with a league-high 71 doubles. Junior transfer John Ziznewski leads the team with a .367 average, eight doubles, four triples, three home runs, 20 RBI and 31 runs scored. Needham also produces at the plate with three home runs and a team-high 25 RBI. Four others are hitting over .300 and Mike Garcia leads the team with four home runs.

For the Bulldogs, the offense has slowed of late. Bryant scored just 12 runs last weekend against Sacred Heart and didn't score in its final seven at-bats on Wednesday against Connecticut. Senior Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) enters the weekend with an even .400 batting average and now sits in third place all-time with 248 hits. Freshman Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) has also swung the bat well of late, posting a .316 average and a .417 on-base percentage over the last six games. Bryant will also benefit from the return of sophomore leadoff hitter Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.). He's hitting just .250 but has produced a .379 on-base percentage and is tied with Brown for the team-lead in runs scored with 30.

Bryant's league-leading pitching staff will try to stifle the hottest hitting team in conference play this weekend. Senior Peter Kelich (Jackson, N.J.) is 5-3 with a 2.30 ERA and was dominant last year against the Blackbirds, striking out 10 in complete-game shutout. John Healy (Cranston, R.I.) has been one of Bryant's most consistent starters of late and brings a 5-0 record into Saturday's doubleheader. Sophomore Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.) has pitched great the last two weekends, striking out eight and issuing just two walks. Junior Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) missed last weekend's start but hopes to match his one-hit performance from two weekends ago.

Friday's series opener begins at 3:00 p.m. and Saturday's doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.