Bulldogs, Rams meet Wednesday in Kingston
| Final | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Bryant | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 9 | 4 |
|
Rhode Island | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 | 0 |
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team travels to Southern Rhode Island on Wednesday to face in-state rival the University of Rhode Island. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m. at Bill Beck Field.
The Bulldogs (16-5) and Rams (9-12) will be meeting for the 11th time on Wednesday, with the Black and Gold holding a 6-4 advantage in the all-time series. Bryant and URI split a pair of games last season, each winning on the road.
Bryant enters the week as the top-ranked team in New England for the third-straight week but will be play for just the fourth time in the last 14 days. The Black and Gold are hitting .282 as a team and are coming off a two-game sweep of LIU Brooklyn in which they hit five home runs.
Reigning Northeast Conference Player of the Week Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) continued his tear this weekend, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games with a pair of home runs. He is batting .426 with eight doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI and 15 runs scored during the streak. Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.), the NEC Rookie of the Week, bumped his average up to .300 with a 4-for-5 showing in two games against the Blackbirds. He hit his second home run of the season on Saturday and now has 10 RBI and a .436 OBP.
Senior James Davitt (Wallingford, Conn.) is scheduled to start for the Black and Gold on Wednesday. It will be his first appearance since tossing a complete-game shutout against Central Connecticut on Mar. 19. Davitt is 3-1 with a 4.21 ERA, 26 strikeouts and just four walks in 25 2/3 innings.
URI comes into Wednesday's game averaging just under five runs per game and with a 5.91 team ERA. The ERA is a bit skewed due to a three-game series against Florida State in which the Rams allowed 50 runs. Jordan Powell leads the team with a .341 average but Martin Figueroa is the linchpin in the lineup, hitting .301 with nine doubles, two home runs and 15 RBI. Chris Hess is also a threat offensively, posting three doubles, two triples, three home runs and 15 RBI on the year.
Junior righty Blaise Whitman will make his second career start on Wednesday for the Rams. He has appeared in four games so far this season, going 1-0 with a 5.87 ERA in 7 2/3 innings. Whitman allowed just one hit and struck out six over five scoreless innings against Central Connecticut last week.