• Sun, 05/15 | Baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson W, 8-2 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sat, 05/14 | Baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson W, 9-2 (Final) BX | BX | RC
  • Sat, 05/14 | Baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson W, 7-0 (Final) BX | RC
  • Fri, 05/13 | Baseball at Fairleigh Dickinson W, 16-5 (Final) BX | RC
  • Sun, 05/08 | Baseball vs. Quinnipiac L, 5-2 (Final) BX | BX | RC | RC | PH | PH
  • Sun, 05/08 | Baseball vs. Quinnipiac W, 5-0 (Final) BX | BX | RC | RC
  • Sat, 05/07 | Baseball vs. Quinnipiac W, 9-4 (Final) BX | BX | RC | RC | PH | PH
  • Fri, 05/06 | Baseball vs. Quinnipiac W, 11-7 (Final) BX | BX | BX | BX | RC | RC
  • Tue, 05/03 | Baseball at Siena L, 4-3 (Final - 10 innings) BX | RC | LS | LS | V
  • Sun, 05/01 | Baseball at Sacred Heart W, 4-2 (Final) BX | RC
 

April 27, 2009

BASEBALL WELCOMES UCONN ON TUESDAY; HEADS TO BROWN FOR THREE GAMES THIS WEEK

April 27, 2009

BASEBALL WELCOMES UCONN ON TUESDAY; HEADS TO BROWN
FOR THREE GAMES THIS WEEK

Live Stats vs. UConn/Wheaton
Video vs. Brown

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bulldogs return to the Bryant Baseball Complex this week as they host the University of Connecticut on Tuesday before traveling to play Brown on Wednesday and Thursday. Bryant went 1-4 overall last week, falling to Boston College and winning one-out-of-four against Le Moyne over the weekend. The Bulldogs enter the week with a 27-18 record, and will put their perfect 6-0 record at home on the line.

BRYANT RANKED FOURTH IN NEW ENGLAND BY NEIBA

The Bulldogs enter play this week ranked fourth in New England by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association. See the complete poll here.

Division I
1. Rhode Island (4)    29-13-1    31 pts.
2. Boston College (2)    26-17    30 pts.
3. Dartmouth (1)    22-13    17 pts.
4. Bryant    27-18    14 pts.
5. Northeastern    22-15    9 pts.
Also Receiving Votes: Maine 3, Central Connecticut 1.


HOME SWEET HOME
Bryant has gone a perfect 6-0 at home this season with wins over Boston College, URI, Maine, Brown, Harvard and UMass Lowell. They have outscored opponents 50-22 at the Bryant Baseball Complex, while posting a .380 team batting average. Freshman first baseman Jamie Skagerlind (Holden, Mass.) is leading the team with a .550 average at home while driving in seven runs. Pat McKenna (Orange, Conn.) is right behind him with a .520 average, slugging three home runs with 13 RBI.

The pitching staff has also been solid, posting a 2.67 ERA at home this season with opponents batting .285 against them. Chris Foundas (Needham, Mass.) has made three of the six possible starts, going 3-0 with a 3.38 ERA as the Bryant starters have recorded each of the six home wins. Mark Andrews (Hillsborough, N.J.) and Brian O'Neil are tied for the team lead with five appearances each. Andrews has recorded three saves while throwing 5.1 innings and giving up just three hits.

ATTACKING THE RECORD BOOKS
Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass.) and Pat McKenna (Orange, Conn.) both joined the 200-hit club earlier this season, becoming the sixth and seventh players in the history of the program to accomplish such a feat. Campbell enters the week with 238 hits, which ties him for second all-time with Luke Robustelli as he sets his sights on Jason Eldridge's career record of 247.

McKenna is ranked fifth all-time in hits with 223 for his career. The senior shortstop is ranked among some of the best to ever play for the program, setting the record for most games played over the weekend after making his 211th career start in as many games against Le Moyne on Saturday. McKenna is also ranked first all-time in triples with 15, and walks with 108, while sitting at fourth in doubles with 44 and fourth in runs scored with 148.

RUN PRODUCER
Jeff Vigurs (South Windsor, Conn.) is having one of the best run-producing seasons that Bryant has seen in years, leading the team with 61 RBI. The junior was ranked fifth in the country entering play last week with 58 RBI, adding on three over the weekend against Le Moyne to go along with his ninth long ball of the year. Vigurs' also leads the team in batting average, hitting .376 for the season and .429 during his recent six-game hitting streak. He is currently tied for fourth with Bill DiStefano for RBI in a season, and is 18 away from Jason Eldridge's single-season record of 79 with eight games left to play.

TIMELY HITTING
The Bulldogs are hitting an incredible .311 with runners in scoring position and two outs this season, driving in 100 runs while hitting eight home runs. Vigurs leads the way, hitting .514 (18 for 35) with runners in scoring position and two down, driving in 29 of his 61 runs with ten of his 18 hits going for extra bases.  

POLVANI KEEPS ROLLING
Eric Polvani (Wallingford, Conn.) has posted a 4-0 record with one save in his last six appearances on the mound. In that stretch, the junior has posted a 1.07 ERA over 42 innings while striking out 35 batters. In his last outing, Polvani threw eight shutout innings against Le Moyne, allowing just three hits and walking only two to get his sixth win of the year and push his consecutive scoreless innings streak to 11. Overall this season, he has posted a 6-2 record with a 2.00 ERA and a team-best 51 strikeouts in 67.1 innings.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
University of Connecticut (22-20)
The Huskies enter the week with a four-game losing streak after being swept by St. John's over the weekend. The Huskies are 8-10 in the Big East and are led at the plate by Mike Nemeth who is hitting .351 for the season. George Springer has been the top run producer, hitting 11 home runs and 41 RBI for the year.

Brown University (22-18-1)
The Bears and Bulldogs will battle three-times this week, playing a doubleheader on Wednesday and one game on Thursday, with all three being played down in Providence. The teams have played twice already this season, with each team winning one game. Bryant won the first contest, 4-3, in Smithfield, and Brown won the second game, 8-6, in Providence.

Brown has won three of its last four contests after sweeping Yale in a doubleheader on Sunday. Robert Papenhause, who is leading the team at the plate with a .379 average, is two-for-six with four RBI against Bryant this season.

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
Follow the Bryant baseball team this week in their games against UConn and Brown with live stats through the links at the top of the page.

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