WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary baseball team continues its seven-game homestand and Colonial Athletic Association play as it welcomes Hofstra to Plumeri Park for a three-game series. The set gets underway on Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m., continues on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m., before concluding on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head coach
Brian Murphy to discuss the win over Richmond on Tuesday,
Cullen Large's clutch RBIs, and the upcoming CAA series against Hofstra. The video feature is available through the above link, or by clicking
here.
Prior to Saturday's game their will be a pregame Easter Egg Hunt at Plumeri Park. The festivities get underway at 3 p.m., and the hunt will take place on the grass inside of Plumeri Park. Also Saturday's game will be streamed live and for FREE on TribeAthleticsTV.
ON TAP The William & Mary baseball team continues its seven-game homestand as they continue Colonial Athletic Association play with a three-game series against Hofstra. The series opens on Friday, March 25 at 6 p.m., before it continues on Saturday, March 26 at 4 p.m., and then it concludes on Sunday, March 27 at 1 p.m.
The Green and Gold is looking to equal its season-longest winning streak of three with a win in the series opener.
SERIES HISTORY William & Mary and Hofstra meet for the 35th-37th times this weekend at Plumeri Park.
The Tribe holds a 22-12 advantage in the all-time series, including taking the series at Hofstra two games to one last season.
Last season in the Hofstra series, sophomore
Cullen Large led the Tribe hitting .571 (8-for-14) with a double, triple, and seven RBI. Senior
Josh Smith also had a strong weekend, hitting .500 (7-for-14) with seven runs scored, six doubles, and nine RBI.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE Hofstra opens conference play this weekend and is looking to snap a six-game losing streak as they trek to Williamsburg this weekend. The Pride has posted a 5-16 record, playing a very tough non-conference slate.
The team has combined for a .244 batting average so far this season. Kevin O'Connor leads the team with a .370 batting average (10-for-27), but he has only appeared in 14 games. He has added two doubles and four RBI. Mat Annunziata leads the team with 16 RBI, while Nick Bottari leads the Pride with three homers and 15 RBI. Brad Witkowski (11) and David Leiderman (10) have also driven in double-digit runs.
The Pride pitching staff has combined for a 5.41 team ERA, led by a strong weekend rotation pitching. Bowie Matteson (Sunday's starter) leads the team with a 2.57 ERA and has a 1-2 record. He's tossed 28 innings with 20 strikeouts. Andrew Mundy, John Rooney, Dave Jesch, and Adam Heidenfelder lead the staff with eight appearances apiece. John Rooney leads the team with 23 K's, while Teddy Cillis has recorded the team's only save.
John Russo is in his fourth season leading the Hofstra baseball program. He owns a 104-118 record during his tenure on Long Island.
ON DECK The Tribe doesn't play in the mid-week next week, but will host a three-game non-conference series with Big East foe Georgetown starting on Friday, April 1.
After closing the homestand, W&M hits the road for a pair of mid-week contests. The Tribe travels to Virginia Tech on Tuesday, April 5, before heading to Old Dominion on Wednesday, April 6.
GETTING ON BASE Senior
Charley Gould has reached base safely in all 21 games this season for the Green and Gold to lead the team in that category. Junior
Ryder Miconi is just off the pace reaching safely in 17 contests.
Senior
Josh Smith (18), freshman
Kyle Wrighte (12 active), and junior
Charles Ameer (10) have all strung together double-digit on-base streaks.
GRAND OLE TIME Sophomore
Cullen Large launched his - and William & Mary's - first grand-slam of the season against Richmond March 22.
Last season the Tribe combined for three grand-slam homers.
WEEKLY AWARDS Senior
Charley Gould was selected as the CAA Player of the Week for the week of March 21, becoming W&M's first weekly award winner. Gould batted .500 (9-for-18) with three doubles, two homers, seven runs scored and nine RBI's in William & Mary's 3-1 week, that included a conference series win at Elon.
SMOOTH RYDER Junior
Ryder Miconi has provided a sturdy bat at the DH spot for the Tribe. He leads the team with a .379 batting average (22-for-58) with five doubles, a triple, two homers, and 10 RBI.
He has reached base safely in his last 17 games.
His best week of the season came last week when he hit .529 (9-for-17).
INSTANT IMPACT Freshmen
Jason Waldman,
Kyle Wrighte, and
Hunter Smith played a vital role in the Tribe's series clinching win at Elon on Sunday afternoon. The trio combined to go 8-for-12 with five RBI in the win.
Seven freshmen have appeared in the batting lineup at one point this season combing for more than 55 hits.
On the mound, three more freshmen have appeared, including
Bodie Sheehan, who has started all of the Tribe's mid-week games.
HOME COOKING W&M is off to a 5-0 start at Plumeri Park, but the wins aren't the only thing piling up at home this season. The offensive production has been very solid as well.
As a team, the Tribe is hitting .321. They have scored 48 runs on 53 hits.
Per game, W&M is averaging 9.6 runs and 10.6 hits at Plumeri Park.
DOUBLE-DIGIT RUNS The Tribe has already had seven games this season where they have scored 10, or more, runs including four of the last five games. So far this season, W&M is 7-0 when they score in double-digits.
Last season, the College had 11 games where they scored 10, or more, times going 7-2.
LARGE AND IN CHARGE Sophomore
Cullen Large had two of the three four-RBI games for the Tribe this season. He launched the team's first grand-slam homer in the 12-8 victory over Richmond on March 22.
For the season, the Chesterfield, Va. native is batting .305 (25-for-82) with three doubles, three homers, and a team-high 20 RBI, 16 of which have come with two-outs.
