Bryant baseball visits Brooklyn for weekend series with LIU

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The No. 20 Bryant University baseball team heads to Brooklyn, N.Y., this weekend for a four-game Northeast Conference series against LIU Brooklyn.

Due to the weather, the Bulldogs (33-8, 16-2 NEC) and the Blackbirds (13-28, 7-11) will play a pair of a doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday beginning at 11:00 a.m.

It will be the second meeting between the two teams this season and both have been altered by the weather. Bryant and LIU Brooklyn met the first weekend of April but only were able to play two games as rain on Saturday disrupted play and a snow storm wiped out the final two games on Sunday. The Black and Gold won both games, 3-1 and 5-1, and own a 22-9 lead in the all-time series.

The Bulldogs enter the weekend as the top offensive team in the league, hitting .309 and averaging 7.4 runs per game. In NEC games, the Bulldogs are hitting .316, the best in the league. Senior Buck McCarthy (Saugus, Mass.) is the reigning NEC Player of the Week after hitting .421 with 11 RBI and seven runs scored. He drove in at least one run in all six games last week and now sits fourth in the NEC with 37 RBI.

One of Bryant's hottest hitters has been freshman Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.). The rookie right fielder and four-time NEC Rookie of the Week is hitting .366 on the season with four doubles, three home runs, 20 RBI and 30 runs scored. In NEC play, Angelini has been even better, batting .442 with 14 runs scored and a .519 OBP. Over his last 14 games, Angelini is hitting .478 (22-46) with 20 runs scored and a .597 OBP.

The duo of senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and junior Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) continues to produce as well. Rinn has 16 doubles and 45 RBI, while Albanese has 13 doubles, nine home runs and 46 RBI. They have the chance to become the first players since Jeff Vigurs in 2009 to drive in 50+ runs in a season in Bryant DI history. They are first and second in the league in RBI.

On the mound, James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) takes the ball in game one and looks to improve upon a great career against NEC opponents. He is 10-1 with a 1.80 ERA in 11 starts and has struck out 80 in 75 innings. In the first two meetings between these two teams, Karinchak tossed eight shutout innings, allowed three hits, walked two and struck out seven. Junior Brandon Bingel (Peabody, Mass.), freshman Steve Theetge (Cicero, N.Y.) and senior James Davitt (Wallingford, Conn.) will start the final three games of the series. Bingel tossed 5 2/3 hitless innings last weekend and Theetge improved to 5-0 with his first-career complete game.

LIU enters the weekend very much alive in the NEC playoff race. They are currently fifth in the league but have played five less games than Fairleigh Dickinson. The Blackbirds are hitting just .235 overall and just .242 in league play. Charles Misiano is the only player hitting over .300 (.307) and also has 14 stolen bases. Brian Lamboy leads the team with 39 hits and has struck out just eight times in 133 at-bats. Tommy Jakubowski is the threat in the middle of the order, posting 21 RBI and 25 stolen bases.

On the mound, Baylor LaPointe has been a great addition for the Blackbirds and will start the opener. He is 4-5 with a 3.15 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 65 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on nine hits, walked one and struck out two over 6 2/3 innings against the Bulldogs on April 1. LaPointe has been good in NEC games, posting a 2-2 record and a 1.91 ERA. Vincent Tranchina, Cory Hart and Anthony Rupp will start the final three games of the series. Hart has struck out 57 batters in just 42 2/3 innings, while Rupp has posted a 2-2 record and a 2.83 ERA in four NEC starts.