Bryant, Maryland open weekend series Friday afternoon

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team begins its spring break trip with a three-game series at the University of Maryland this weekend.

Bryant and Maryland open their series on Friday afternoon at 4 p.m. and will play single games on Saturday and Sunday, as well.

The Particulars

Opponent: Maryland

Location: Bob "Turtle" Smith Stadium (College Park, Md.)

Times: Gm 1 – 4pm | Gm 2 – 2pm | Gm 3 – 1pm

Audio: Maryland Baseball Network

Video ($): Big Ten Network Plus

Game Notes: Bryant | Maryland

Pitching Probables

Friday – Jack Patterson (0-1, 6.60) vs. Taylor Bloom (2-1, 2.86)

Saturday – Steve Theetge (0-3, 6.23) vs. Tyler Blohm (1-1, 2.60)

Sunday – Vito Morgese (1-1, 8.10) vs. Hunter Parsons (1-1, 7.07)

Bryant will change up its rotation this weekend as senior Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) and junior Steve Theetge (Syracuse, N.Y.) will switch roles. It will be Patterson's first-career Friday start. The Bulldog trio has combined to strikeout 33 in 42 innings and opponents are hitting .276 against them. All three have also face the Terps in their careers. Theetge limited the Terps to two runs on just two hits but walked six in 5 1/3, while sophomore Vito Morgese (Warwick, N.Y.) made his first-career start last year against Maryland. Patterson's first-career appearance was also against Maryland and came back in 2014.  

The Black and Gold will see familiar faces in Bloom and Blohm. Bloom is 1-1 and has allowed just two earned runs in 15 career innings against the Bulldogs, while Blohm struck out six over six shutout innings last year.

Series History

• Bryant and Maryland will be meeting for the third-straight year and the fourth time in five years.
• Maryland owns an 8-1 lead in the all-time series, having won each of the last four meetings.
• Bryant's only win came in 2016 when Brandon Bingel, Theetge and then-sophomore Logan Lessard (Cromwell, Conn.) combined for a six-hit shutout.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• The Bulldogs picked up their first two wins of the season last weekend, defeating Boston College (9-8) and Niagara (11-7) to close the weekend. Bryant is now 8-2 all-time at the National Training Center.
• Bryant had a big weekend offensively, hitting .357 with nine extra-base hits and 27 runs scored. The Bulldogs' 41 hits are the most in a three-game series since 2014 (55).
• The Black and Gold picked up two more Northeast Conference weekly awards as senior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) was named player of the week and redshirt-freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) was named rookie of the week.  
• Gasper hit .636 (7-11) with two doubles, six RBI, five runs scored and a .688 OBP. He now has a .405 OBP on the season.
• Ward hit .429 (6-14) with four RBI, four runs scored and three stolen bases. He hit a walk-off single against Boston College, then drove in three runs and stole three bases against Niagara.
• Junior Tyler Panno (Rivervale, N.J.) hit .571 (8-14) with three doubles last weekend. He leads Bryant in average (.421), hits (16), doubles (4), home runs (3), RBI (9) and OBP (.452).
• Freshmen pitchers Matthew Stansky (Douglas, Mass.) and Tyler Mattison (Fort Ann, N.Y.) both factored in Bryant's wins last weekend. Stansky tossed two scoreless innings against BC to earn his first collegiate win, while Mattison pitched four scoreless innings of relief against Niagara to earn his first-career save.

Scouting the Terrapins

• Maryland is 7-4 on the year and begins a stretch of four-straight games on Thursday against Delaware. The Terps have won five-straight games entering Thursday.
• Bryant and Maryland have both played Army this season. The Black Knights beat Bryant last weekend and took two-of-three from Maryland the last weekend of February.
• The Terps have played in the NCAA Tournament in three of the last four seasons, advancing to the Super Regionals in 2014 and 2015.
• This season, Maryland is hitting .225 as a team and has a 3.72 team ERA.
• Nick Dunn leads the offense with three doubles, five home runs, 11 RBI, 11 runs scored and a .460 OBP.
• Kevin Biondic has made six relief appearances, posting a 1.17 ERA and 10 strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings.

Brewster Connection

• Bryant's Mickey Gasper and Maryland's Nick Dunn and Marty Costes were teammates last summer in the Cape Cod Baseball League.
• The trio helped Brewster win its first league championship since 2000.