Bulldogs travel to USC Upstate for weekend series

GAME NOTES

FRIDAY: Craig Schlitter (0-1, 0.00 ERA) vs. Zach Mitchell (0-1, 4.09 ERA)
SATURDAY: Kevin McAvoy (0-1, 8.10 ERA) vs. David Roseboom (0-2, 1.64 ERA)
SUNDAY: Kyle Wilcox (0-0, 6.00 ERA) vs. Dylan Parker (0-1, 8.31 ERA) 

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – In search of its first win of the season, the Bryant University baseball team travels to Spartanburg, S.C., for a three-game series with USC Upstate. First pitch is scheduled for 4:00 p.m. on Friday.

The Bulldogs (0-3) and the Spartans (4-5) will be meeting for the first time in program history. Current Bryant pitching coach Ryan Fecteau served as an assistant coach at USC Upstate in 2008.

USC Upstate is coming off a 13-5 loss to Winthrop in its first road game of the season on Tuesday. The Spartans dropped their first two games of the season before winning three-straight against Dayton, Kentucky and The Citadel. Outfielder Tyler Lesch leads the Spartans with a .400 average and two doubles, including a walk-off two-run double that pushed Upstate past Butler last weekend. Erik Samples and Zach Krider both have 11 RBI, accounting for 47 percent of the Spartans run production on the season.

On the mound, Upstate has posted a 4.95 ERA and teams are hitting .323 against them. The Bulldogs will see freshman Zach Mitchell on Friday, senior David Roseboom on Saturday and junior Dylan Parker on Sunday. Mitchell will be making his first career start after appearing as a reliever in each his three previous outings. Roseboom is seventh all-time at Upstate with 16 wins and brings a 1.64 ERA into the weekend. He has allowed nine runs but just two of them have been earned. Parker is 0-1 with a 8.31 ERA in 8.2 innings, having allowed eight runs on 14 hits.

Bryant is coming an opening weekend in which it scored just three on 12 hits. The Bulldogs were shutout in both games of a doubleheader for the first time in Division I history on Saturday before plating three runs on seven hits in the series finale on Sunday. Sophomore AJ Zarozny (Shrewsbury, Mass.) picked up two hits on Sunday, the 17th multi-hit game of his career. Classmate Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) also had a strong weekend, collecting a pair of doubles and playing flawless defense at short.

The Bulldogs will trot senior Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.), junior Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.) and sophomore Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) out to the mound this weekend. Schlitter earned Northeast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors after allowing one unearned run on two hits over five innings last weekend against Maryland. McAvoy will look to rebound from his opening start, while Wilcox will be making his first career start for the Black and Gold.

Bryant and USC Upstate will play single games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday and 12 p.m. on Sunday.