SMITHFIELD, R.I. – The Bryant baseball team welcomes UAlbany to Conaty Park for a key America East series beginning Friday afternoon at 3:00 p.m. 

The Particulars
Opponent: UAlbany
Location: Conaty Park (Smithfield, R.I.)
Date and Time: Friday, April 10 - 3:00 p.m. | Saturday, April 11 - 1:00 p.m. | Sunday, April 12 - 1:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Sidearm 
Video: ESPN+ (Friday) | AmericaEast.tv (Saturday & Sunday)
Game Notes: Bryant
Social Media: Facebook | X | Instagram | #AEBASE     

Probable Starting Pitchers 

Thursday - Kaden Hilburger vs Christian Mello
Friday -  Ty Davis vs Dylan Banner
Saturday -  TBA vs Ethan Nardacci

• Bryant will look to get its rotation back in line after a short week forced several changes for the Maine series.
• Kaden Hilburger will make his ninth start of the year on Friday and is 1-1 with a 4.78 ERA in 32.0 innings. He has allowed 27 hits, walked 10 and struck out 24. Hilburger owns a 3.77 ERA in three America East starts. He has allowed seven runs (six earned) on 11 hits over 14.1 innings. Hilburger is coming off a strong start at Maine in which he allowed two runs on three hits over 6.0 innings. He retired 14 of the final 17 batters he faced after a rocky first.
• Bryant has listed its Saturday and Sunday starters as TBA for the second-straight weekend. Owen Birchard and Ty Davis started the final two games of the Maine series. Dylan Scudder could also start after missing his start last weekend in Orono.
• Davis was solid last Saturday, tossing 4.0 scoreless innings despite walking four. He struck out a career-high seven in the effort. Davis has not allowed a hit in two starts against AE foes (6.0 innings).
• UAlbany comes to Conaty Park with one of the most consistent starting rotations in the conference. Christian Mello starts things on Friday, entering the week with a 3.98 ERA in 31.2 innings. He has allowed just 26 hits but has walked 24. Two weeks ago, Mello started both Friday and Sunday in UAlbany's series with NJIT, allowing just two runs on three hits in 5.2 total innings. He has throw 5.0 innings in each of his last two starts against UMBC and UMass Lowell.
• Dylan Banner headlines the rotation as one of the most experienced pitchers in the America East. He was a First Team All-America East selection a season ago after throwing 94.1 innings across 14 starts. This season, he is 1-4 with a 3.83 ERA in 44.2 innings. Banner has allowed 49 hits, walked 11 and struck out 34. In conference play, Banner has a 2.25 ERA and has walked just one batter in 24.0 innings. He has thrown at least 6.0 innings in each of his last five starts, pitching 9.0 innings in two of his last three. He threw a complete game last week against UMass Lowell, allowing just two runs on nine hits. Banner has faced Bryant four times in his career, throwing 22.1 innings (7 BBs, 12 SOs). Last season, Banner pitched eight innings in each of his two starts vs Bryant, allowing two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts at Conaty Park and seven runs on 10 hits with just one strikeout at UAlbany.
• Ethan Nardacci made his first conference start of the season last weekend, tossing 3.2 innings of one-run ball vs UMass Lowell. He didn't walk a batter and struck out five. On the year, Nardacci has struck out 23 and walked just eight in 22.0 innings. He allowed four runs (one earned) on three hits, walked one and struck out three in 4.0 innings against Bryant last season.

Bryant vs. UAlbany

• Bryant is 14-3 all-time against UAlbany. The two teams met eight times in 2025, with the Bulldogs going 5-3.
• The Black and Gold are 7-2 at home against the Great Danes.
• Last season, UAlbany opened the year by taking 2-of-3 at Conaty Park in March. UAlbany won 9-4 in game one and then 13-9 in 14 innings in game two. Bryant claimed the finale, 9-8.
• Bryant went on to sweep the Great Danes in Albany by scores of 7-4, 5-3 and 17-4. 
• The Bulldogs and Great Danes then met in the first round of the America East Tournament, with UAlbany earning an 11-6 victory. 
• Bryant exacted some revenge with an 8-2 victory two days later in an elimination game. 

Around the America East

• The other two America East series this weekend have first-place UMBC facing second-place Binghamton in Vestal, while NJIT heads to Lowell for three with the River Hawks.
• UMBC is 5-1 in league play, while Binghamton is 6-3 and fresh off a sweep of NJIT. 
• Bryant and Maine are tied at 5-4, while UAlbany is 4-5, UML is 3-6 and NJIT is 2-7.

Bulldog Notes and Notables

• Bryant enters the weekend at 17-13 overall following midweek loss to UConn on Tuesday. The Bulldogs have dropped 4-of-5 heading into the series with UAlbany.
• The Bulldogs have struggled on offensive over the last five games, averaging just 2.6 runs per game.
• On the mound, the Bulldogs have walked a combined 33 batters and hit seven others over the last six America East games.
• Bryant ranks in the top 10 nationally in stolen bases per game (2.93). The Bulldogs have 88 stolen bases in 30 games. The school record is 98.
• The Black and Gold feature four players with 10+ stolen bases led by Casey Wensley's 19. Wensley leads the lead in stolen bases and is one shy of becoming just the third different player to steal 20 bases in a season in DI program history. 
• Carl Anderson holds the record with 31 stolen bases in 2014. He also added 20 in 2013, while Kevin Brown swiped 22 in 2013.
• The Bulldogs have gone 10-3 at home this season and are 32-10 at home against America East opponents.  

• Casey Wensley enters the weekend hitting .380 with 46 hits, 10 doubles, five triples, 25 RBI, 39 runs scored and 19 stolen bases. He is hitting a robust .471 with a 1.247 OPS in America East play. Wensley owns a .600 OBP in AE games.
• Hunter Kingsbury has hit safely in each of the last 11 games and comes into the weekend hitting .322 with six doubles, two triples, two home runs, 17 RBI, 18 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. He posted four hits and stole two bases on Tuesday vs UConn.
• Carlos Irizarry had the best week for the Bulldogs last week, going 5-for-9 with a pair of doubles. He's now hitting .333 with six doubles, 16 RBI and 19 runs scored. In league play, he's hitting .321 with a .946 OPS.
• In league play, Thomas Galusha has allowed one run on five hits over 5.2 innings, while Aidan Vining is 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 10.0 relief innings. Sean Zaslaw has posted 11 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work in league play.

Scouting the Great Danes

• UAlbany enters the weekend at 7-18 overall and 4-5 in America East play.
• In league play, the Great Danes won 2-of-3 at NJIT to start the year but were swept at home by UMBC. Last weekend, UAlbany won 2-of-3 against UMass Lowell.
• The Great Danes are hitting .232 but own a team ERA of 5.20. In league play, UAlbany is pitching to a 3.18 ERA.
• Matthew Mariano is a big reason why as the senior righty has posted a 1.89 ERA in 19.0 relief innings in league play. On the year, he's 2-0 with a 1.41 ERA in 38.1 innings.
• Bryant is familiar with Mariano as the righty has faced the Bulldogs six times in his career, including four times last season. He threw 19.1 innings of relief against Bryant last season, walking five and striking out 22.
• Offensively, Levi McAllister is looking to breakout, posting hits in eight of his last 10 including three multi-hit games. McAllister went 10-for-32 with three doubles, three home runs, 15 RBI and a .410 OBP in eight games vs Bryant last season. Over the last two years, McAllister is 14-for-41 vs Bryant.
• Michael Maggio leads the team with a .353 average and 11 stolen bases.