Bulldogs remain No. 1 in New England; Face Brown (Tues.) and Boston College (Wed.) mid-week

GAME NOTES

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team begins a jam-packed six-game week with a pair of mid-week road games on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Bulldogs visit Brown for a 3:30 p.m. first pitch Tuesday and Boston College for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch on Wednesday.

The Bulldogs (28-7) will start the week as the top team in New England for the sixth-straight week after receiving nine of 10 first-place votes in the most recent NEIBA poll released on Monday. Bryant's wraps up its weekend with a crucial four-game weekend against Northeast Conference rival Sacred Heart at Conaty Park.

First, the Black and Gold will put their season-long eight-game winning streak to the test against the Bears and Eagles. Bryant will be facing Brown for the first time since 2013 and owns a 6-4 lead in the all-time series. Boston College has dominated the series with the Bulldogs, winning seven of the nine games, including an 11-5 victory last year.

Bryant is coming off a 4-0 week that saw them race past Northeastern on Tuesday before earning a hard-fought three-game sweep of America East favorite and fellow Northeast power Stony Brook. The Bulldogs outscored their opponents 47-13 on the week and are now hitting a league-leading .304. It ranks 31st in the country and the Black and Gold are averaging 7.3 runs per game.

Senior Robby Rinn (Warwick, R.I.) and junior Matt Albanese (East Haddam, Conn.) are both putting together what could turn out to be two of the best offensive seasons in program history. Rinn is hitting a league-leading .385 with 14 doubles and 37 RBI, while Albanese is batting .350 and leads the league in home runs (9), RBI (42) and runs scored (40). No player in Bryant DI history has ever drove in 50+ runs and scored 50+ runs in a season.

The Bulldogs will give the ball to redshirt-junior Garrison Banas (Hadley, Mass.) on Tuesday and freshman Craig Lacey (Westfield, Mass.) on Wednesday. Banas will be making his second start of the season and is 1-0 with a 3.95 ERA in 13 2/3 innings. Lacey will be making his third-straight mid-week start and is coming off the best outing of his career last Tuesday at Northeastern. He limited the Huskies to one run on three hits over five innings to earn his first collegiate victory.

Brown enters its final week of competition for the year. The Bears are 12-22 on the year and lost three-of-four to Harvard over the weekend. Brown is hitting .250 as a team and is led by Josh Huntley who is hitting .316 with 12 doubles, 16 RBI and 15 runs scored. Robbie Stephens will start for the Bears and is 1-0 with an 8.82 ERA in 16 1/3 innings. He has walked 12 and struck out five.

Boston College received a lot of attention early on this year and is ranked second in this week's NEIBA poll with a 21-15 overall record. The Eagles are coming off a huge series victory over then-No. 4 Louisville and currently sit at 7-12 in ACC play. BC is hitting .259 as a team and is led by Michael Strem (.299, 25RBI) and Joe Cronin (.292, 82B, 3HR, 28RBI). Thomas Lane will start on the mound for the Eagles and is 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA in 25 2/3 innings. He has struck out 15 and walked 12.