SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant baseball team heads to New Jersey for a three-game series with NJIT beginning on Friday night at Yogi Berra Stadium.

The Particulars
Opponent: NJIT
Location: Yogi Berra Stadium (Little Falls, N.J.)
Date and Time: Friday, May 1 - 6:00 p.m. | Saturday, May 2 - 6:00 p.m. | Sunday, May 3 - 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Sidearm 
Video: AmericaEast.tv 
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEBASE

Probable Starting Pitchers 

Friday - Kaden Hilburger vs Josh Willitts
Saturday -  Ty Davis vs Mark Scamardella
Sunday -  TBD vs Brandon Peterson

• Kaden Hilburger will make his 12th start of the year on Friday and is 2-2 with a 4.91 ERA in 51.1 innings. He has allowed 47 hits, walked 15 and struck out 35. Hilburger owns a 4.54 ERA in six America East starts. He threw his first-career complete game two weeks ago at Binghamton and followed that up with 8.0 innings last week at UML. He is first pitcher since Tyler Horvat in 2024 to post back-to-back outings of 8.0+ innings. Hilburger allowed three runs on six hits over 4.1 innings in his first start vs NJIT.
• Ty Davis will make his sixth-straight conference start and has posted a 5.40 ERA in 21.2 innings. Davis worked around five walks last Saturday at UML, allowing just two runs on four hits. Outside of hs outing at Binghamton, Davis has allowed three runs or less in four of his five conference starts. Davis walked four, struck out two and allowed one run without allowing a hit in 2.0 innings vs NJIT.
• Bryant's game three starter is listed as TBD. For the last two weeks, Cole Schiff has served as an opener of sorts, combining to allow two runs on four hits over 5.1 innings. He tossed 2.1 scoreless against Binghamton and followed that with a season-high 3.0 innings at UML last Sunday. He allowed two runs on three hits. 
• NJIT's rotation enjoyed a solid series at UAlbany last weekend and has show signs of being one of the best in the America East. Willits is 1-6 with a 5.17 ERA in 11 starts, having struck out 44 in 54.0 innings. He has walked 16 and struck out 27 in 32.2 innings of America East work. Willitts allowed six runs on eight hits, walked five and struck out three in 4.0 innings at UAlbany. He allowed three runs on six hits in 4.2 innings vs the Bulldogs earlier this year. 
• Mark Scamardella, a 2024 Bryant grad, has continued to put the finishing touches on a remarkable career this season. He is 3-2 with a 3.71 ERA overall and 1-0 with a 2.52 ERA in league play. Scamardella has struck out a league-leading 56 batters and opponents are hitting just .231 against him. He is coming off the best outing of his collegiate career at UAlbany, where he struck out seven and allowed just four hits over 8.0 shutout innings. Scamardella allowed four runs on seven hits, walked one and struck out four in his first outing against the Bulldogs.
• Brandon Peterson returned to the weekend rotation last weekend, delivering 6.0 shutout innings. The veteran righty had missed time with injuries, he didnt pitch in the first series with Bryant, and had made three long relief outings before getting the nod vs the Great Danes. On the year, Peterson is 1-2 with a 3.18 ERA, 18 walks and 21 strikeouts in 28.1 innings. Peterson has faced Bryant five times in his career.

Bryant vs. NJIT

• Bryant is 10-6 all-time against NJIT after taking 2-of-3 from the Highlanders at Conaty Park in March.
• The Bulldogs are 7-2 in three home series vs the Highlanders but just 2-4 in two road series. 
• Bryant's last trip to Yogi Berra Stadium came in 2024, with NJIT taking 2-of-3. The Bulldogs won the opener, 11-0, but the Highlanders swept a Saturday doubleheader with a pair of walk-off victories.

First Series at Conaty Park

• Bryant took two-of-three at Conaty Park at the end March, sweeping a Sunday doubleheader to take the series.
• The Bulldogs scored three times in the bottom of the eighth to take a 9-6 lead only for NJIT to score six times in the top of the ninth to make it 12-9. Bryant would score once and had the bases loaded before a ground out ended the rally.
• On Sunday, Bryant scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to take a 7-5 lead in a seven-inning contest. Hunter Kingsbury delivered the decisive two-run single.
• In the series finale, NJIT scored five times in the top of the eighth to take a 9-5 lead only to have Bryant score eight times in the bottom of the eighth to retake the lead in a wild 13-9 victory. Charlie Saul's three-run triple gave Bryant the lead for good.
• Casey Wensley went 10-for-15 with five RBI and eight runs scored, while Hunter Kingsbury finished with seven RBI.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant enters the weekend at 22-19 overall following a 7-6 loss in 10 innings against Holy Cross on Wednesday night.
• The Bulldogs are 8-11 in their last 19 games and are in the midst of an 11-game road trip. Bryant is 3-4 on the road trip.
• Bryant has won seven of its 11 series this season. That includes four-of-six America East series. The Black and Gold swept UMass Lowell last weekend in Lowell.
• Bryant continues to be one of the best base-stealing teams in the country, entering the week with 124 in 41 games.
• The Bulldogs rank ninth in the nation in stolen bases (124) and sixth in stolen bases per game (3.02). The national leader is VMI with 162 total and 3.77 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 27. Hunter Kingsbury (17), Gavin Greger (17) and Charlie Saul (15) all have 15+ stolen bases.  

• Ellis Garcia enters the weekend leading the team with a .358 average, 11 home runs, 39 RBI, a 468 OBP and a 1.163 OPS. He ranks third in the league in average, first in slug, first in OPS, t-1st in hits, third in RBI, seventh in doubles, second in triples, t-2nd in home runs and fifth in walks. 
• Garcia has hit six home runs in the last 11 games and is hitting 39-104 with six doubles, three triples, nine home runs, 31 RBI and 22 runs scored in the last 28 games. 
• Casey Wensley is hitting .340 with a team-leading 12 doubles, five triples, 29 RBI, 51 runs scored and a .434 OBP. 
• Charlie Saul ranks second on the team with 33 RBI. He has seven RBI in his last six games.
• Carlos Irizarry continued his solid season with three hits on Wednesday at Holy Cross. He's hitting .325 with nine doubles, 23 RBI and 29 runs scored.
• Gavin Greger tied his career high with four hits at Holy Cross and is now hitting a career-high .285. Greger has also set career highs in walks (22), stolen bases (17) and his .379 OBP is 50 points higher than his career average entering the season.
• Thomas Galusha has posted a 1.86 ERA in league play after tossing 3.0 perfect innings last week vs UML.
• Sean Zaslaw's America East numbers include 19 strikeouts and just four walks in 13.2 innings.

Scouting the Highlanders

• NJIT is 14-24-1 overall and 5-13 in America East play entering the weekend. The Highlanders played to an 11-11 tie after its Wednesday night game with FDU was called after 15 innings.
• The Highlanders are hitting just .248 but lead the league with a 5.23 ERA. In league play, NJIT pitches to a 5.76 ERA.
• Austin Francis is hitting .289 with 30 runs scored, while Ty Sallie has 35 runs scored and 18 stolen bases.
• Lorenzo Camilleri has posted seven doubles and six home runs. He went 7-for-11 with two home runs and eight RBI in the first series against Bryant. After homering once in his first 17 games, he has homered five times in his last 20 games.
• Becker Sybirski (0-1, 1 sv, 1.96 ERA, 18.1IP, 5R, 7BB, 9SO) has been the teams top reliever in league play. Anthony Anzaldi is one of the league's premier left handers and has righted the ship the last three weeks, posting 9.2 shutout innings over his last three outings. He has struck out 10 and walked just one in that span.