WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William & Mary baseball team will host a three-game weekend, starting with Saint Joseph's on Friday and then two games against Yale held on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch against the Hawks is set for 6 p.m., while the game times for Yale are 4 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday.
On Tap
After splitting its mid-week games against power five conference representatives Maryland and Virginia Tech, the William & Mary baseball team will continue an eight-game homestead with three contest this weekend. W&M hosts Saint Joseph's on Friday at 6 p.m. and then Yale on Saturday (4 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) The Tribe enter the weekend looking to defend a four-game home winning streak.
Scouting the Hawks
Saint Joseph's enters the weekend still looking for its first win after getting off to a 0-10 start. As a team, the Hawks are batting .232. Deon Stafford, Jr., leads their lineup with a .314 batting average (11-for-35). Stafford also paces the team in hits (11), ties first in doubles (three) and ranks third in RBI (six). SJU sports an 8.60 ERA as a team. Friday's starter Tim Brennan will make his third start of the season. In 15.0 innings of work, he has tallied 11 strikeouts and 14 earned runs on 21 hits. Fritz Hamburg is in his ninth season at Saint Joseph's
Scouting the Bulldogs
Yale hopes to reach .500 this weekend with just five games under its belt this year. The Bulldogs will come into Plumeri Park with a 2-3 record and will look for their second straight win against Saint Joseph on Saturday at noon, before taking on the Tribe at 4 p.m. As a team, the Bulldogs are hitting a respective .302. Alec Hoeschel leads the way with a .350 batting (7-for-20), adding four RBI and a home run. Richard Slenker is hitting .316 (6-for-19) and Griffin Dey paces the squad with three home runs. On the mound, the Bulldogs own a 5.40 team ERA. Tyler Duncan will notch his second start against W&M on Saturday. Duncan has tossed 5.2 innings, allowing nine runs on 11 hits and fanning two batters. Scott Politz has been the go-to-guy at 14.0 innings, holding 2.57 ERA and recording 10 strikeouts. John Stuper is in his 25
th season at Yale.
There's no place like home
After a five-game road trip, W&M returned to Plumeri Park this week to kick off its season-long eight-game homestead. The stretch began Wednesday evening against ACC opponent Virginia Tech. The Tribe outscored the Hokies, 19-10, to win its fourth straight home game this year. The Green & Gold opened its home schedule with a weekend sweep of Lafayette Feb. 24-26.
The Night Ryder
Senior
Ryder Miconi had a monster game under the lights against Virginia Tech (March 8) in a high-scoring affair. Miconi paced a potent W&M offense with four hits, six RBI, two double and a home run, all of which are season-highs. The homer was his first of the season and the fifth of his career. So far this year, Miconi is hiting an impressive .341 (14-for-41) and notched multiple hits in five 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 (3/22), Virginia Tech (3/8, 3/21), Norfolk State (3/14, 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 0-1 against state rivals this season.
WEEKLY AWARDS
Freshman
Brandon Raquet burst onto the scene last weekend at No. 2 Florida on the way to 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. For the second straight week, W&M won the CAA Rookie of the Week honor as
Patrick Ryan claimed the award. Ryan batted .444 (4-for-9) with four runs and four RBIs in the Tribe's sweep of Lafayette. W&M made it three straight CAA Weekly Honors as sophomore southpaw
Bodie Sheehan was tabbed the conference's Pitcher of the Week. He had a banner day during his start against Dayton on March 4. Sheehan allowed just three hits over 7.2 shutout innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters in the 7-0 triumph over the Flyers.
LARGE AND IN CHARGE
Junior
Cullen Large is picking up where he left off of in 2016. The Chesterfield, Va. native is hitting .415 with seven doubles, one triple, a homer, and 11 RBI. Large has the longest active hitting streak among W&M players, riding an eight-game streak. He's the Tribe's top returning offensive threat, finishing 2016 with a .328 batting average, 20 doubles, two triples, seven homers, and 46 RBI.
