WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – After opening Colonial Athletic Association play on the road, the William & Mary baseball team returns to Plumeri Park for a pair of mid-week games against in-state rivals Norfolk State and Old Dominion on March 28-29.
ON TAP
W&M hosts back-to-back mid-week games against Hampton Roads rivals Norfolk State and Old Dominion on March 28-29. First pitch for both contests is scheduled for 6 p.m. The matchup with NSU is a makeup date after the game was cancelled on March 14 due to inclement weather.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
Norfolk State enters mid-week action riding a five-game winning streak. The Spartans swept a three-game series against Maryland Eastern Shore over the weekend to improve their record to 9-12. NSU is batting .253 as a team. Justin Burell (.342) leads the attack with a team-highs in hits (25), and RBI (15), while tying first in triples (2) and homers (1). The Spartans boast a 3.52 ERA as a team. Devin Hemmerich leads the team with 47 innings and 48 strikeouts. Hemmerich also owns a team-low 2.11 ERA. Claudell Clark is in his 13th season at his alma mater. Clark is 270-322-1 in his tenure.
SCOUTING THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion looks to get back rolling after its nine-game winning streak was snapped in the weekend series finale at UTSA. The Monarchs will enter Williamsburg with a 19-5 mark. As a team, ODU is hitting .285. Vinnie Pasquantino heads the offensive charge with a .384 batting average (33-for-86), adding nine doubles, 15 RBI and a homer. Zach Rutherford is another offensive threat, hitting .359 (33-for-92) to compliment 11 doubles, one triple, one home run and 20 RBI. On the mound, the Monarchs own a 4.00 ERA. Adam Bainbridge paces the pitching staff on 39 innings and 28 K's. Chris Finwood enters his sixth season as head coach at ODU. He holds a 163-142 mark in his tenure.
ON DECK
The Tribe jumps back into CAA action this weekend with a three-game series at Delaware. The series begins on Friday, March 31 at 3 p.m. The series continues on Saturday, April 1 at 1 p.m. and concludes on Sunday, April 2 at 1 p.m.
SERIES HISTORY vs. NORFOLK STATE
The Tribe faces Norfolk State for the 36th time in series history on Tuesday night. It is the first of two meetings this season, as the W&M will visit Marty L. Miller Field on April 12th. The Tribe leads the series 28-7 despite losing in their previous meeting last year. The programs faced each other twice in 2016 and split the series.
SERIES HISTORY vs. OLD DOMINION
W&M squares off against Old Dominion for the 86
th time in school history. The Monarchs lead the all-time series by a 56-29 mark. It will be the first of two meetings this season for the old CAA rivals with the Tribe heading to Norfolk on April 11. Last year, ODU won the sole meeting between the teams, 7-1.
THE CENTURY MARK
Head Coach
Brian Murphy captured his 100th career win during the series finale at UNCW on Sunday. Murphy has compiled a 100-93 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 March 22 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.
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.
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. Senior
Daniel Powers picked up a win and his first career save while not allowing a run in 7.2 innings to garner CAA Pitcher of the Week honors for the Week of March 27. The senior right-hander gave up just four hits over 7.0 shutout innings and struck out a career-high 11 in the Tribe's 7-0 victory over VMI last Wednesday.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
The Tribe has won three-straight games at Plumeri Park and sports a 9-2 home record. Following its pair of home games on March 28-29, the Tribe start a four-game road stretch and won't play in Williamsburg until April 7. W&M has won five of its 11 home contests by seven runs or more. On the other hand, the Green and Gold are 1-8 in true road games.
COMMONWEALTH CLASH
W&M squares off from another school from the Commonwealth 14 times in 2017. The Tribe plays Virginia (L, 3-11), VMI (3/1 Postponed; W, 7-0), Virginia Tech (W, 19-10; L, 3-2), Norfolk State (3/28, 4/12), Old Dominion (3/29, 4/11), VCU (4/4), Richmond (4/18), James Madison (4/21-23) and George Mason (4/26). Currently, the Tribe is 2-2 against state rivals this season.
