Though there have been past trips to the NCAA tournament for the Bryant baseball team, 2004 will go down as perhaps the best season in school history.  For the Bulldogs not only reached the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in school history, but punched the school’s first-ever ticket to the College World Series with a Northeast Regional Championship.

When the dust had finally settled, the Bulldogs picked up a school record with 40 wins and posted the school’s best team ERA thanks in part to the arm of a junior All-American.  

Baseball Media Guide

2005 Player Bios (pdf)

2005 Coaching Staff (pdf)

2005 Record Book (pdf)

The Bulldogs finished third last season in the Northeast-10 Conference standings and fell in the first round of the tournament before putting together a historic playoff run with a Northeast Regional Championship and trip to Montgomery, Alabama for the NCAA World Series.  

While Bryant must find a replacement for the graduated B.J. Gagnon, the Bulldogs that can still get the job done.  Here’s a look at how the Bulldogs shape up heading into the spring season:

INFIELD
Bryant will lose two infielders: Gagnon and shortstop Kevin Mahoney, but the Bulldogs will be sound on the corners, thanks to the return of first baseman Mike Rocco (Tewksbury, Mass.) and third baseman Paul Novakowski (Prospect, Conn.).  Rocco earned Northeast10 Conference Freshman of the Year honors after hitting .319 and picking up 25 RBIs.  In addition to his offense, Rocco was valuable defensively, setting a new school record for putouts and committing only five errors in more than 500 plays (.990 fielding percentage).  
Anchoring the left side is Novakowski. In his sophomore season, Novakowski hit .282 with 63 hits and 23 doubles.  He was second on the team with three home runs and drove in 40 runs. But like Rocco, Novakowski has excellent range in the field defensively that helped make the Bulldogs one of the top defensive teams in the conference last season.  
Junior Adam Rourke (Rowley, Mass.) will move to the infield and take over at shortstop for the Bulldogs this season while newcomer Jason Alexander (Simsbury, Conn.) should challenge to take over for Gagnon at second.  Rourke hit. 251 last season and had 12 stolen bases on the year.  Freshmen Ben Conn (Holden, Mass.) and Adam Vuolo (Walpole, Mass.) will give the team depth at the infield.

OUTFIELD
  The Bulldogs will return two starters - including a Third Team All-American in the outfield this season.  Senior Mickey Ryan (Lowell, Mass.) leads the returners in center after hitting a team-best .350 with 77 hits and 27 stolen bases. Named all-American by the ABCA, Ryan is a valuable leadoff hitter who can find a way to get on base and create scoring opportunities. In 2004, Ryan was tied for the team lead with 50 runs scored.  Tied with Ryan was leftfielder Daryle Crowley (Danvers, Mass.).  Crowley hit .302 with 14 doubles and was the team’s top slugger with four home runs.  Chris Brown (Norwalk, Conn.) and Chad Valenti (Glastonbury, Conn.) return this season and will joined by newcomers Mark Dondero (Medfield, Mass.) and Jeff Fiorini (Westfield, Mass.).   

CATCHER
The Bulldogs will have three veterans back with game experience behind the plate led by starter Nick Tucarella (Salem, N.H.).  Tucarella, a junior, hit .278 with 13 doubles and three homeruns but his leadership and defensive skills in working with the Bryant pitching staff proved critical during the team’s run to the World Series.  Tucarella posted the team’s second-best fielding percentage, committing just four errors all season long while throwing out 16 runners attempting to steal during the year.  He’ll be backed up by sophomores Chris Neil (Cambridge, Mass.) and Ryan Doyle (Wakefield, Mass.).

PITCHERS
The Bulldogs will need to replace 10-game winner Mike Florest who graduated last spring, but the Bulldogs won’t be short on arms as Bryant welcomes the return of senior All-American Stephen Sloan (Franklin, Mass.) back to the lineup this spring.
  Sloan, the team's No. 1 pitcher throughout the season, posted an 11-1 record with a conference leading 1.40 final ERA in earning the NE-10 Pitcher of the Year award.  With an ERA hovering around 1.00 entering postseason play, Sloan guided the Bulldogs to an impressive win over third-ranked Rollins College in the opening game of the College World Series and was later named a First Team ABCA All-American for 2004.  
Joining Sloan in the starting rotation, the Bulldogs will look to sophomore Matt Gaynor (Hyde Park, N.Y.) and David Rappoli (Wilmington, Mass.) and Chris Bowser (Danvers, Mass.) to provide a solid rotation of quality starters.  
 Rappoli was 6-4 in 15 appearances last season and he'll be joined by returners Jordan Copes (Windsor Locks, Conn.), Matt Davis (Tewksbury, Mass.), and Brian Fioretti (Huntington, N.Y.) are back looking to help provide middle relief and possible gain a few starts this season.  
The Bulldogs will have six newcomers to the bullpen this season led by sophomore UMass Lowell transfer Mike Upton (Chelmsford, Mass.) who will join freshmen Brian Cleary (West Boylston, Mass.), Luke Cowan (Wilton, Conn.), Zack Keckley (Port Jefferson, N.Y.), Eric Loh (Old Greenwich, Conn.), and Steve Salerno (Mt. Sinai, N.Y.).