Bulldogs open NEC title defense on Friday at Conaty Park

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team begins the defense of its Northeast Conference Regular-Season and Tournament titles this weekend as it welcomes Central Connecticut to Conaty Park for four games. First pitch for game one is 3:00 p.m. on Friday, April 11.

The Bulldogs (19-9, 0-0 NEC) and Blue Devils (10-9, 2-2) will play a single game on Friday, a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and wrap things up with a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

CCSU opened league play last weekend with a split against Mount St. Mary's. The Blue Devils won the first two games of the series before the Mountaineers rebounded to win the final two games. CCSU is led by a strong starting rotation that features two-time reigning NEC Pitcher of the Week Tom Coughlin. The senior right-hander has tossed back-to-back shutouts and has allowed just one run in his last three starts (all victories). He's pitching to a 0.93 ERA and has struck out 22 in 29 innings. Classmate Nick Neumann has allowed three runs or less in four of his five starts and has posted a 22:7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

The Blue Devils are hitting just .261, however. Three-time All-NEC selection J.P. Sportman paces the offense and is hitting .304 with six RBI, 13 runs scored and nine stolen bases. Josh Ingham leads the conference with a .379 average and has a team-high 11 RBI. He's also picked up five saves and sports a 0.96 ERA.

Bryant has won 16 of its last 19 games and is coming off a convincing 8-3 victory over Rhode Island on Wednesday. The Bulldogs pounded out 13 hits, including three doubles, to raise their season total to 59. They rank 14th in the country in doubles per game (2.11) and are 15th in the country with 7.2 runs per game. Senior Tom Gavitt (North Stonington, Conn.) had two more hits on Wednesday and now leads the team with a .361 average and a .705 slugging percentage. In all, the Bulldogs have six regulars hitting over .300, nine with 10-plus RBI and 10 with 10-plus run scored.

Junior Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.), who put the finishing touches on Bryant's first NEC title last spring with a complete-game shutout in the final, will open the conference circuit for the Bulldogs on Friday. He's 4-1 on the year with a 3.22 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 44.2 innings. Seniors Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) and Vaughn Hayward (Glendale, R.I.) will go on Saturday, and sophomore Kyle Wilcox (Sandy Hook, Conn.) will start on Sunday. Schlitter is 4-1 with a 3.24 ERA and Hayward has won his last five decisions and has posted a 2.32 ERA in 31 innings.

Bryant and CCSU have met 16 times over the past four seasons with the Bulldogs holding a decided 12-4 advantage. The Blue Devils won the first three games of the series in 2011 but the Bulldogs rebounded to win the final game and have swept the four-game set each of the last two years.