WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary baseball team starts the mid-week portion of its 2016 schedule with a pair of games this week. The Tribe travels to Liberty for a game on Tuesday, Feb. 23, before returning to the friendly confines of Plumeri Park fo a game on Wednesday, Feb. 24. First pitch for Tuesday game is set for 3 p.m., while Wednesday home opener will be at 4 p.m.

TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach Brian Murphy to discuss the series victory at Charlotte, the team's starting pitching, and the beginning of mid-week play. The video feature is available through the above link or by clicking here.
 

Game Day Information - Game 4 & 5 - at Liberty | George Mason
When	Tuesday, Feb. 23 - 3 p.m. | Wednesday, Feb. 24 - 4 p.m.
Where	Lynchburg, Va. | Williamsburg, Va.
Venue	Liberty Baseball Stadium | Plumeri Park
How to Follow	Tuesday - Live Stats | Live Audio Wednesday - Live Stats | Live Audio
Social Media	Tribe Baseball Facebook | Tribe Baseball Twitter Tribe Baseball Instagram | Tribe Athletics Instagram Tribe Athletics Facebook | Tribe Athletics Twitter Tribe Game Day Twitter | #RisingTribe
2016 Stats	William & Mary | Liberty | George Mason | CAA
Game Notes	William & Mary | Liberty | George Mason
Probable Pitchers (W&M vs. Opponent)	Tuesday - LHP Bodie Sheehan vs. RHP Zander Clouse Wednesday - TBA vs. TBA
Tickets	LibertyFlames.com | Tickets TribeAthletics.com | Tickets

ON DECK
The William & Mary baseball team looks to keep its two-game winning streak alive as they open up mid-week play with two in-state rivals this week. The Tribe travels to Liberty for a game on Tuesday, Feb. 23, before opening up the home portion of the schedule against George Mason on Wednesday, Feb. 24. First pitches are set for 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., respectively. The Green and Gold battled back to win the series against Charlotte after dropping the series opener. W&M picked up 5-1 and 11-0 victories after suffering a 7-3 setback on Opening Day.
 
SERIES HISTORY
William & Mary and Liberty meet for the 44th time in series history and for the first of two meetings in 2016 on Tuesday afternoon. The Tribe leads the all-time series 23-20, but this will be the first meeting since the 2013 campaign. That season, the teams split the series with each team winning on the other's home field. Tribe senior pitchers Mitchell Aker and Joseph Gaouette are the only two active players with experience against the Flames. Each pitched 1.1 scoreless innings with a strikeout as freshman, while Aker picked up a save in the Green and Gold's victory. The College will also welcome George Mason to Plumeri Park this week for the home opener. It will be the 84th meeting between the two programs with Mason leading the series 55-28. However, the last series between the two former CAA rivals in 2013 was won by the Tribe two games to one. Seniors Charley Gould, Mitchell Aker, and Joseph Gaouette are the only Tribe players with experience against the Patriots. Gould is 0-for-2, while Aker and Gaouette each have an inning pitched against GMU.

SCOUTING THE FLAMES
Liberty looks to get back into the win column after dropping the final game of a three-game set at South Florida as they host the Tribe in their home opener. The Flames picked up a win (4-0) and suffered a pair of narrow (11-10, 6-5) losses against South Florida. Through the first weekend the team has a .240 batting average. D.J. Artis leads the offense with a .500 (6-for-12) batting average. Andre Yacyk leads the team with six RBI and two homers, while Arits has a homer and four RBI. On the mound, the Flames posted a 5.96 ERA over their opening weekend. Only three pitchers have pitched more than three innings, but they have already used 14 pitchers. Jack DeGroat has a win and a 0.00 ERA, while only allowing two hits, and four strikeouts. Head Coach Jim Toman is in his ninth season at the helm of the Flames. He has posted a 298-180 record during his tenure.

SCOUTING THE PATRIOTS
George Mason comes to Williamsburg looking for its first victory of the season on Wednesday afternoon. The Patriots lost three games, including a 8-6 setback to No. 25 Kentucky, in a tournament in Spartanburg, S.C.  The team hit .216 (22-for-102) in its three games last weekend. Brady Aker leads the team with a .400 batting average (4-for-10). Kent Blackstone leads the team with four RBI, while Blackstone, Acker, and Timothy Turner have each hit one homer. On the mound, the Patriots posted a 7.56 ERA over last weekend. Zach Mort led the team with a 0.00 ERA over 2.1 of innings with a strikeout. Joe Williams leads the team with four strikeouts, and GMU has already used 13 pitchers. Bill Brown is in 35th season as the head coach at Mason, and in his 39th season involved with program. He is 952-850-7 at the helm of his alma mater.

ON DECK
This weekend, W&M will host Holy Cross in a three-game series at Plumeri Park. The series runs from Friday, Feb. 26 through Sunday, Feb. 28. The series lid-lifter is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first pitch. Following the four-game homestand, W&M hits the road for 12 of its next 13 games, including a nine-game road swing, which starts at defending national champion Virginia on Tuesday, March 1. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.

START ME UP
The Tribe offense wasted little time getting runs on the board over the weekend. W&M scratched across, at least, one first inning run in all three games. Last season, W&M scored, at least, one first inning run in 19 of the 52 games posting a 13-6 record when they scored in the first inning.

AN ACE IN AKER
Senior Mitchell Aker turned in one of his best starts of his career in his first start of the 2016 season. Aker turned in 6.1 innings allowing only an unearned run. He added two strikeouts on the day.

POWERED BY POWERS
Not to be outdone, junior Daniel Powers had the best start of his Tribe career in his first start of the year. He pitched seven scoreless innings, scattering just seven hits, and punching out three. The bullpen pitched the final two scoreless innings as the Vienna, Va. native was part of the first shutout since the final day of the 2014 regular season.
 
MESS WITH THE BULL YOU GET THE 'PEN
Potentially one of the strongest assets of this year's Tribe team, the bullpen, lived up to the hype over the first weekend of the season. It combined to pitch 6.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Seniors Andrew White (2.0 innings) and Joseph Gaouette (1.1 innings) as well as sophomore Robert White (1.1 innings) have pitched more than an inning, while Gaouette has the only save.

BE A DUDE
For the fourth consecutive season, the William & Mary coaching staff will be giving out the "Be A Dude" Award for the Tribe player with the most two-out RBI over the course of the season. So far this season the Tribe has seven two-out RBI. Freshman Hunter Smith leads the team with two, two-out RBI, while five other players have one, two-out RBI.
 
COMMONWEALTH CHALLENGE
Once again the 2016 schedule is loaded with games against competition from the Commonwealth of Virginia. This year, W&M plays 14 games from teams the Old Dominion. The Tribe squares off with Liberty (2/23, 4/27), George Mason (2/24), Virginia (3/1), Norfolk State (3/15, 4/19), Richmond (3/22), Virginia Tech (4/5), Old Dominion (4/6, 4/12), VCU (4/13), and James Madison (4/15-17).
 
STRIKING OUT CANCER
For the second straight year, the Tribe baseball program has joined forces with the Vs. Cancer Foundation in the hopes of raising money towards defeating childhood cancer. This year W&M is asking for supporters to donate money for each strikeout recorded by the Tribe pitching staff. The pitching staff has already recorded 10 strikeouts. Last season, the team participated in a fundraising campaign during the fall season and raised more than $6000.
 
AS GOOD AS GOULD
Senior Charley Gould has already been tabbed with some lofty preseason accolades. The senior was named a Preseason Louisville Slugger Third-Team All-American by the Collegiate Baseball newspaper. The Lake Forest, Ill. native has also been named the Colonial Athletic Association Preseason Player of the Year by a vote of the league head coaches, D1Baseball.com, and Perfect Game Magazine.