Baseball
April 15, 2008
BULLDOGS RIP OFF FIVE STRAIGHT WINS, MAKE RETURN TO NATIONAL POLLS WITH 10-WIN APRIL
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Junior transfer Pat
O'Connor |
SMITHFIELD, RI -- Backed by a 26-13 record, including wins over three nationally ranked teams this season, the Bryant University baseball team returns to the national polls for the first time since March 4, garnering the No. 25 spot as released by the NCBWA on April 15.
The Bulldogs have enjoyed a successful April thus far, going 10-3 on the month's opening two weeks, highlighted by their current season-best five-game winning streak as well as a 6-5 win over then No. 5/7 Franklin Pierce back on April 3.
The win over the regionally top-ranked Ravens made it three national-caliber victories for Bryant, who is ranked second in the Northeast region and is receiving a pair of first-place votes.
Led by the gloves of such players as sophomore Dylan Stone (.994 fielding pct.), the wheels of sophomore Taylor Ferguson (14 stolen bases) and the bats of senior Jason Alexander (.329 BA), junior Pat O'Connor (15 doubles, 6 HRs, .551 slugging pct.) and sophomore Nick Campbell (.335 BA, 3 triples), the Bulldogs have also recorded victories over ninth-ranked West Chester University and nationally top-ranked Mount Olive College.
Campbell's 56 hits and .335 batting average lead the team through April 15, and he is No. 2 on the team in stolen bases (11-for-16). Equally important is Campbell's plate discipline: the sophomore centerfielder has struck out just nine times in 183 plate appearances (9 walks, 5 HBP), ranking him the nation's 24th toughest batter to strike out.
On the other side of the plate, two rookie arms have combined for all three wins over nationally ranked opponents.
The cannon behind a pair of those wins is freshman righthander David O'Brien (4-0), who got the win in Bryant's 5-4 defeat of No. 1 Mount Olive on March 13, as well as the complete-game 1-0 victory over No. 9 West Chester three days later. O'Brien's 1.84 earned run average is No. 25 in the country, having pitched 44 innings and let up just 10 runs (9 earned). Opposing batters have earned just 26 hits off the freshman for an average of 5.32 hits per game -- good for No. 4 in the nation.
Another rookie, southpaw Mark Andrews (1-0, team-best 1.23 ERA), earned Bryant's most recent top-10 win, a 6-5 topping of No. 7 and regionally top-ranked Franklin Pierce on April 3.
Senior Eric Loh is also off to a strong start as well with a 5-2 record, registering three complete games and 38 strikeouts on the year. The 2007 All-American allows just 6.96 hits per nine innings himself, ranking No. 49.
Entering Monday's 5-0 shutout of Assumption College, junior Dan Lozeau also found a place in the national stat lines. Allowing just four walks in just over 40 innings (now just four walks in 49.1 innings), Lozeau is ninth in walks allowed per nine innings (0.89/game).
But a strong starting rotation is just half the battle, which is where sophomore closer Eric Polvani comes in. With six saves already in the books in 2008, Polvani finds himself leading the league as well as tied for No. 23 nationally.
And with all this talent and more, the regionally second-ranked Bulldogs find themselves sitting pretty with a 14-4 Northeast-10 Conference record, good for second on the league ladder, well on their way to climbing the Division II ranks en route to the postseason and beyond.
Bryant takes on Southern Connecticut State Tuesday, April 15
at 3:30 p.m. and returns home to the Bryant Baseball Complex
Thursday for a rematch with the Owls. First pitch is 3:30 p.m.
