CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team will face No. 2-seeded Bryant in elimination game tomorrow, Saturday, June 4. First pitch between the Tribe and the Bulldogs has been moved to a 11 a.m. first pitch because of more inclement weather in Charlottesville.
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 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.
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.
ON DECK
• The winner of today's game will advance to take on the loser of the winner's bracket final between xxxx and No. 1 Virginia. That game will take place on Sunday, June 4 at 1 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.
