WILMINGTON, N.C. – The No. 3 seed William & Mary baseball team begins its Colonial Athletic Association title defense against No. 6 seed Elon in the first round of conference championships on Wednesday, May 24 at 8 p.m.
TribeAthletics.com caught up with head
Brian Murphy to discuss the regular season, defending the conference title, the senior class and the matchup with Elon. The video feature is available through above link, or by clicking
here.
ON TAP
William & Mary starts its Colonial Athletic Association title defense against Elon in the first round of conference championships on Wednesday, May 24 at 3 p.m. The Tribe are riding a three-game winning streak after closing out the regular season with a sweep at Hofstra.
SCOUTING THE PHOENIX
Elon finished the regular season 24-30 overall and 12-12 in league play to clinch final spot in the CAA Baseball Tournament. As a team, the Phoenix is batting .255. Ryne Ogren headlines the offensive attack with a .358 batting average (77-for-215), adding a team-best 21 doubles, four home runs and 33 RBI. Kyle Jackson, who is hitting .311 (64-for-206), paces the team in home runs (12) and RBI (50). The Phoenix owns a 5.16 team ERA. Wednesday's starter Kyle Brnovich leads the pitching staff with 83.1 innings logged, six wins and a 3.13 ERA. Mike Kennedy is in his 21st season at the helm of his alma mater. He is 678-522-3 in his tenure at Elon.
SERIES HISTORY
W&M and Elon will clash for the 20
th time in series history on Wednesday afternoon at Brooks Field. It is the first postseason meeting between the two programs. Elon leads the all-time series by an 11-8 mark. However, the Tribe have gone 6-3 against Elon since the Phoenix joined the CAA. W&M claimed the regular season series 2-1 at Plumeri Park (April 7-9).
Brandon Raquet led the Tribe in the three-game set after posting an incredible .875 (7-for-8) batting average with three RBI, two doubles and a triple.
ON DECK
The winner of the W&M/Elon matchup will move on to face No. 2 seed UNCW on Thursday at 3 p.m. The loser will play an elimination game Wednesday night at 7 p.m.
FAB FIVE
Tribe Baseball had five players receive All-CAA recognition announced by the league on Tuesday afternoon. Junior
Cullen Large spotlighted the postseason awards with an All-CAA first team nod. Freshman
Brandon Raquet not only made the All-Rookie team, but also earned a spot on the second team. Senior
Ryder Miconi also collected multiple honors as an All-Academic selection and a third-teamer. Junior
Ryan Hall was a third-team pick, while freshman
Patrick Ryan grabbed All-Rookie accolades.
POSTSEASON SUCCESS
The Green and Gold is making its fifth consecutive postseason appearance, which is a program-best since qualifying started for the CAA Baseball Tournament. In three of its last four tournament appearances, the Tribe reached the championship game and earned a NCAA Regional berth on two of the occasions.
BRINGING OUT THE BROOMS
The Tribe capped the regular season with its fifth 3-0 weekend of the year at CAA rival Hofstra (May 19-20). The three-game sweep of Hofstra was the team's first in a true road contest and third against a conference opponent. W&M swept CAA foes James Madison (April 21-23) and Charleston (May 5-7) as well. Earlier this year, W&M opened its home schedule with a perfect weekend against Lafayette (Feb. 24-26) and went 3-0 at the Irish Classic (March 3-5).
LARGE AND IN CHARGE
Junior
Cullen Large is riding a team-best 21-game on-base streak. Large also posted a pair of multiple hit efforts to continue his ascent in the W&M career record books. He ranks 11
th all-time with 222 career hits and his 48 career doubles slot 12
th in program history. The Chesterfield, Va., native is batting .344 (73-for-212) with 16 doubles, two triples, six home runs and 38 RBI for the year. He also registered a team-best 16-game hitting streak earlier this season.
HOW TO SAVE A GAME
Senior
Nick Brown saved a pair of games to help W&M cap the regular season with a three-game sweep of Hofstra. He now leads the CAA with seven saves this year. He tossed 2.1 shutout innings of two-hit ball with five strikeouts over the weekend. Junior
Robert White ranks second on the team with four saves under his belt.
GOING, GOING, GONE
W&M recorded a pair of multiple home run games in the Hoftra series.
Kyle Wrighte launched a pair of home runs in a game for time first time ever during the series opener against the Pride. In the second of a doubleheader,
Ryder Miconi and
Matthew Trehub both blasted a homer to lead W&M 7-5 win. Miconi now boasts a team-high nine home runs, Wrighte totals five and Trehub has two.
WEEKLY AWARDS
The Tribe 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.
