Baseball opens NEC Tournament Thursday against Mount St. Mary's

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant University baseball team heads to Norwich, Connecticut, this weekend for the 2018 Northeast Conference Baseball Championships held at Dodd Stadium.

Bryant will serve as the No. 1 seed for the sixth-straight season and will be looking for its fourth tournament title in program history. The Bulldogs will face fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's on Thursday afternoon at 12:00 p.m.

The double-elimination tournament continues through Saturday, with the 'if necessary' game scheduled for Sunday.

The Particulars

2018 NEC Baseball Championships

Location: Dodd Stadium (Norwich, Conn.)

NEC Tournament Homepage

Live Video: NEC Front Row

Game Notes: Bryant

Bryant in the NEC Tournament

• The Bulldogs will be competing in the NEC Tournament for the sixth-straight year. They have qualified for the tournament all six years they have been eligible.
• Bryant will also be serving as the No. 1 seed for the sixth-straight year.
• The Black and Gold are 13-5 in the NEC Tournament, having won titles in 2013, 2014 and 2016.

Bryant vs. the field

• Bryant went 4-2 against fourth-seeded Mount St. Mary's this year.
• The Bulldogs won both series with the Mount, winning 10-0 and 18-3 last weekend at Mount.
• Bryant split six games with Wagner during the regular season.
• The Black and Gold won the series with Wagner two weeks ago thanks to a walk-off home run from junior Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.).
• The Bulldogs won three-of-four against LIU Brooklyn in early April, scoring 20 runs in the series finale. Sophomore James Ciliento (Mahwah, N.J.) drove in six runs in the finale.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant enters the NEC Tournament with a 31-21-1 overall record. The Bulldogs finished 21-7 in NEC play, earning a share of the regular-season title with Wagner.
• The Bulldogs enter the NEC Tournament hitting .301 as a team and sport a 4.32 team ERA.
• Redshirt freshman Ryan Ward (Millbury, Mass.) leads the nation with 95 hits and is hitting a league-best .408. He has 21 doubles, five triples, eight home runs and a program-record 150 total bases.
• Senior Mickey Gasper (Merrimack, N.H.) is hitting .340 with 40 walks, seven home runs, 41 RBI, 55 runs scored and a .468 OBP.
• Gasper is one of only six players in DI program history to record 40+ RBI and 50+ runs scored in a single season.
• Senior Jack Patterson (Suffield, Conn.) is 6-2 with a 3.51 ERA and 90 strikeouts. The 90 strikeouts are the most by a lefty in program history.
• Junior Steve Theetge (Syracuse, N.Y.) went 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA in eight league starts. He posted quality starts in seven of the eight games.

Scouting the Mount

• Mount St. Mary's qualified for the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2008.
• The Mountaineers are hitting .265 as a team and have a 7.19 team ERA.
• Alex Kriss is hitting .314 with 22 RBI and 33 runs scored, while Patrick Causa is hitting .310 with 16 doubles, 46 RBI and 32 runs scored.
• Trey McGough leads the team with a 4-6 record and a 4.60 ERA. He is 1-1 against the Bulldogs this year.

Scouting Wagner

• The Seahawks shared the NEC Regular-Season title with Bryant, finishing 21-7.
• Wagner and Bryant have met in three NEC Tournaments, with the Bulldogs posting a 2-1 record. 
• The Seahawks are hitting .271 and have a team ERA of 4.37.
• Phil Capra is hitting .312 with 12 home runs and 54 RBI, while Freddy Sabido has 16 doubles and six home runs.

Scouting LIU Brooklyn

• The Blackbirds are in the NEC Tournament for the first time since 2013.
• Bryant and LIU played twice in that tournament, splitting the two games.
• LIU defeated Bryant in the first game of the tournament but the Bulldogs rebounded to eliminate the Blackbirds.
• The Blackbirds are hitting .269 and have a team ERA of 4.80.
• Andrew Turner is hitting .336 and leads the league with a .492 OBP.