WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team will welcome Elon to Plumeri Park for its first home CAA three-game series of the season this weekend. The set begins on Friday, April 7 at 6 p.m., continues Saturday, April 8 at 4 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday, April 9 at 1 p.m.
ON TAP
W&M will host its first Colonial Athletic Association rival of the season in Elon with a three-game series this weekend. The series opens on Friday, April 7 at 6 p.m., continues Saturday, April 8 at 4 p.m. and wraps up on Sunday, April 9 at 1 p.m. The Tribe are 10-3 at Plumeri and 2-4 in league play.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Elon recently had its season-best six-game winning streak snapped during a 14-1 loss at No. 17 Wake Forest. The Phoenix enter the weekend 15-14 overall and 5-1 in CAA action. As a team, Elon is hitting .261. Ryne Ogren heads the offensive charge on a .371 batting average (43-for-116), adding 12 doubles, two home runs and 17 RBI. Kyle Jackson is hitting .333 and leads the team in home runs (8) and RBI (30). The Phoenix own a 4.38 team ERA. Friday's starter Ryan Conroy leads the team with 47.1 innings of work. Saturday's starter Jordan Barrett boasts a team-high 46 strikeouts, while Sunday's starter Kyle Brnovich holds a 2.50 ERA. Mike Kennedy is in his 21
st season at the helm of his alma mater. He is 669-506-3 in his tenure at Elon.
SERIES HISTORY
William & Mary and Elon will meet for the 12-14 time in series history this weekend at Plumeri Park. The Tribe hold a slime all-time series lead over the Phoenix at 6-5, and a 4-2 advantage in games played as CAA rivals. Last season, the Green & Gold scored double-digit runs in the lid-lifter and finale to clinch the three-game set, 2-1. Senior
Ryder Miconi hit .538 (7-for13), with four RBI and five runs during the series, while
Ryan Hall batted .467 (7-for-15) with two RBI, two doubles and four runs.
ON DECK
The Tribe begin a six-game road trip with a pair of mid-week games at Old Dominion and Norfolk State on April 11-12. It will be the second meeting of the season for both games. The Green and Gold head to East Tennessee State that weekend for a non-conference three-game set on April 14-16.
THREE-HITTER
W&M had six pitchers combine for a season-best three-hitter at in-state rival VCU on April 4. Freshman
Wade Strain claimed his second win of 2017 after tossing two hitless innings and posting two K's. Classmate
Jamie Sara notched the first save of his career by going 1.2 innings with no hits allowed and a strikeout.
GOING STREAKING
Charles Ameer's five-game hitting streak is the longest active on the team. He also now ranks second on the team with 11 multiple hit games, posting two-hit efforts in five of his last seven outings.
Cullen Large owns the season's longest hitting streak at 16 games. Miconi is on the team's longest active reached base streak at eight games.
Kyle Wrighte and Ameer are both on a five-game reached base streak. Large also holds the season's longest streak in reaching base at 18 games.
CAA LAST TIMEOUT
Tribe competed in its second consecutive road CAA three-game series at Delaware April 1-2. W&M split the doubleheader with the Blue Hens on Saturday. A four-run first inning carried the Tribe to a 8-2 win in game one, but UD held a comeback attempt for an 8-5 win during game two. In the series finale, the Blue Hens rallied from a four-run deficit in 11 innings to claim the three-game set, 2-1.
THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME
William & Mary returns to the comfortable confines of Plumeri Park after wrapping up a four-game road stretch. In its previous home contest, the Tribe dropped an 11-6 decision to Old Dominion, snapping a four-game home winning streak. Elon is the first CAA rival the Green and Gold will host this season. W&M has won six of its 13 home contests by five runs or more.
WEEKLY AWARDS
W&M has racked in four conference weekly awards so far this season.
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.
MAKES YOU WANNA STAY
The Tribe competed in its second extra inning game of 2017 on April 2 against Delaware, falling to the Blue Hens 5-4. During its first extra inning contest this year, the Green and Gold topped Lafayette, 5-4, on Feb. 24.
START ME UP
The Tribe offense has gotten off to quick starts in six of its last 10 games with at least one run scored in the first inning. W&M is 8-3 this season when leading after the first inning.
GOING, GOING, GONE
The Tribe tallied four home runs during its three-game set at Delaware last weekend. Ameer and
Ryan Hall both notched a solo shot during Saturday's doubleheader, while
Hunter Smith and Large both registered a dinger in the series finale on Sunday. W&M hit at least two homers as a team in seven games this season and are 6-1 when doing so.
THE CENTURY MARK
Head Coach
Brian Murphy captured his 100th career win during the series finale at UNCW on March 26. Murphy has compiled a 103-96 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.
