In-state rivals meet Wednesday at Conaty Park as Bryant hosts URI

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team wraps up its brief three-game homestand when it welcomes in-state rival Rhode Island to Conaty Park on Wednesday afternoon. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

LINKS

Wednesday – Video | Live Stats

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Vito Morgese (1-4, 6.30) vs. Taso Stathopoulos (1-0, 0.00)

Morgese, the reigning Northeast Conference Rookie of the Week, had the best start of his young career last Wednesday at Brown. He pitched 6 2/3 innings of two-run ball to earn his first-career win. Morgese walked one, struck out five and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced.

Stathopoulos will make his second appearance of the season for the Rams after missing all of last season with an injury. He pitched the first two innings of URI's victory over Northeastern last week, striking out three.

SERIES HISTORY

Bryant and Rhode Island will be meeting for the 12th time in the last nine years, with the Bulldogs holding a 7-4 lead. The Black and Gold earned a 6-5 win over the Rams last year in Kingston and are 3-2 against URI in Smithfield.

MAKING RHODE ISLAND HISTORY

The Bulldogs and Rams both made the NCAA Tournament last year, marking the first time two teams from the Ocean State have made the postseason in the same year. Bryant was the No. 2 seed in the Charlottesville (Va.) Regional and URI was the No. 4 seed at the Columbia (S.C.) Regional.

NOTES AND NOTABLES FOR URI

The Bulldogs enters Wednesday's game on a three-game winning streak. It is the first winning streak of the season for the Black and Gold.

Bryant opened NEC play over the weekend, sweeping a shortened two-game series against rival Sacred Heart. The Bulldogs have now won their NEC opener in each of the last six seasons.

Over the last 11 games, the Bryant pitching staff has posted 84 strikeouts and a 3.63 ERA in 94 1/3 innings. In the first 12 games, the staff posted just 78 strikeouts and a 7.18 ERA in 99 innings.

Sophomore Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) rides a nine-game hitting streak into the midweek game with the Rams. He has gone 16-for-38 (.421) with three doubles, three triples, four RBI and seven runs scored during the stretch.

Classmate Tyler Panno (Rivervale, N.J.) drove in five runs over the course of Sunday's doubleheader with Sacred Heart. He drove in two with ground outs in the first game before breaking a 4-4 tie with a three-run triple in game two. Panno has driven in nine runs over the last nine games.

Nathan Wrighter (Windsor, N.Y.), another sophomore, appeared in all three games last week and has pitched in 13 of Bryant's 23 games on the year. He retired eight of the nine batters he faced last week, with the only batter reaching on an error.

SCOUTING THE RAMS

URI enters Wednesday's game riding an eight-game winning streak. The Rams improved to 5-0 in Atlantic-10 play with a two-game sweep of Saint Louis this past weekend. URI is hitting .269, averages 4.8 runs per game and ranks 32nd nationally with 32 stolen bases. The Rams' pitching staff has posted a 3.83 ERA.

Chris Hess leads the team with a .350 average and has 14 RBI and 18 runs scored. Mike Corin leads the team with seven home runs and 23 RBI but has also struck out 36 times in 83 at-bats. Martin Figueroa and Mike Foley are tied for the team lead with seven stolen bases.