WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - For the fourth time in program history, the William & Mary baseball team has earned in a spot in an NCAA Regional after securing the Colonial Athletic Association's automatic bid after a thrilling ride through the league's tournament. The Tribe will square off with host and No. 1 seed Virginia on Friday, June 3. First pitch between the Tribe and Cavaliers is set for 11 a.m.
 

Game Day Information - Game 59 vs. No. 1 Virginia
When	Friday, June 3, 2016 - 11 AM
Where	Charlottesville, Va.
Venue	Davenport Field
How to Follow	Live Stats | ESPN3
NCAA Bracket	NCAA Bracket
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
Stats	William & Mary | Virginia | CAA
Game Notes	William & Mary | Virginia | CAA
Probable Pitchers (Tribe vs. Opponent)	RHP Daniel Powers vs. TBA
Tickets	VirginiaSports.com  | Tickets

ON TAP
•  For the fourth time in program history, the William & Mary baseball team has earned a spot in an NCAA Regional with a thrilling run through the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament to capture the league's automatic berth.
• The Tribe is playing in its second NCAA Regional in the last four seasons. In 2013, W&M advanced to the Raleigh Regional final, before bowing out to host N.C. State
 
SCOUTING THE CAVALIERS
• The defending National Champion, Virginia hosts a regional for ninth time in the past 13 seasons after posting a 37-20 record this season.
• The Cavaliers boasted a .301 team batting average this season. Matt Thaiss leads the offense, individually, with a .382 batting average adding 12 doubles two triples, 10 homers, and 56 RBI. His homers and RBI lead the team. Pavin Smith is tied for second on the team with Adam Haseley with six homers apiece, while Smith is second on the team with 53 RBI.
• On the mound, the Wahoos have combined for a 4.15 ERA. Haseley anchors the rotation with a 1.73 ERA. Connor Jones leads the teams in innings pitched with 98.1, while he owns an 11-1 record, and a 2.29 ERA. Kevin Doherty has made 26 appearances out of the bullpen, which leads the team, while Alc Bettinger leads the team with seven saves.
• Brian O'Connor is in his 13th season at the helm. He owns a 595-221-2 record with UVA.
 
SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
• Northeast Conference Champion Bryant earned the No. 2 seed after rolling through the season with a 47-10 record.
• As a team the Bulldogs have combined to hit .324. Robby Rinn leads the team with a .378 batting average, adding 25 doubles, four triples, five homers, and 61 RBI. His 61 RBI lead the team as well. Matt Albanese leads the team with 11 homers, while Buck McCarthy and Brandon Bingel are second on the team with eight homers. McCarthy (55) and Albanase (52) are second and third on the team in the RBI category.
• On the hill, Bryant has combined for a 3.09 staff ERA. James Karinchak anchors the rotation with a 2.04 ERA. He has 12 wins, has tossed 88.1 innings, and had 104 strikeouts. Justin Snuder leads the team with 25 appearances and has recorded a team-best 10 saves. He has struck out 53 batters in 45.1 innings. Steven Owens his in his sixth season at the helm of Bryant, which is located in Smithfield, Rhode Island. He is 226-113-1 in his time with Bulldogs, and owns an 813-412-2 record in 25 seasons as a college baseball head coach.
 
SCOUTING THE PIRATES
• East Carolina earned an at-large bid out of the American Athletic Conference after recording a 34-21-1 record this season.
• The Pirates hit .287 as a team during the season. D. Williams-Sutton led the team with a .368 batting average adding 11 doubles, four triples, five homers, and 27 RBI. Williams-Sutton's five homers lead the team, while Eric Tyler and Bryce Harman each have four homers. Tyler leads the Pirates with 34 RBI, while Travis Watkins is second with 32.
• ECU has posted a 3.39 staff ERA this year. Evan Kruczynski anchors the rotation with a 1.99 ERA, a 6-1 record, and 83 strikeouts in 104 innings. Both Sam Lanier and Joe Ingle have made 30 appearances this season to lead the team. Ingle leads the team with 12 saves. He has 66 strikeouts in just 46 innings of work.
• Cliff Godwin in his second season at the helm of East Carolina. He owns a 74-33-1 record during his time in Greenville, N.C.

SERIES HISTORY VERSUS NO. 1 VIRGINIA
• William & Mary will meet host Virginia for the 47th time in series history in the opening game of the Charlottesville Regional. The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 36-8-2, including winning 10 of the last 11 and winning 16-8 at Davenport Field on March 1.
•  In that game, sophomore Ryan Hall and senior Charley Gould both went 2-for-4 in that contest, and each had two RBI. The Tribe slugged 11 hits in the game, but committed a season-high six errors in the setback. 
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS NO. 2 BRYANT
• If the Tribe and Bulldogs were to meet at any point during the Charlottesville Regional, it would be the first meeting in series history.
• This season, W&M is 0-3 when meeting a team for the first time. The Tribe dropped games Oregon State, San Diego, and Cal State Northridge earlier this season.
• Of note, head coach Brian Murphy was an assistant coach at Bryant from 2006-09.
 
SERIES HISTORY VERSUS NO. 3 EAST CAROLINA
• If W&M and East Carolina were to meet in the regional it would match a pair of former CAA rivals against each other.
 Previously, the Tribe and Pirates have 57 times with ECU holding a 49-8 advantage over the Green and Gold.
• The last meeting between the two programs came in 2013 with W&M picking up a 10-4 victory in Greenville.
 
ON DECK
• The Charlottesville Regional continues tomorrow, Saturday June 4 at Davenport Field. The two losers open the action with a 1 p.m. game, before the winner's bracket final at 6 p.m.
 
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
• From the brink of elimination to the elation of a Colonial Athletic Association Championship, senior Josh Smith launched a two-out grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to cap the most improbable of comebacks. His heroics ended a whirlwind 24 hours culminating in the William & Mary baseball team's 14-9 win over league regular season champion UNCW and the program's first CAA Tournament title since 2001. Facing a seven-run, ninth-inning deficit in game one of the CAA Championship on Saturday afternoon, W&M, which had not overcome a ninth-inning deficit all season, rallied to pull even and eventually pick up the win, albeit over a day later after a delay from Tropical Storm Bonnie. Sophomore Cullen Large provided the game one heroics on Sunday with solo home run in the 12th inning. In the final game of the CAA Tourney, the Tribe led throughout, but needed some late inning drama to cement the championship. The Green and Gold also staved off eliminating from the conference championship with four wins following a loss in its opener to Charleston on Thursday.

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
• W&M was well represented on the CAA All-Tournament highlighted by the Most Outstanding Player Josh Smith, who hit .409 (9-for-22) during the event with two doubles, a triple, a homer, and 10 RBI. Joining the senior was joined on the team by junior Charles Ameer, who led the Tribe with a .438 average (7-for-16) with a double, and six RBI, and freshman Hunter Smith, who hit .350 (7for-20) with two doubles and four RBI. The final all-tournament selection was junior righty Daniel Powers, who threw a complete game in the first loser's bracket game for the Tribe.
 
GO FLETCH
• Sophomore reliever Charlie Fletcher appeared in four of the five games of the 2016 Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, including being the winning pitcher of the deciding CAA Championship game. For the tournament, he posted a 3.38 ERA, tossing 5.1 innings with five strikeouts, and limiting hitters to a .188 batting average.
• One of the Tribe's most reliable relievers, Fletcher has appeared in 31 contests, which tied for fourth in single-season school history. The sophomore sidewinder owns a 4.37 ERA, 3-2 record, tossing 35 innings with 26 strikeouts.
 
DANCING PARTNERS
• For the third time in the last four years the CAA has multiple teams participating in NCAA Regionals. Regular season champion UNCW earned an at-large bid to the tournament and are the No. 2 seed in the Columbia Regional. They square off today with third-seeded Duke.
 
PICK SIX
• The William & Mary baseball team had six players pick up seven All-CAA awards announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon.
• Senior Charley Gould, junior Ryder Miconi, and sophomore Ryan Hall highlighted the awards by being named to the CAA Second-Team. Junior Daniel Powers and sophomore Cullen Large were tabbed to the third team. Freshman Bodie Sheehan earned an all-rookie selection, while Miconi picked up an all-academic nod.