WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William and Mary baseball team begins its 2016 CAA championship title defense on Friday as the Tribe opens conference play with a three-game series at preseason favorite UNCW this weekend.
ON TAP
William & Mary opens Colonial Athletic Association play on the road with a three-game series at UNCW. The series begins on Friday, March 24 at 6 p.m. The series continues on Saturday, March 25 at 2 p.m. and concludes on Sunday, March 26 at 2 p.m. The Tribe is seeking to put together a win streak after blanking VMI, 7-0, at home on Wednesday evening. W&M also hopes to claim its first few road wins as the team is 0-6 this year in true road contest.
SCOUTING THE SEAHAWKS
UNCW are starting to click as the team posted a five-game winning streak, before splitting a pair of mid-week games against Big Ten representative Maryland. The Seahawks were on an eight-game slump, before the recent win streak moved their record to 9-10. UNCW is batting .261 as a team. Ryan Jeffers is leading the offense with a .348 batting average (23-for-66), team-high seven home runs and 15 RBI. Brian Mims (.338) ranks first on the team with 25 hits, adding 11 RBI, five doubles and two home runs. On the mound, the Seahawks own a 4.77 ERA. Alex Royal, who will start Friday, paces the pitching staff with 29.0 innings and 25 strikeouts. Mark Scalf is in his 26
th season at UNCW. He has an 857-643-1 mark during his tenure.
SERIES HISTORY
W&M and UNCW square off for the 107
th time in series history on Friday. The Seahawks own the all-time series lead 78-27, but the Tribe won their previous two meetings in the CAA title round to capture the conference crown. The Seahawks have swept the regular season series in the past two years.
ON DECK
The Green and Gold returns to the comfy confines of Plumeri Park for back-to-back mid-week games against Hampton Road rivals Norfolk State and Old Dominion on March 28-29. First Pitch for both games are scheduled for 6:00 p.m. After mid-week action, the Tribe jumps back into CAA play with a three-game weekend series at Delaware starting on Friday, March 31.
THE CENTURY MARK
Head Coach
Brian Murphy is just one victory away from capturing his 100th career win at the helm of William & Mary. Murphy has compiled a 99-91 record in the midst of his fourth season as head coach. He guided the program to its first Colonial Athletic Association Championship since 2001 and made an NCAA Regional Final Appearance last year. Murphy's other accolades include 2014 CAA Coach of the Year and 2016 VaSID Coach of the year.
THROWING GOOSE EGGS
A trio of
Daniel Powers,
Jamie Sara and
Chase Bailey led the Tribe pitching staff to its second shutout win of the season by blanking VMI, 7-0, on Wednesday evening at Plumeri Park. In seven innings of work, Powers fanned a career-best 11 batters and surrendered just four hits. Sara (one strikeout) and Bailey (three strikeouts) each pitched an inning to keep the Keydets of the scoreboard. The Tribe notched its first shutout win of the season with another 7-0 victory against Dayton on March 4. Sophomore pitcher
Bodie Sheehan posted a career-high 11 strikeouts in 7.2 innings and redshirt freshman
Chris Farrell tossed 1.1 innings of solid relief to preserve the goose egg win.
HALL PASS
Junior
Ryan Hall has been on a rampage after registering a career day in the series lid-lifter against Rhode Island on March 17. The Preseason All-CAA honoree tied for second most hits in single-game school history by finishing 5-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored, carrying the Tribe to a 11-2 victory. Hall now owns a team-best .406 batting average to go along with 28 hits, 14 RBI, six doubles and a pair of home runs. The Richmond, Va., native is riding a seven-game hitting streak, two of which were multiple hit performance.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Tribe improved its home record to 9-2 following a 7-0 triumph over in-state rival VMI on Wednesday night. W&M has now won five of its 11 home contests by seven runs or more. On the other hand, the Green and Gold are 0-6 in true road games.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Freshman
Brandon Raquet burst onto the scene during opening weekend at No. 2 Florida to earn CAA Rookie of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 20. Raquet hit .333 (4-for-12), including homer in his first career at-bat. He collected a hit in all three games, drove in two, and scored three times.
Patrick Ryan collected the Tribe's second consecutive CAA Rookie of the Week award for the week of Feb. 27. Ryan batted .444 (4-for-9) with four runs and four RBIs to help the Tribe sweep its home opening series against Lafafyette. Sophomore
Bodie Sheehan garnered CAA Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of for the week of March 6, making the third weekly award of the season for W&M. Sheehan carried the Tribe to its only shutout win of the season against Dayton. He fanned a career-high 11 batter and allowed just three hits in 7.2 inning of work.
LARGE AND IN CHARGE
Junior
Cullen Large is picking up where he left off of in 2016. The Chesterfield, Va. native is hitting .386 with nine doubles, two triple, two homers, and 22 RBI.
Large opened the 2017 season on a torrid start by registering the longest hitting streak among active players at 16 games hitting. The hitting streak was recently broken up on Tuesday at Virginia Tech.
