Baseball hosts FDU on Spring Weekend

BULLDOGS DEDICATE CONATY, HOST KNIGHTS FOR FOUR GAMES

Baseball Weekly

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – After collecting its first-ever victory over Connecticut on Tuesday, the Bryant University baseball team looks to solidify its top spot in the Northeast Conference when Fairleigh Dickinson visits Conaty Park for a four-game series starting on Friday, April 27 at 3:00 p.m.

This weekend's series between the Bulldogs (26-15, 17-3 NEC) and the Knights (19-19-1, 13-7 NEC) will be extra special because Conaty Park will be officially dedicated prior to Saturday's doubleheader. Made possible by a generous donation from Bill Conaty '67, the Bulldogs home field underwent major renovations over the winter that saw the addition of new seating behind home plate and a new press box. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday adjacent to the right field corner on the baseball field.

Bryant has won all eight of the previous meetings between the two schools. The Bulldogs swept the Knights in Smithfield during the 2010 season and then capped their 2011 season with a four-game sweep in Teaneck, N.J.

As far as this week's festivities on the field, Bryant will have its hands full with a FDU team that was picked to finish last in the conference but has proved all those prognostications wrong. Led by senior shortstop Ryan Kresky and 16-member freshman class, the Knights have won each of their last four conference series are in currently in third place in the standings. Their 19 wins are the most since 1999 and their 13 league wins are the most since the 1997 season. Kresky is hitting a league-leading .414 with 15 doubles, four home runs, 29 RBI and 34 runs scored in 39 games. Eric Anderson has provided the power for the Knights, belting seven home runs and driving in a team-high 32 runs. Shane Siebler (.310, 9 2B, 16 RBI) and Riley Moonan (.248, 8 2B, 18 RBI) have both earned NEC Rookie of the Week honors.

On the mound, the Knights will send out Craig Warner, Brendan Butler, Joe Borelli and Mike Eliasen. Warner is 2-3 with a 3.88 ERA in 48 2/3 innings, Butler is 3-3 with a 7.51 ERA in 38 1/3 innings and Borelli is 2-1 with a 3.21 ERA and has won two rookie of the week awards. Eliasen is the workhorse of the staff, posting a 5-3 record and 4.95 ERA in 67 1/3 innings, including a 12-inning performance against Wagner earlier in the season. As a team, the Knights have posted a 5.92 ERA and are allowing just over six runs per game.

Entering the weekend with a two-game lead over second-place Monmouth, the Bulldogs have won six-straight games and 14-of-16 in the month of April. The Bulldogs have done it with spectacular pitching, posting a league-best 3.38 ERA overall and an even better 2.17 ERA in conference games. Junior Peter Kelich (Jackson, N.J.), sophomore Craig Schlitter (Guilford, Conn.) and freshman Kevin McAvoy (Syracuse, N.Y.) are all in the top-five in ERA. Schlitter leads the league with a 1.41 ERA in five starts, Kelich is third with a 1.58 ERA and McAvoy is fourth with a 1.71 ERA. Kelich leads the league with five wins and Schlitter has allowed just two runs over his last 20 innings. Bryant's fourth starter, sophomore Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.), is second in the league with six wins and has posted a 4.18 ERA.

Offensively, the Bulldogs feature the league's top average in conference-only games at .295 thanks to a big weekend against Quinnipiac. Bryant has hit a league-high 17 home runs and is averaging nearly six runs per game. Senior's Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.) and Connor Carignan (Norwich, Conn.) are both in the top 10 in hitting, posting averages of .357 and .350, respectively. Skagerlind also enters the weekend needing just seven hits to become the 13^th player in program history to collect 200 hits. Freshman John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) has turned into one of the league's top rookies, ranking second in RBI (17), fourth in home runs (3) and fifth in doubles (7). All of those are tops for first-year players in the league.

Following Friday's first game, the Bulldogs and Knights will play a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 1:00 p.m. Game two of the doubleheader will start approximately 30 minutes after the completion of the first game. The series concludes on Sunday with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch.