Bulldogs welcome Albany for weekend set

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team continues its six-game homestand this weekend as it welcomes the University at Albany for a four-game series at Conaty Park. The series begins on Friday, March 28 with a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.

The Bulldogs (11-8) are coming off a 5-4 victory over UMass Lowell on Tuesday and have won eight of their last 10. The Great Danes (4-11) have lost their last four games, including a series sweep at the hands of Stony Brook last weekend.

Bryant jumped out to a 5-0 lead on Tuesday and held on for the victory over the River Hawks. The Bulldogs used another quality start from senior Vaughn Hayward (Glendale, R.I.) and a great relief performance from classmate Jonathan Cohen (Norwalk, Conn.) to edge past UML. Bryant will look to the starting quartet of Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.), Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.), Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) and Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) to keep the wave going. Three of the four recorded quality starts last weekend at Delaware, with McAvoy tossing his second career complete-game shutout.

Junior John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) continued to swing a hot bat on Tuesday as he collected his fourth double and drove in two runs. He now has 11 on the season, giving the Black and Gold six players that have 10 or more RBI. Bryant also has seven players with 10 or more runs scored and is currently averaging seven runs per game. Sophomore Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) went 3-for-3 on Tuesday and is now hitting .361 with a team-leading .521 on-base percentage.

Albany has had a tough start to the season, allowing nearly seven runs per game, while producing just a .221 team batting average. They opened America East play with a series victory over UMBC but stumbled last weekend, getting no-hit in the first game of an eventual weekend sweep at the hands of Stony Brook. Evan Harasta is hitting .306 with two doubles and seven RBI, while Josh Nethaway and Craig Lepre have driven in 11 and 10 runs, respectively.

The Great Danes have struggled on the mound and of the three probable weekend starters, only Brendan Ryan (0.00 ERA) has an ERA below 5.00. Matt Gallup is 1-1 with a 5.50 ERA and Andrew Veiga is 0-1 with a 24.75 ERA, having allowed 11 runs on nine hits in four innings.

The Bulldogs and Great Danes will play a doubleheader on Saturday and wrap up the series on Sunday with a single game.