GAME NOTES
SMITHFIELD, R.I. – Ranked first in New England for the fifth-straight week, the Bryant University baseball team heads to Boston on Tuesday for a mid-week contest against Northeastern. First pitch is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
The Bulldogs (24-7) received six first-place votes this week and 37 total points to take the top spot in the NEIBA poll. Connecticut and Boston College each received a first-place vote and are ranked second and third, respectively.
Tuesday's meeting with the Huskies (19-14) will be the 10th between the two programs. Bryant owns a 7-2 lead in the all-time series and has won each of the last five games by a combined score of 60-14. The Black and Gold won last year's meeting 18-2 in Smithfield.
Bryant is coming off a second-straight 4-1 week but is just 1-2 in mid-week games since returning to New England. This past weekend, the Black and Gold pitching staff carried the load as they allowed just seven runs over the four-game series with Wagner. The performance dropped the team ERA to 3.41 which is the best in the Northeast Conference. Bryant pitchers have struck out 241 batters and have allowed 240 hits to rank 37th nationally in hits allowed per nine innings.
Freshman Craig Lacey (Westfield, Mass.) will make his second start of the season against the Huskies after working three innings last week against UConn. He allowed three runs on five hits in his first-career start and was saddled with a no decision.
Offensively, senior Dan Cellucci (Sudbury, Mass.) and freshman Nick Angelini (Bedford, N.H.) have both been on fire of late for the Black and Gold. Cellucci is hitting .565 (13-23) with four RBI, six runs scored and a .643 OBP over his last seven games. He has hit safely in all seven. Angelini, named the NEC Rookie of the Week on Monday, went 7-for-13 over the weekend and has bumped his average up to .317 on the year. He has a .417 OBP and has also stolen six bases.
Northeastern also boasts a very strong pitching staff and enters Tuesday's game with a team ERA of 3.33. A great deal of that credit goes to potential MLB draft picks Aaron Civale and Dustin Hunt but Tuesday's probable Nate Borges has also pitched well, going 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in 19 1/3 innings. Mike Fitzgerald gives the Huskies a dominant presence at the backend, going 2-2 with a six saves and a 2.05 ERA in 14 appearances.
The Huskies are hitting just .252 as a team and average just over five runs per game. Pat Madigan is one of only two players that is hitting over .300 and comes into Tuesday at a .303 clip. He also has six doubles, three home runs and a team-leading 21 RBI. Charlie McConnell is a sparkplug, posting 17 stolen bases and 20 runs scored.
