WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team finishes out the regular season at CAA rival Hofstra for a three-game series this weekend. The set begins with a doubleheader on Friday, May 19 at 12 p.m. and concludes on Saturday, May 20 at 12 p.m.
ON TAP
William & Mary closes out the regular season at CAA foe Hofstra this weekend. The three-game series begins with a doubleheader on May 19 at 12 p.m. and concludes on May 20 at 12 p.m. The Tribe strives to snap a two-game losing streak and reach at least 30 wins for the regular season.
SERIES HISTORY
W&M and Hofstra will collide for the 43
rd-45
th time in series history this weekend in Hempstead, N.Y. The Tribe lead the all-time series by a 27-15 mark and won the last four meeting. W&M defeated Hofstra twice last season at Plumeri Park. During the 2016 series,
Charles Ameer totaled eight hits, four RBI, two doubles and a home run, while
Hunter Smith collected seven hits, seven RBI, three doubles and a triple.
SCOUTING THE PRIDE
Hofstra looks to cap its season on a win streak after edging James Madison, 10-8, in the series finale on May 14. The Pride enters its final weekend of the season 14-34 overall and 7-14 in conference action. Hofstra is hitting .265 as a team. Steven Foster paces the lineup with a .325 batting average (62-for-191), adding 17 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 20 RBI. On the mound, the Pride own a 6.00 team ERA. John Rooney leads the team with 75.1 innings pitched, while Teddy Cillis has notched a team-best 90 strikeouts. John Russo is in his sixth season at the helm of Hofstra. He owns a 128-173 mark at HU.
ON DECK
The Tribe has punched its fifth consecutive ticket to the Colonial Athletic Association Baseball Tournament. The 2017 CAA Baseball Tournament will take place at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C., on May 24-27. The reigning conference champions sit fourth in the league standings and still have a chance at claiming the regular season title with some help this weekend. W&M is just one game behind first-place UNCW (14-7 CAA).
LARGE AND IN CHARGE
Junior
Cullen Large now ties for 13
th in the program's all-time most hits list with a career total of 218. He finished 3-for-9 (.333 batting average) in a pair of games against Northeastern to move up a few spots in the W&M record books. Large also ranks top 15 in the Tribe baseball's most career doubles (46) and total bases (322) standings. For the season, the Preseason All-American is batting .347 (69-for-199) with 14 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 37 RBI.
HALL PASS
Junior
Ryan Hall's seven sacrifice flies rank second in the program's individual season record books. He also ties for 14
th in the nation's statistical sac fly standings. In the CAA, Hall slots second in runs scored (48), ties for second in doubles (17) and seventh in RBI (36).
BRINGING OUT THE BROOMS
The Green and Gold has notched four undefeated weekends and need to record one more for chance at claiming the CAA regular season title. W&M has already swept a pair of conference rivals in Charleston (May 5-7) and James Madison (April 21-23). The Tribe also brought out the brooms in its home opening series with Lafayette (Feb. 24-26), and posted a 3-0 weekend at the Irish Classic (March 3-5).
BEST IN THE LEAGUE
Rookie
Brandon Raquet tops the CAA with a .456 on base percentage. The two-time CAA Rookie of the Week has dominated the statistical category for three weeks running. Junior
Charlie Fletcher also ranks first in the conference behind 27 appearances on the mound. The reliever has pitched 25.1 innings with 16 strikeouts and a 3.55 ERA.
WEEKLY AWARDS
The Tribe has now totaled seven weekly awards after senior
Daniel Powers earned his second CAA Pitcher of the Week honor for the week of May 8. Senior
Ryder Miconi was the previous recipient as he was tabbed Player of the Week for the week of April 24.
Brandon Raquet (Feb. 21, April 10) and
Patrick Ryan (Feb. 28) combined for three Rookie of the Week awards, while
Bodie Sheehan received Pitcher of the Week accolades on the week of March 7.
HOW TO SAVE A GAME
Closer
Nick Brown saved all three games in the series against Charleston (May 5-7) by giving up only two hits and no runs over 2.2 innings. Brown now ranks second in the CAA with five total saves on the year. He earned his first save of 2017 during an eight-run comeback win at Richmond (April 18) and tallied his second at George Mason (April 26). Junior
Robert White ranks second on the team with four saves under his belt.
GETTING ON BASE
Cullen Large tied his team-best 18-game on-base streak after reaching safely in both contests against Northeastern last week.
Ryder Miconi (13),
Brandon Raquet (12),
Charles Ameer (11),
Kyle Wrighte (10) and
Hunter Smith (10) also tallied double-digit reached base streaks.
THROWING GOOSE EGGS
The W&M pitching staff notched its third shutout win of the season in the series finale against Charleston on May 7.
Daniel Powers set the tone with 7.2 perfect inning, while
Charlie Fletcher and
Nick Brown combined for the final 1.1 innings to secure the 2-0 victory. The Tribe also blanked both non-conference foes VMI (March 22) and Dayton (March 4) on a 7-0 score.
