SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant baseball team begins an 11-game road trip with a trip to Vestal, N.Y., for a America East showdown with league-leading Binghamton. The series is set to begin Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m.

Binghamton enters the weekend at 9-3 and in first place in the America East, two games ahead of second-place Bryant (7-5). The Bulldogs took two-of-three in the first meeting between the two programs in March at Conaty Park.   

The Particulars
Opponent: Binghamton
Location: Bearcats Baseball Complex (Vestal, N.Y.)
Date and Time: Friday, April 17 - 3:00 p.m. | Saturday, April 18 - 2:00 p.m. | Sunday, April 19 - 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Sidearm 
Video: ESPN+ 
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEBASE

Probable Starting Pitchers 

Thursday - Kaden Hilburger vs Conner Griffin
Friday -  Ty Davis vs Mason Holloway
Saturday -  Dylan Scudder vs Jackson Mitchell

• Kaden Hilburger will make his 10th start of the year on Friday and is 1-1 with a 4.84 ERA in 35.1 innings. He has allowed 31 hits, walked 13 and struck out 27. Hilburger owns a 4.08 ERA in four America East starts. He has allowed 10 runs (eight earned) on 15 hits over 17.2 innings. Hilburger was limited to just 3.1 innings last Friday vs UAlbany after the Great Danes worked his pitch count up over 80. Against Binghamton, Hilburger allowed two runs (one earned) on two hits, walked one and struck out four over 4.0 innings.
• Ty Davis has shined in his last two starts, setting new career highs in strikeouts in each. He struck out a career-high seven in the effort in 4.0 scoreless innings at Maine before punching out nine over a career-high 6.2 innings last week vs UAlbany. Davis has allowed seven hits, walked nine and struck out 18 in 12.2 innings vs America East foes.
• Bryant will see Dylan Scudder return to the weekend rotation on Sunday. The righty hasn't started each of the last two conference weekends, but did throw 4.2 innings of two-run relief last Sunday vs UAlbany. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits, walked one and struck out three in 4.2 innings vs Binghamton earlier this year.
• The Black and Gold will face a revamped Binghamton rotation this weekend in Vestal. The Bearcats have tinkered with their weekend three, finally settling on the trio of Griffin, Holloway and Mitchell. The first turn through the rotation for this trio came at NJIT and it has helped Binghamton sweep each of the last two series.
• Griffin is one of the premier arms in the league and is sporting a 5.24 ERA in 34.1 innings. He has allowed 27 hits (.223 avg), walked 26 and struck out 37. In league play, Griffin has struck out 20 and allowed just four extra-base hits in 20.0 innings. He allowed three runs on four hits in 4.2 innings vs Bryant but has allowed only two runs in each of his last three starts, striking out at least five in all three. 
• Holloway made seven relief appearances on the year, including a 2.1-inning stint vs Bryant, before he got the call into the rotation against Fairfield. Holloway has responded by throwing at least 4.0 innings and allowing two runs or less in all three starts. He has struck out 13 and walked just one in 13.1 innings. Holloway, just a freshmen, notched a season-high 5.1 innings last week vs UMBC, allowing one run on three hits.
• Mitchell has long been one of the league's top backend arms but has turned himself into one of the league's premier starters in just three short weeks. After not allowing an earned run over his first 14.1 innings, he allowed two runs in an inning of relief to UMass Lowell on Mar. 20. Two weeks later, Mitchell took the mound at NJIT for his first career start and allowed just three runs on two hits over 5.0 innings. Last week vs UMBC, Mitchell struck out seven over 5.0 shutout innings vs UMBC.He has allowed just 13 hits (.138 opp avg), walked eight and struck out 34 in 27.1 innings on the year.

Bryant vs. Binghamton

• Bryant owns a 12-5 lead in the all-time series with Binghamton. The series dates back to 2023, Bryant's first in the America East.
• The Bulldogs have won four of the five regular season series against the Bearcats after taking two-of-three in March at Conaty Park.
• The Bulldogs and Bearcats met in the 2025 America East Championship, with Binghamton earning a 6-5 victory in 11 innings to win the title.
• Bryant is 4-2 against Binghamton in Vestal, sweeping a weekend series in 2025. In that series, Bryant earned 7-6, 12-4 and 6-5 victories. In game two, Bryant scored six times in the eighth and six times in the ninth to erase a 4-0 deficit.

• Bryant took two-of-three at Conaty Park, winning the final two games of the series.
• Binghamton grabbed the opener, 4-3 in 10 innings. The Bearcats tied the game in the top of the seventh and then Jake Dally pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the 8th to keep it tied.
• Back-to-back doubles from Steven Kraus and Sean Sweeney scored the winning run in the 10th. Sweeney, by the way, is hitting .448 (26-58) since that pinch-hit double.
• In game two, Jacob Gaudreau's three-run home run in the fourth gave Bryant the lead and Hunter Kingsbury's fifth-inning single provided insurance as Bryant won 5-3. Aidan Vining threw 4.1 scoreless innings of relief for the Bulldogs.
• On Sunday, Bryant trailed 4-1 in the third but scored the final seven runs. A throwing error on a potential inning-ending double play in the fourth gave Bryant the lead and Justin Dressler, Thomas Galusha and Tommy Flaherty combined for 7.0 innings of scoreless relief.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant enters the weekend at 19-15 overall and 7-5 in America East following a midweek loss to URI.
• The Bulldogs are 5-6 in their last 11 games and will play their next 11 games on the road.
• Bryant has won six of its nine series this season. That includes three-of-four America East series.
• Bryant continues to be one of the best base-stealing teams in the country, entering the weekend with 114 in 34 games. Bryant has stolen 17 bases in the last two games combined and is 44-of-47 in America East play.
• The Bulldogs rank fourth in the nation in stolen bases (114) and third in stolen bases per game (3.35). The national leader is VMI with 152 total and 4.22 per game. The America East record for stolen bases is 145 set by Northeastern in 1991. 
• The Black and Gold feature four players with 10+ stolen bases led by Casey Wensley's 25. Wensley leads the league in stolen bases, with his 25 ranking 11th nationally.  

• Casey Wensley enters the week hitting .356 with 48 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, 26 RBI, 42 runs scored and 25 stolen bases. In league play, he is hitting .395 with 15 walks and 18 runs scored.
• Ellis Garcia hit his third home run in four games on Tuesday and enters the weekend leading the team in average (.357), home runs (8), RBI (30) and OPS (1.119). He ranks first in the league in OPS, first in slugging, second in hits, second in RBI and third in home runs. 
• Hunter Kingsbury has shined in America East play, collecting 14 RBI to tie for the league lead. He has an RBI in all but three of the 12 league games he's played in.
• Mike Fiatarone is just 4-for-16 in league play but has three doubles, three RBI, six runs scored and owns a .520 OBP.

Scouting the Bearcats

• Binghamton is 18-13 overall and 9-3 in league play entering the weekend. The Bearcats have won eight-straight overall and each of their last eight America East games after starting 1-3.
• The Bearcats dropped two-of-three to Bryant and the series opener to UMass Lowell but have not lost a league game since. They have swept NJIT (6-3, 8-6 (11), 5-4) and UMBC (6-5 (10), 4-3, 16-5).
• Binghamton is hitting .265 on the year but that number jumps to a league-best .304 in conference play. The Bearcats own a 4.91 ERA, third-best in America East games.
• Sweeney's surge has led a rejuvenated Binghamton attack that features Matt Bolton (.412, 52B, 23B, 2HR, 14RBI, .500 OBP), Braylen Gonzalez (.354, 16R, .484 OBP), Tim Heining (.350 avg, .490 OBP) and Tommy Popoff (.283, 11 RBI).
• On the mound, Aiden Milburn (1.42 ERA, 12.2IP, 9H, 5BB, 8SO) and Jake Dally (3.24 ERA, 8.1 IP, 6BB, 11SO) have pitched well out of a bullpen that also features former starters Hayden Tarsia, Brady Bouchard and Ryan Bates. Tarsia has made his last four appearances out of the pen, posting seven strikeouts and just one walk in 6.1 innings.