Baseball's midweek game with Hartford moved up to Tuesday

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team will play its first midweek game of the season when it visits the University of Hartford on Tuesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

**Bryant and Hartford were originally scheduled to play Wednesday but the game was moved up due expected cold temperatures.**

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SERIES HISTORY

Bryant and Hartford will be meeting for the eighth time on Tuesday afternoon. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 5-2 but the Hawks have won each of the last two meetings. Hartford blanked Bryant 9-0 back in 2015 before earning a come-from-behind 9-8 win last year in Smithfield. The Hawks pounded out 16 hits in the game and erased four different deficits in the game. Bryant is 4-0 at Fiondella Field in Hartford.

NOTES AND NOTABLES FOR HARTFORD

The Bulldogs enter Tuesday's game having lost six-straight games. It is the second time this season Bryant has lost as many as six games in a row.

Bryant's 16-game start (3-13) this season is the worst since the 2010 team also opened the year with a 3-13 record. That year, the Bulldogs would go on to win 32 of their final 41 games, finishing the year with a 35-22 record and their first Northeast Conference Regular-Season title.

Central Connecticut's Mike Appel threw a no-hitter last Saturday against Mount St. Mary's. It was the first in the NEC since March 28, 2010. The last recorded Bryant no-hitter? Larry Labadie during the 1973 season.

Junior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) extended his on-base streak to a career-high 16 games this past weekend. He has reached safely in every game this year and currently leads the Bulldogs with a .356 batting average and a .451 OBP.

Senior Cole Fabio (Mahwah, N.J.) is walking his way into history this season. Fabio enters Tuesday's game tied for first in program history with 97 career walks. This season, he leads the team with 13 walks and has posted a .429 OBP.

Redshirt-freshman Mason Palmieri (Lincoln, R.I.) posted his fourth-straight scoreless outing last Saturday at Brown. The right hander tossed a career-high 3 2/3 innings of one-hit, scoreless relief against the Bears. He walked two and struck out a career-high five batters in the game.

Freshman Vito Morgese (Warwick, N.Y.) will make his second-career start for the Bulldogs on Tuesday. He is 0-4 with an 8.00 ERA in 9.0 innings. Morgese has allowed 13 runs (eight earned) on 15 hits with eight walks and seven strikeouts. He allowed four runs on four hits over four innings in his first-career start at Maryland.  

SCOUTING THE HAWKS

Winter Storm Stella has given Hartford quite the layoff. The Hawks haven't played since March 12 at No. 9 Arizona after all four of their games were cancelled last week. Hartford is 1-9 on the young season, having played against Mercer, Davidson, CCSU and No. 9 Arizona.

Erik Ostberg has been one of the most dangerous hitters in the country so far, hitting .537 (22-41) with seven doubles, four home runs, 11 RBI and a nation-best 1.583 OPS. On the mound, Bryant will see freshman left hander Thomas Feehan (0-0, 5.40 ERA). He allowed seven runs (four earned) on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings against Arizona in his last outing.