SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The top-seeded Bryant baseball team heads to Orono, Maine, this week for the 2025 Northeast Delta Dental America East Baseball Championships.

Bryant enters the conference tournament as No. 1 seed and has earned one of two first-round byes along with second-seeded NJIT. The Bulldogs are scheduled to play Thursday, May 22 at 11:00 a.m. against the lowest remaining seed from Wednesday's single-elimination round.     

The Particulars
Dates: May 21-24
Location: Mahaney Diamond (Orono, Maine)
Tournament Page: AmericaEast.com
Live Stats: Sidearm
Video: ESPN+
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEBASE  

Tournament Field

No. 1 seed - Bryant
No. 2 seed - NJIT
No. 3 seed - Binghamton
No. 4 seed - Maine
No. 5 seed - UAlbany
No. 6 seed - UMBC

Bryant vs. The Field

• Bryant went 18-6 during the regular season, posting an 8-4 mark at home and a 10-2 mark on the road. The Bulldogs started the year 2-4 before winning 16-of-18 to close out the year.
• The Black and Gold lost each of its first two AE series before winning in each of the last six. Bryant dropped its opening series to UAlbany but won the overall season series 4-2 and dropped a series to UMass Lowell and split six games (3-3). The Bulldogs swept Binghamton, Maine and UMBC, while earning a series win over NJIT.
• Bryant is 11-3 all-time vs No. 6 seed UMBC. The Bulldogs swept last weekend's series in Baltimore and won both games against UMBC in last year's America East Championships.
• Bryant is 7-5 in 12 all-time games with No. 2 seed NJIT. The Bulldogs scored seven runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn a 10-9 victory in the series opener between the teams this season.
• The Black and Gold turned its season around with a hard-fought sweep of Binghamton at the beginning of April. Bryant won 7-6, 12-4 and 6-5 and owns a 9-3 lead in the all-time series. The Bulldogs scored jumped out to a 5-0 lead in game one, scored 12 runs in its final two at-bats in game two and an eighth-inning home run from Gavin Greger was the difference in game three.
• The Black and Gold went 4-2 vs UAlbany this season and is 13-2 all-time vs the Great Danes. UAlbany took two-of-three in Smithfield before the Bulldogs swept a three-game series in Albany.
• Bryant took all three games with Maine this year, earning 5-3, 9-8 (11) and 9-2 victories. Brandyn Durand gave Bryant the lead in game one with a three-run home run in the eighth. In game two, Durand tied the game with a solo home run in the bottom of the 11th and Zac Zyons delivered a walk-off single. 

Bryant in the conference tournament

• Bryant is 24-14 in conference tournaments at the DI level. The Bulldogs went 21-13 as a member of the NEC before dropping its first playoff game as an AE member in 2023. Bryant swept through the 2024 America East Tournament to claim its first title. 
• The Bulldogs have served as the No. 1 (10 times) or No. 2 seed (once) in all 11 of its postseason appearances (including this year). 
• Bryant has advanced to the championship round eight times, winning championships in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2024. The Bulldogs have lost in the decisive game in 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2022.
• The Black and Gold have gone 3-0 to win the title three times (2014, 2016, 2024), while it needed to win four straight elimination games to claim the 2013 title. 

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant finished the regular season with a 33-17-1 overall record, 22-3 over its final 25 games.
• Bryant finished the year 16-6-1 at home but posted a 17-11 record on the road. The Bulldogs won each of their final 12 road games -- the longest active streak in the country -- to close the year.
• Bryant finished the regular season third in average (.279), first in runs (363), first in doubles (112), first in home runs (66), first in slugging (.480) and second in OBP (.383).
• As a staff, Bryant posted a league-best 4.79 ERA overall and a 5.10 ERA in league play (2nd).
• Drew Wyers was named the America East Player of the Year after hitting .422 (54-128) with 10 doubles, 10 homers, 46 RBI, 37 runs scored, a .526 OBP and a 1.260 OPS. In league play, he slashed .438/.763/.542 for a 1.305 OPS. Wyers has reached safely in 32-straight games.
• Michael Belcher was named the America East Rookie of the Year after going 3-0 with a 4.09 ERA in 13 appearances (12 starts). He walked 17 and struck out 56 in 61.2 innings. Belcher shifted to the Friday role at the beginning of April and the Bulldogs won each of his final six starts.
• Zac Zyons joined the duo on the All-America East First Team after posting a 1.018 OPS in a career-high 47 games. He's hitting .293 with 14 doubles, 11 home runs, 42 RBI, 45 runs scored and a league-best 20 HBPs.
• Gavin Noriega, Pat D'Amico, Charlie Saul, Clay Robbins and Kyle Rizy all earned second team honors.
• Noriega is hitting .323 with 16 doubles, eight home runs, 47 RBI and 50 runs scored. He is looking to put together another strong postseason after 5-for-11 with a home run, three RBI and six runs scored in last year's tournament.
• D'Amico hit .298 with a 1.031 OPS in league play this year to earn the honors at third base. He posted seven doubles, six home runs and 27 RBI.
• Saul has had a great month of May, hitting .350 (14-40) with four triples, two home runs, 15 RBI and nine runs scored. He hit .348 in conference play this year, finishing with four doubles, four triples, three home runs and 22 RBI.
• Robbins an shifted from Sunday to Saturday at the beginning of April and has posted a 4.99 ERA in 48.2 innings. He has allowed 49 hits, walked 17 and struck out 47.
• Rizy tied for the league lead in wins during the regular season, finishing 7-0 in 14 relief appearances. He walked 18 and struck out 39 in 35.2 innings. Rizy was 5-0 in eight America East appearances. 
• Bryant's weekend rotation was a bit of a hybrid rotation with starters Belcher, Robbins and Luke Delongchamp. Those three were then backed up by Rizy, Dylan Scudder and Vanesko in long relief.
• Vanesko posted a 4-0 record and a 1.93 ERA in six relief outings, Scheidt posted a 2-1 record, two saves and a 4.30 ERA in 14.2 innings, while White notched four saves and struck out 21 batters in 10.2 innings of relief. Scudder allowed five runs in his first 2.1 innings of relief in league play but has allowed just three runs on six hits and has eight strikeouts over his last 7.0 innings.    

Scouting the Field

• Earned a first-round bye for the first time since 2022 thanks to a three-game sweep of UMass Lowell in the last weekend of the season.
• The Highlanders rallied in the eighth inning on both Friday and Saturday thanks to three-run home runs. NJIT's 17 home runs in league play were the third lowest.
• NJIT ranks third in average (.297), ERA (5.33) and fielding (.973). The Highlanders tied with Maine for the most batters struck out (198).
• The Highlanders are headlined by the 1-2 duo of Nate DeSchryver and M.T. Morrissey. DeSchryver has allowed just 16 hits in 38.2 innings (.122 oppBA) and has a 2.56 ERA, while Morrissey has struck out 45 in 48.0 innings. 
• Overall, veteran shortstop Ray Ortiz leads the league in doubles (17), home runs (13) and runs scored (57), while Monmouth transfer Mason Wolf hit .423 in league play.

• Binghamton missed out on a shot to claim the No. 2 seed on the final day of the regular season, falling to UAlbany, 11-5. 
• The Bearcats led the league in batting average (.312), ranked sixth in ERA (6.77) and second in fielding (.975) in conference play.
• Binghamton is led by a lineup that features Freddy Forgione (1.223 OPS, 8HR, 24RBI), Devan Bade (1.082 OPS, 6HR, 34RBI), Matt Bolton (1.002 OPS, 30R), Zach Rogacki (1.189 OPS, 82B, 23B, 7HR, 25RBI) and Evin Sullivan (1.092 OPS, 8HR, 23RBI).
• On the mound, Hayden Tarsia has emerged as the Friday starter, allowing three runs or less in each of his last six league starts. He has allowed just seven runs over his last 32.2 innings.

• Maine sat in first place in the beginning of May but lost five of its last six league games to fall to fourth in the standings. 
• The Black Bears rank second in the league in average (.309), first in ERA (4.55) and first in fielding (.976).
• Maine is led by the incredible starting trio of Colin Fitzgerald, Caleb Leys and Gianni Gambardella. All three were key parts of Maine's 2023 championship squad and all three missed all or part of 2024. This season, Fitzgerald is 3-3 with a 5.87 ERA, Leys is 5-0 with a 1.10 ERA and Gambardella is 4-4 with a 4.70 ERA in league play. The trio has combined to strikeout 146 batters 140.2 innings.
• Offensively, Myles Sargent hit .397 and drove in 29 runs in league play. Brody Rasmussen (.364, 4HR, 20RBI), Damon Gaither (.354, 5HR, 18RBI) and Evan Menzel (.350, 3HR, 14RBI) all hit better than .350 in league play.

• UAlbany used another late-season run to make the playoffs. Last year, UAlbany started league play 3-11 but closed the year by going 7-2 over its final three series to claim a spot. This year, the Great Danes were 3-12 in league play on April 27 but swept both UMass Lowell and UMBC in consecutive weeks to jump into the playoff picture. 
• The Great Danes rank sixth in the league in average (.257), fourth in ERA (5.75) and fifth in fielding (.965) in league play. UAlbany has hit just nine home runs in conference play.
• Levi McAllister powers the offense as he accounted for five of UAlbany's nine home runs in league play. On the year, McAllister is hitting .290 with eight home runs and a league-leading 48 RBI.
• Ryan Ferremi (.292, 132B, 53B, 4HR) and Luke Filippi (122B, 5HR, 33RBI) provide protection around McAllister.
• Dylan Banner is one of the league's premier pitchers despite posted a 2-5 record and a 4.25 ERA in eight league starts. He walked eight and struck out 43 against conference foes. Last season, he allowed three runs on four hits over 7.0 innings in a first round game against UMass Lowell.

• UMBC qualified for the America East tournament despite losing each of its last six league games and eight of its final nine. NJIT's sweep of UMass Lowell allowed the Retrievers to secure the final spot.
• The Retrievers rank fifth in the league in average (.273), fourth in home runs (25), seventh in ERA (7.58) and seventh in fielding (.940).
• 2023 AE Rookie of the Year Leewood Molessa missed nearly all of 2024 with injury but has returned to club 10 home runs and drive in 42 to pace the offense. Danny Orr (.909 OPS, 7HR, 25RBI), Anthony Mascuilli (.315 avg, 31BB, .474OBP) and Jesiah Carpenter (.314, 16SB, 41R) hit over .300.
• UMBC's weekend rotation has changed quite a bit through the year and is now headlined by Nick Remy, who tied for the league lead with seven wins. He finished 4-2 with a 2.25 ERA in 12 league appearances (two starts). Remy allowed just 20 hits, walked five and struck out 24 in 28.0 innings.