Bryant visits Mount; Series opens Thursday at 11 a.m.

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team wraps up the regular season with a three-game series at Mount St. Mary's beginning on Thursday.

**Bryant and Mount St. Mary's are scheduled to play two nine-inning games on Thursday beginning at 11:00 a.m. The remainder of the series will be determined after the games.** 

The Particulars

Opponent: Mount St. Mary's

Location: E.T. Straw Family Stadium (Emmitsburg, Md.)

Times: 11:00 a.m. | 2:30 p.m. | 1:00 p.m.

Live Stats: Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3

Pitching Probables

Steve Theetge (4-7, 4.30) vs. Trey McGough (4-5, 4.80)

Tyler Mattison (5-2, 3.75) vs. Brenden Kennedy (4-3, 6.45)

Vito Morgese (5-1, 3.99) vs. Michael Collins (3-7, 9.50)

Series History with Mount St. Mary's

• Bryant and Mount St. Mary's have met 35 times since the start of the 2010 season.
• The Bulldogs won two-of-three against the Mountaineers at the end of March and hold a 32-3 lead in the series.
• Mount's victory in the series opener snapped a 32-game winning streak for the Black and Gold in the series.

When we first met

• Bryant and Mount played a three-game series at the end of March in Smithfield.
• The Mountaineers won game one of the series behind a complete-game from McGough.
• Bryant used a six-run fourth inning to win game two and then broke a 3-3 tie with six runs in the seventh and eighth of game three.

Playoff Picture

• The Bulldogs hold a one-game lead over Wagner heading into the final weekend of league play. Wagner will play Sacred Heart in a three-game series.
• Bryant's magic number to clinch its seventh-straight NEC Regular-Season title is three. Any combination of three Bryant wins or Wagner losses will clinch for Bryant.
• Mount St. Mary's will qualify for the NEC Tournament with a win or a Sacred Heart loss.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 29-20-1 record. The Bulldogs are in search of their sixth 30-win season in eight years under head coach Steve Owens.
• The Bulldogs are second in NEC-only games with a .299 team average. Bryant leads the league with a 2.64 team ERA, a full run lower than the next team.
• Redshirt freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) leads the country with 91 hits and is hitting a league-best .468 in NEC-only games. Ward has 51 hits in league games, 14 more than the next player.
• Sophomore Chris Wright (Cumberland, R.I.) is on a tear of late and is hitting .350 in NEC games, fourth-best in the league.
• Bryant features the top four pitchers in terms of ERA in NEC-only games. Freshman Tyler Mattison (Fort Ann, N.Y.) leads the way at 1.97, senior Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) is second at 2.47, junior Steve Theetge (Syracuse, N.Y.) is third at 2.66 and sophomore Vito Morgese (Warwick, N.Y.) is fourth at 2.90.

Scouting the Mountaineers

• Mount St. Mary's enters the weekend with a 20-29 overall record and a 14-11 mark in league games.
• The Mountaineers lead the league in hitting in NEC-only games at .307.
• Patrick Causa leads the way with a .344 average in NEC-only games, while Alex Kriss is close behind at .340.
• Overall, Causa, Kriss and Vaughn Parker are all tied for the team lead with five home runs. Causa leads the team with 43 RBI.