Bryant University Bulldogs BASEBALL TRAVELS TO PLAY URI TUESDAY; HOST HARVARD, UMASS LOWELL THIS WEEK

April 6, 2009

BASEBALL TRAVELS TO PLAY URI TUESDAY; HOST HARVARD, UMASS LOWELL THIS WEEK

SMITHFIELD, R.I. - The Bryant baseball team will host two home games this week after traveling to URI on Tuesday, as they welcome Harvard on Wednesday and UMass Lowell on Friday to the Bryant Baseball Complex. The Bulldogs split a series with NYIT over the weekend, finishing the week with a 4-2 record and are now 10-2 in their last 12 games. Bryant won a pair of home games last week, taking out Maine, 9-3, and Brown, 4-2, before heading to New York Tech where they won two out of four. After sweeping NYIT on Saturday in a doubleheader, the Bulldogs lost two close contests to the Bears on Sunday, falling 3-2 and 4-3. NYIT scored runs late in both contests to get the victories, scoring in the bottom of the seventh to win game one, and tallying in the bottom of the eighth to win game two.

BULLDOGS RANKED THIRD IN NEW ENGLAND
With a 22-9 record, the Bulldogs were voted third in the New England region by the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association for the second-straight week. The team is behind Boston College and URI, as they get ready to take on the Rams for the second time this year after beating them earlier this year at the Bryant Baseball Complex, 7-1. View the entire poll here.

200 HIT CLUB WELCOMES ANOTHER MEMBER
Senior Pat McKenna (Orange, Conn.) hit a single to right field in game one of a doubleheader with NYIT on Sunday, giving him 200 hits for his career. The starting shortstop became the seventh member of the 200-hit club in the history of the program, joining teammate Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass.) who accomplished the same feat earlier this season.

WIN STREAK COMES TO AN END
The Bulldogs had a season-best win streak of ten-straight games come to an end on Sunday, as NYIT was able to pull off a win in the bottom of the seventh inning. The squad had been unstoppable over the preview two weeks, outscoring opponents 73-28 during that stretch while hitting .331 as a team. Senior outfielder Pat O'Connor was on a tear in that stretch, going 13-for-24 before missing the last five games due to a leg injury. Freshman first baseman Jamie Skagerlind also hit a hot streak, posting a .400 batting average over the four games with seven RBI. McKenna hit four home runs during the streak, while leading the team in RBI (17) and total bases (29). The pitching was also excellent, registering a 2.74 team ERA, with the starters grabbing eight wins. Kevin Cobb had three of those victories, while Chris Foundas and Dan Lozeau had two each. Mark Andrews did not allow a run in six appearances as a closer, going five-for-five in save opportunities.

HOLDING DOWN THE CLUTCH
The Bulldogs have come through in the clutch all year, posting an eye-popping .310 team batting average with runners in scoring position and two outs. Jeff Vigurs leads the way with, going 11-for-23 with runners in scoring position and two outs, while driving in 16 runs. Vigurs has been a run producing machine, leading the team with 43 RBI and a .372 batting average. The junior catcher hits .404 with runners on base and .431 with runners in scoring position. McKenna has had some clutch hits of his own, including a game-tying two out home run against LIU in the top of the ninth inning back March 28. He did it again this past weekend against NYIT, hitting a two out RBI single in the final inning to tie game one of the doubleheader on Sunday.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!

Pat McKenna enters this week with an 11-game hitting streak. The senior is hitting .348 in that stretch with four home runs and 19 RBI. He also leads the team with nine long balls this season.
Jeff Vigurs has reached base safely in 30-straight games while riding an eight game hitting streak. He leads the team in average (.372) and RBI (43) for the season.
Jordan English has a season-best four game hitting streak, driving in four runs while recording five hits in his last 17 at-bats.
Kevin Cobb has won all six of his starts this season, going 6-0 with a 2.40 ERA. The six wins matches his career high, posting six wins in each of his last two seasons.
Mark Andrews is nine for nine in save opportunities. The sophomore has a 2.45 ERA in 14 appearances out of the bullpen with 15 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
URI
The Rams and Bulldogs will meet for the second time this season, as Bryant took the first meeting on March 25 at the Bryant Baseball Complex by a final of 7-1. URI has gone 5-3-1 since the last meeting, moving their record to 17-10-1 for the year. The squad swept Dayton over the weekend in a three-game series, allowing just three runs while scoring 17. Dan Rhault continues to pace the offense, leading the team in both home runs with six, and RBI with 24.

Harvard
The Crimson enter the week with a 7-18 record, winning three out of four over the weekend in Ivy League play. Harvard played a 17-inning marathon with Princeton on Sunday, coming out on top with a game-winning hit by Tom Stack-Babich in the bottom of the 17^th to earn a, 13-12 victory. The Crimson plays the first round of the Baseball Beanpot on Tuesday against Northeastern before traveling to Smithfield. The offense is led by Matt Rogers, who is hitting .389 with eight home runs and 27 RBI.

UMass Lowell
The River Hawks are ranked second in New England for Division II, coming in with a 15-7 record overall. An old Northeast-10 rival for the Bulldogs, UMass Lowell is 8-4 in conference play and in second place behind Bentley. Pat Devlin leads the team in hitting with a .390 batting average while Matt Jacobs has a team-best 15 RBI. Bryant beat the River Hawks in both meetings last season between the two teams in their finals season in the Northeast-10.

FOLLOW THE BULLDOGS
Follow the Bryant baseball team as they take on Maine and Brown at home this week through game tracker here.