Baseball to host Boston College Wed; Ranked fourth in first NEIBA poll

WEDNESDAY GAME WITH BOSTON COLLEGE MOVED TO CONATY PARK (3:30 p.m.)

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Following a four-game sweep of Mount St. Mary's over the weekend, the Bryant University baseball team will welcome Boston College to Conaty Park on Wednesday for a mid-week, non-conference matchup. First pitch is schedule d for 3:30 p.m.

Entering Wednesday's contest, the two teams appear to be heading in opposite directions. The Bulldogs (9-9-1) have won four-straight to move to .500, while the Eagles (3-18) have lost 11-straight, including Tuesday's 4-2 loss to crosstown rival Northeastern. Boston College, however, has dominated the series between the two teams, winning the last six games after the Black and Gold took the opener in 2009. Last season, the Eagles took the home-and-home with the Bulldogs, winning 8-5 in Smithfield and 5-3 in Chestnut Hill.

A member of a very tough ACC, Boston College is currently 0-8 in league play, and has posted a .205 team average and is averaging under three runs per game. John Hennessy leads the Eagles attack with a .241 average, three doubles, two triples, four RBI and nine runs scored. Tom Bourdon leads the team with 21 hits and is tied with Hennessy for the team lead in runs. Despite hitting just .147, Chris Shaw leads Boston College with two home runs and seven RBI. BC's pitching has struggled as well, pitching to a 6.94 team ERA. Opponents are hitting a robust .321 against the Eagles and have posted 68 extra-base hits.

For the Bulldogs, Wednesday's game marks the beginning of a very challenging mid-week schedule in 2013. Over the next six weeks, the Black and Gold will face several of the top teams in the Northeast. They will start the string coming off a successful NEC weekend with Mount St. Mary's. The Bulldogs started NEC play 4-0 for the second-straight year with a sweep of the Mountaineers behind a dominant pitching staff that allowed just three earned runs. With the dominance, Bryant's ERA dropped to 2.98, good enough for 40^th in all of Division I. Bryant's pitching staff is also ranked 19^th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.24), 26^th in WHIP (1.17), 27^th in strikeouts per nine innings (8.4) and 36^th in strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.59). Senior Joseph Michaud (Milford, Conn.) will start against the Eagles on Wednesday in search of his first win of the year. He is currently 0-2 but boasts a team-leading 1.15 ERA in 15.2 innings.

Offensively, the Black and Gold are hitting .238 and averaging just under four runs per game. While low, three runs have been enough to win this season for the Bulldogs. Bryant is currently 9-2-1 when it scores three runs or more and 0-7 when they fail to reach the three-run mark. Senior Kevin Brown (Northborough, Mass.) is hitting a team-high .338 and starts the week with 60 career doubles, just one shy of tying Jeff Vigurs's program record of 61. Sophomore Jordan Mountford (Guelph, Ont.) has adapted well to his role as the leadoff hitter, scoring a team-high nine runs and stealing four bases. Classmate John Mullen (Walpole, Mass.) has been Bryant's biggest contributor offensively, leading the team with 15 RBI, including a six-RBI weekend against The Mount. In his last six games, Mullen has driven in 10 runs.

Bryant will not have long to recover from Wednesday's game as they will hit the road Thursday morning to begin a four-game NEC series with Fairleigh Dickinson in Hackensack, N.J. The series will begin on Thursday due to Easter Sunday.