SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant baseball team opens the 2026 season this weekend with a three-game series at Davidson. Opening Day is set for Friday at 5:00 p.m.

Bryant is coming off a 36-19 season that ended with an America East regular season title and an appearance in the tournament championship game. Head coach Ryan Klosterman begins his seventh season with the program, having helped Bryant average 31 wins per season over the last five years.     

The Particulars
Opponent: Davidson
Location: Davidson, N.C. (Wilson Field)
Date and Time: Friday, Feb. 14 - 5:00 PM | Saturday, Feb. 15 - 1:30 PM | Sunday, Feb. 16 - 1:00 PM
Live Stats: Sidearm
Video: Friday (ESPN+) and Sunday (ESPN+)
Game Notes: Bryant
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Probable Starting Pitchers 

Friday - Kaden Hilburger vs Wilson Perkins
Saturday -  Dylan Scudder vs Cooper Cavanaugh
Sunday -  Jackson Vanesko vs Jacob Vokal

• Kaden Hilburger will get the ball on Friday night for the Black and Gold. This will be his first career start and his first appearance since April 2, 2024. 
• Hilburger made nine relief appearances as a freshman in 2023 but suffered an elbow injury that required Tommy John Surgery in his only outing of 2024 that forced him to miss all of 2025.
• Dylan Scudder will be making his first start as a Bulldog and his first since April 23, 2024 when he was at Eastern Connecticut.
• Scudder made 14 relief appearances in his first season at Bryant in 2025, going 0-2 with two saves and a 5.02 ERA. He struck out 35 and issued just 12 walks in 28.2 innings.
• Jackson Vanesko will get the ball on Sunday. Vanesko is back for his fifth year with the Bulldogs and is coming off the best season of his career. 
• Vanesko finished 2025 with a 6-3 record and a 2.93 ERA in 43.0 innings. He allowed just 32 hits, holding opponents to a .203 average. Vanesko 15 appearances included six starts, most notably a career-high 6.0 innings against UAlbany in an elimination game in the America East Tournament.
• Davidson, on the other hand, returns two of its three weekend starters. Wilson Perkins will start on Friday's for the third straight year after going 6-5 with 74 strikeouts in 83.0 innings.
• Perkins allowed six runs on nine hits and struck out seven over 4.0 innings on Opening Day last year against Bryant. 
• Cooper Cavanaugh returns for his third season and looks to put together another strong season now that he is healthy. Injuries limited him to just seven starts and 17.0 total innings last spring. Cavanaugh struck out 22, walked nine and allowed just nine hits on the year.
• Vokal went 1-2 with a 7.88 ERA in 19 appearances (four starts) as a freshman last season. He threw 37.2 innings, struck out 31 and walked 21.

Bryant vs. Davidson

• Bryant and Davidson are meeting for the fourth time in five seasons and will open the season against one another for the second straight year. 
• Last season, Bryant and Davidson split an Opening Day doubleheader before the final game of the series was rained out.
• Davidson swept the series in 2022, outscoring the Bulldogs 20-2 and posting a pair of shutouts. 
• Bryant returned the favor in 2023, sweeping the three-game set and outscoring the Wildcats 32-11. The Bulldogs completed the sweep with a 15-5, 11-1 doubleheader sweep.
• The Black and Gold's series sweep of Davidson in 2023 marked the program's first-ever series sweep of an Atlantic-10 program. 

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant is coming off its second-straight 36-win campaign that ended with the program's 12th regular season championship in 16 full seasons at the Division I level.
• The Bulldogs also advanced to the championship round of the conference tournament for the fourth time in the last five years.
• The Bulldogs were picked second by a vote of the league's coaches this season. Bryant also landed three players on the preseason All-America East team.
• Zac Zyons, Brandyn Durand and Michael Belcher were all recognized on the preseason all-conference team.
• Zyons looks to put the finishing touches on an outstanding career this spring, having earned First Team All-America East honors each of the last two years. Zyons won the 2024 America East batting title before setting career highs in doubles (14), home runs (11) and RBI (45) in 2025. He has collected 143 hits, a program record 53 hit by pitches and a career OBP of .441.
• Brandyn Durand is back behind the plate for the Bulldogs after hitting 12 home runs last season. He is the only player in DI program history to hit 10+ home runs in back-to-back seasons.
• Gavin Greger returns for his third year as Bryant's everyday center fielder. He's hit .263 with 108 hits, 27 doubles, 58 RBI, 60 runs scored and 20 stolen bases in two seasons.
• Bryant also brings back Cam Papetti (8 HR, 18 RBI), Charlie Saul (7 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, .862 OPS), Jacob Gaudreau (.310, .484 OBP) and Justin Hackett. 
• On the mound, Bryant welcomes the return of Michael Belcher (3-1, 4.52), Scudder, Vanesko, White (7 SVs, 36 SO, 22.2 IP) Owen Birchard (1.72 ERA, 29 SO, 15.2 IP), Sean Zaslaw (2.35 ERA, 7.2 IP), Bradley Lewis (2.25 ERA, 14 APP) and Ty Davis (1-1, 1 SV).,    

Scouting the Wildcats

• Davidson finished 27-29 in 2025, qualifying for the A-10 tournament.
• The Wildcats hit 100 home runs a season ago, but must replace the loss of Cider Canon (17 HR), Michael O'Shaughnessy (17 HR), Eli Putnam (19 HR) and Jack Cotrone (12 HR).
• Anthony Torreso (.351, 9 HR, 39 RBI) is the leading returning hitter.
• Perkins headlines a pitching staff that returns several key arms to a staff that posted a 7.96 ERA last year.