re: Baton Rouge Regional Preview: LSU, Houston, Bryant, & Southeastern LA

Bryant Bulldogs
History: 2nd regional app (last 2013)
Record: 42-14
Conference: 19-5, 1st Northeast Conference – won NEC tourney auto-bid
Non-Conf: 20-9
Home: 12-5
Away: 24-8
Neutral: 6-1

Record vs. RPI: (LSU numbers in parentheses)
Team RPI: 43 (9)
vs Top 25: 0-3 (6-8)
vs Top 50: 0-3 (14-11)
vs Top 100: 1-5 (23-12-1)


Team Overview:
Bryant is a school that is only been competing in baseball at the Division I level for the 6th season, yet already is making its 2nd appearance in an NCAA regional. In 2009, the Bulldogs became a D1 independent winning 32 games in its first season. Starting with the 2010 season, Coach Steve Owens took the wheel as the team joined the Northeast Conference for the first time. Since then, the Dogs have won the NEC regular season title in 4 of 5 seasons in the league. They were finally able to break through in the conference tournament in 2013 earning an automatic bid for the school’s first NCAA postseason appearance. Bryant made its presence known by beating Jalen Beeks and Arkansas in the first round of the Regional before dropping the next two games. This 2014 club returned 4 of the top 6 hitters and 3 of its main 5 pitchers.

Team Stat Comparison (LSU in parentheses)
Runs/game scored: 6.8 (6.4)
Runs/game allowed: 3.5 (2.7)
Team ERA: 2.93 (2.42)
Team BA: .304 (.286)
Team Fielding %: .968 (.975)

Common Opponents: None


Starting Pitching:
While the offense is the main strength, the starting pitchers are the leaders of this team. The rotation consists of 2 seniors and a junior who each has NCAA postseason experience and improved upon last year’s overall results. Kevin McAvoy has been the Friday night guy most of back half of the season. McAvoy is a sinker baller who sits in the low 90s while mixing in his slider. The guy who spent the early part of the year as the Friday night guy is Craig Schlitter, and he has the strongest statistics of the staff. Schlitter has excellent command of his upper 80’s fastball as well as his curve and change which he can throw for strikes in any count. Coming on strong is senior Vaughn Hayward. The Holy Cross transfer has earned his way into a major role on this Bulldog club winning 9 games this season, including the NEC Championship game last weekend. Hayward’s 4 seam fastball has touched 95mph on a couple of occasions but he will typically sit 90 to 92mph. He will mix in a cut fastball as well as a changeup and a curve. This staff is 5th ranked in the nation with 12 shutouts on the season.


Projected Pitching Rotation:
Game 1: Jr. RHP Kevin McAvoy (9-2, 2.81 ERA, 93.0 IP, 74 H, 29 ER, 25 BB, 88 K, .217 OBA, 1.06 WHIP)
Game 2: Sr. RHP Craig Schlitter (10-1, 1.95 ERA, 87.2 IP, 71 H, 19 ER, 17 BB, 69 K, .216 OBA, 1.00 WHIP)
Game 3: Sr. RHP Vaughn Hayward (9-2, 2.41 ERA, 71.0 IP, 63 H, 19 ER, 23 BB, 47 K, .236 OBA, 1.21 WHIP)


Relief Pitching:
The bullpen is the biggest weakness on this team as with many mid-majors. The 4 starting pitchers’ records combine for 30-6, leaving the bullpen with just a 12-8 record on the year. Interestingly, every pitcher on the staff but 1 has allowed fewer hits than innings pitched, and their 7.41 hits allowed/9 ranks 11th in the nation. Two guys stand out in the pen and those arms are southpaws Jonathan Cohen and Trevor Lacosse, who combine for 40 appearances and 10 saves.

Top Bullpen Arms:
Sr. LHP Jonathan Cohen (19 app, 1-0, 1 save, 2.53 ERA, 32.0 IP, 27 H, 9 ER, 7 BB, 19 K, .223 OBA, 1.06 WHIP)
Jr. LHP Trevor Lacosse (21 app, 4-3, 8 saves, 2.94 ERA, 33.2 IP, 28 H, 11 ER, 11 BB, 39 K, .228 OBA, 1.16 WHIP)
Fr. LHP Jack Patterson (10 app, 3-0, 3.41 ERA, 34.1 IP, 27 H, 13 ER, 18 BB, 35 K, .223 OBA, 1.31 WHIP)
So. RHP James Davitt (1 app, 1-1, 3.66 ERA, 19.2 IP, 16 H, 8 ER, 7 BB, 17 K, .222 OBA, 1.17 WHIP)

Bryant Offense:
The Dogs are in the top 25 in the country in 9 offensive categories including batting average, doubles, home runs, OBP, SLG%, runs scored, HBP, sac flies, and SB’s. You can tell from the stats below that 8 of the 9 every day starters are batting over .300 on the year. This team lead the Northeast Conference in 11 of 13 offensive categories, finishing 2nd and 4th in the other two. These guys do not strike out a lot and their BABIP is a high .330 as a team (LSU’s is .307). The Bulldogs rank 8th in the country in stolen bases and the leader is Carl Anderson with 29 steals in 32 tries.

Bryant Projected Lineup:
1) RF Jordan Mountford (.313 avg, 7 2B, 4 HR, 25 RBI, 19 R, 13 BB, 23 K, 8-8 SB)
2) DH AJ Zarozny (.398 avg, 6 2B, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 23 R, 6 BB, 8 K, 7-10 SB)
3) CF Carl Anderson (.316 avg, 10 2B, 3 3B, 7 HR, 40 RBI, 48 R, 22 BB, 23 K, 29-32 SB)
4) 3B John Mullen (.301 avg, 10 2B, 4 HR, 36 RBI, 31 R, 18 BB, 26 K, 15-19 SB)
5) 1B Robby Rinn (.309 avg, 13 2B, 3B, 2 HR, 36 RBI, 37 R, 30 BB, 13 K, 0-0 SB)
6) C Buck McCarthy (.353 avg, 13 2B, 4 HR, 29 RBI, 30 R, 20 BB, 29 K, 2-3 SB)
7) LF Matt Albanese (.329 avg, 16 2B, 4 3B, 2 HR, 36 RBI, 52 R, 20 BB, 21 K, 11-14 SB)
8) 2B Cole Fabio (.340 avg, 3 2B, HR, 16 RBI, 21 R, 17 BB, 19 K, 12-15 SB)
9) SS Dan Celluci (.243 avg, 11 2B, 2 HR, 27 RBI, 26 R, 17 BB, 25 K, 1-1 SB)

Other Contributors:
C/1B Tom Gavitt (.325 avg, 8 2B, 4 3B, 6 HR, 29 RBI, 31 R, 8 BB, 10 K, 0-2 SB)
INF Brandon Bingel (.241 avg, 3 2B, HR, 18 RBI, 17 R, 12 BB, 11 K, 0-0 SB)
OF Daniel St. George (.292 avg, 7 2B, 3B, HR, 13 RBI, 21 R, 12 BB, 19 K, 5-6 SB)

Defense:
Bryant is fielding .968 as a team ranking 128th in the nation. Middle infielders Celluci and Fabio have combined for only 17 errors this season, and the team’s 53 double plays also ranks 53rd in country. Catchers McCarthy and Gavitt have each thrown out 37% (both exactly 10/27) of base stealers from behind the dish.

Season Stats
Roster
Schedule (via Warren Nolan)



continued in next post…