Hendricken product Brandyn Durand’s first season as a member of the Bryant baseball team concluded on the NCAA tournament stage last weekend, as the Bulldogs tasted defeat at the hands of North Carolina State and James Madison in regional play.

Transferring from the community college ranks prior to the start of the campaign, the ex-Hawk stood out as one of Bryant’s main power sources at the plate, drilling 11 home runs to finish third on the team behind Carmine Petosa and leader Gavin Noriega.

Durand twice homered in each contest of a three-game set this spring, doing so on the last weekend of April against Pittsburgh and two weeks later versus Maine, helping the Bulldogs take two of three from the Black Bears on the road in the process.

It was not the first time that the sophomore catcher feasted on the Maine pitching staff, as he slammed a solo blast off Gianni Gambardella in Bryant’s America East opener on March 22, which ended with the Bulldogs claiming a 5-4 triumph.

There were also plenty of opportunities for Durand to show off his speed on the basepaths, wrapping up the season with 12 stolen bases to his name, three of which came in a 7-4 victory on March 19 over Sacred Heart.

By making key contributions for the Bryant nine throughout the campaign, the America East Conference tabbed him as one of 11 Bulldogs to earn all-conference honors, picking up a second team nod at designated hitter.

After setting the pace throughout the regular season, Bryant secured the AEC’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament by winning the conference championship, knocking off Maryland-Baltimore County 15-10 in the decider to claim the crown.

Once the Bulldogs descended on Raleigh for the double-elimination regionals, hosts and number-ten national seed North Carolina State laid in wait and meted out a 9-2 defeat on Friday evening to relegate Bryant to the losers’ bracket.

Things got off to a promising start for the Bulldogs in the second inning as Jackson Phinney deposited his eighth home run of the campaign, but the Wolfpack went on to post three runs in the next frame to take the lead and never looked back from there.

The next day, James Madison was the opponent for a win-or-go-home matinee and the Dukes jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, adding additional runs in the sixth and seventh to double its advantage.

Bryant ensured that it would not be blanked in the eighth, as a Gavin Noriega base hit plated Zac Zyons after JMU right fielder Brendan O’Donnell committed an error on the play as a result of his errant throw to the infield.

It proved to be the only run that the Bulldogs would notch on the day, as the Dukes blew proceedings wide open in the bottom half of the inning with a four-spot to close out the scoring, ushering Bryant back home to the Ocean State with an 8-1 decision.

For Durand, it was a frustrating weekend inside the batter’s box as he only managed one hit from his six at-bats, leading off the eighth frame versus James Madison with a single to end his season with a .248 batting average.

RIC baseball honored

Rhode Island College senior designated hitter Cole Podedworny (Wakefield, R.I.) and junior first baseman Daniel Trzepacz (Mount Vernon, N.H.) were named Second Team All-Region 2 by D3baseball.com for their respective performances during the 2024 season.

 Podedworny was previously named ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. III Second Team All-Region 2 and First Team All-Little East. He played in 35 games, starting all of them. Podedworny batted .373 (53-for-142) with 30 runs scored, 53 hits, 12 doubles, one triple, four home runs and 34 RBI. He owned a .556 slugging percentage, a .462 on-base percentage and a 1.000 fielding percentage.

 Trzepacz was previously named ABCA/Rawlings NCAA Div. III Second Team All-Region 2 and Second Team All-Little East. He played in 35 games, starting all of them. Trzepacz batted .359 (52-for-145) with 40 runs scored, 52 hits, 16 doubles, eight home runs, 36 RBI and three stolen bases. He owned a .634 slugging percentage, a .435 on-base percentage and a .988 fielding percentage.

Head Coach Cody Kauffman’s team finished the 2024 season with a 16-19 overall record and a 6-10 (sixth place) mark in the Little East.