Baseball welcomes Wagner to Conaty Park this weekend

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team returns to Conaty Park this weekend when it hosts Wagner College in a four-game Northeast Conference series. It all begins on Friday, April 15 with a first pitch scheduled for 3:00 p.m.

This weekend's series will mark the seventh-straight year that the Bulldogs (20-7, 9-1 NEC) and Seahawks (10-18, 5-7) have met. Bryant owns a 19-7 lead in the all-time series and a 9-3 record against Wagner in Smithfield. The two teams have split their last two regular season meetings and have also met in the NEC Tournament in each of the last two years.

Bryant comes into Friday's opener after suffering a tough loss to Connecticut on Wednesday afternoon. The Black and Gold are hitting .291 as a team but have upped that average to .322 in league games. Bryant is averaging 7.3 runs per game in its 10 NEC games thanks to a 19-run outburst against Fairleigh Dickinson last Sunday. The Bulldogs have also hit 18 of their 25 home runs this season against NEC competition.

Senior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) has turned it on in league play, hitting .405 (15-37) with seven runs scored and a .450 OBP. The Bulldogs have also got strong contributions from freshman Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.), senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and junior Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.). Angelini is hitting .389, Rinn has five doubles and nine RBI and Albanese has six home runs, 15 RBI and 13 runs scored in league play.

Sophomore James Karinchak (Walden, N.Y.) continued his strong start last week, striking out 10 batters in six innings. He improved to 6-1 and leads the NEC in wins, ERA (1.62) and strikeouts (53). In his career, Karinchak is 8-1 with a 2.07 ERA against teams in the NEC. He struggled against Wagner last year though, going 1-1 with eight walks and 11 strikeouts in 12 innings. Freshman Steve Theetge (Cicero, N.Y.) also pitched well last weekend, tossing six innings of one-run ball to improve to 3-0.

Wagner comes into the weekend following a 13-6 win over St. Peter's on Wednesday. The win snapped an eight-game losing streak for the Seahawks but they have still lost seven-straight NEC games after starting the year 5-0. Wagner is hitting a league-best .299 and averages 5.5 runs per game. The Seahawks are also hitting .334 in NEC play thanks to an explosive weekend against Mount St. Mary's. Wagner outscored the Mountaineers 53-14 in a four-game sweep.  

Nick Mascelli has been outstanding so far, hitting an NEC-leading .412 with three home runs, 16 RBI and 20 runs scored. Freshman Phil Capra has a good start as well, hitting .347 with three home runs and a team-leading 25 RBI. All-NEC outfielder Ben Ruta leads the team with 11 doubles and also has 21 RBI and six stolen bases.

On the mound, the Seahawks will roll out a very experienced pitching rotation this weekend. They come in with a 4.66 team ERA but have struck out just 171 batters in 228 innings. Senior Mike Adams will get the ball on Friday and comes into the game with a 1-4 record and a 6.27 ERA. Classmate Nick Pavia will then make his first start of the season in game one Saturday and will be followed by usual Friday starter Austin Goeke. Senior Matt Morris will get the ball in the series finale on Sunday. Pavia has made 15 relief appearances this season, Goeke is 3-2 with a 2.50 ERA and 42 strikeouts and Morris is 2-3 with a 4.56 ERA.

Bryant has seen three of the scheduled starters a lot over the last four seasons. Adams is 1-2 with a 3.66 ERA in 19 2/3 career innings against the Bulldogs. Pavia has been dominant against Bryant, allowing just one run on 10 hits over 11 innings. Morris has made four starts against Bryant and is 0-4 with a 4.91 ERA in 22 innings.  

PROMOTIONS

Friday - Greek Day (Show your philanthropic side)

Saturday - Doubleheader Dog Day (Hot dogs sold at concessions)

Sunday - Bark in the Park (Bring your dog to the game!)