WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team faces its second nationally-ranked opponent in February with an in-state trip to No. 18 Virginia on Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 3 pm.
The game will be broadcasted on ACC Network Extra via
Watch ESPN.
W&M News and Notes
• As a team, W&M (1-7) ranks fourth in the Colonial Athletic Association with 58 hits through the first eight games. The Green and Gold tallied a season-best 13 hits in its 10-4 win over Maryland on Wednesday (Feb. 21). Junior
Zach Pearson leads the team and ties fourth in the league with 10 hits. The Tribe is also fifth in the league in runs scored (30).
• W&M and UVA will meet for the 75
th time in series history on Wednesday afternoon. The Cavaliers own a 57-15-2 all-time series lead over the Tribe. The Green and Gold split the last two meeting between the teams. The Wahoos were eliminated by the Tribe in the 2016 NCAA Charlottesville Regional, before downing the Green and Gold, 11-3, last year.
• Senior
Ryan Hall needs just one more double to tie 15
th all-time in Tribe history. Over the course of his career, Hall has doubled 45 times. He currently ties 34
th in the NCAA and first in the CAA with four doubles on the year. The Richmond, Va., native is also tied first in the conference in runs scored (seven) and fourth in RBI (eight).
• Four-year veteran
Charlie Fletcher ties fourth in program history with 80 career appearances on the bump. The Ashburn, Va., native was called in for relief four times this year. He tossed a scoreless inning in his last two outings, allowing one hit. Fletcher will break the Tribe record with 17 more appearances.
• Sophomore
Patrick Ryan leads the Green and Gold's active on base streak as he has reached safely in all eight games. If you include the end of last season, Ryan has got on base in 16 consecutive games. In addition, both Hall and freshman
Matt McDermott have managed to get on the base paths in five straight games.
• Graduate transfer
Andrew Burnick earned his first win in a Green and Gold uniform last week. He hurled two shutout frames, including two strikeouts and no hits, against Big Ten rival Maryland. Burnick has logged 3.2 innings of work out of the bullpen, fanned four batters and held opponents to a .154 hitting average.
• Junior
Bodie Sheehan was named CAA Pitcher of the Week for the week of Feb. 20. He went seven strong innings with four strikeouts, an earned run and three hits on Feb. 16 at No. 12 Clemson. The honor marks the third weekly conference award of his career.
• The Tribe has launched three home runs in the first two weeks of 2018. Hall was the first W&M player to go yard with a three-run bomb (14
th of his career) in the season-opener at No. 12 Clemson. Junior
Hunter Smith followed up the next day with a solo jack, the eighth of his career. In the triumph over Maryland, Pearson blasted his second homer at W&M.
• Rookie
Justin Pearson has shown signs of promise in his two appearances of relief. The Stafford, Va., product is yet to surrender a run in four innings of work. He went three innings with three hits and a strikeout against VCU (Feb. 20), before fanning a batter and conceding a hit in an inning versus Quinnipiac (Feb. 25). Pearson also tops the CAA in runners picked off (two).
• Seniors
Luca Farina and
Craig McLane took advantage of their opportunity in the lineup last week. McLane had a big day against Maryland (Feb. 21) after recording a career-high three hits, including a double, scoring two runs. Farina finished 3-for-6 (.500) at the dish and platted a run in his two starts against Quinnipiac.
• The Tribe platted five two-out RBI during its game against Maryland. W&M had just two in total heading into the matchup. Hall paces the team with four, while Smith has two and sophomore
Brandon Raquet and Pearson have one each.
• W&M will play against another school from the Commonwealth 13 times in 2018. The Tribe plays VCU (L, 4-3), No. 18 Virginia (Feb. 28), Radford (March 6-7), George Mason (March 21), Old Dominion (March 28; April 10), James Madison (April 13-15), Norfolk State (April 17), Richmond (April 24), and Virginia Tech (May 15). So far, the Green and Gold is 0-1 versus in-state rivals.
• The Green and Gold is coming off a well-decorated 2017 season after tying seventh for the most wins (32) in program history. W&M finished top-three in the CAA standings for its fifth consecutive postseason appearance, which is a program-best since qualifying started for the CAA Baseball Tournament. At the end of the season, four Tribe players signed minor league contracts – two of which were selected in the first five rounds of the MLB draft.
• A trio of Tribe Baseball players earned preseason recognition from the Colonial Athletic Association, highlighted by sophomore
Brandon Raquet making the All-Conference Team. Hall and Smith both received Honorable Mention distinctions. In the predicted order of finish, the Tribe tied fifth with Elon with 37 points. UNCW (six first-place votes) is the preseason favorite, followed by Delaware (three first-place votes) and College of Charleston rounding out the top three.
• Under head coach
Brian Murphy, W&M has fashioned three 30-plus win seasons in his four years as the skipper. His most wins (34) occurred in his first season at the helm (2014), resulting in CAA Coach of the Year honors. Murphy owns a career record of 120-115 (.511) and 54-35 (.600) mark in conference play as of Feb. 26.
