SCHEDULE UPDATE: The William & Mary baseball team announced schedule alterations to its Colonial Athletic Association opener at Charleston. The series will still open Friday night at 6 pm, but concludes with a doubleheader on Saturday beginning at 2 pm.
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – After inclement weather canned both mid-week games, the William & Mary baseball team returns to action with its Colonial Athletic Association opener at the College of Charleston this weekend.
Fans can access video streaming and live stats links for each contest on the baseball
schedule page.
W&M News and Notes
• After claiming just one win in February, the Tribe owns a 7-5 (.583) record in the first half of March. W&M won back-to-back games on two occasions and claimed a pair of three-game series, 2-1. The month has also offered a handful of theatrical moments as three of the victories were claimed in walk-off fashion – two of which occurred in extra innings.
• Over the past five seasons, the Green and Gold has gone a 9-5 (.643) in its conference opening series. The Tribe dropped two of first three league games at UNCW last year, but won four consecutive series to start CAA play beforehand. In addition, W&M made its conference debut on the road in all but one occasion during the stretch.
• W&M and CofC will meet for just the 18
th-20
th time in series history this weekend. The recently chartered members of the CAA (2014) lead the all-time series against W&M, 11-6. Their previous meeting was a postseason clash as the Cougars bounced the Green and Gold, 7-6, in 11 innings. During the 2017 regular season, the Tribe completed a three-game sweep of the Cougars by a total of five runs.
• Head coach
Brian Murphy will coach his 250
th career game on Saturday (March 24). The skipper holds a 127-121 (.512) all-time record in his five seasons with the Tribe. Under his guidance, W&M has exceeded 30 wins three times and qualified for the CAA Tournament each year, including a 2016 league title and NCAA Regional Final appearance.
• The W&M pitching staff was instrumental in the program's 3-1 effort last week. During the four game homestand, the Tribe restricted opponents to a .178 batting average and surrendered just six earned runs for a 1.46 ERA. A quintet of junior
Nick Butts, sophomore
Jamie Sara, graduate transfer
Andrew Burnick, senior
Michael Toner and sophomore
Wade Strain combined for the first 2018 shutout in the series lid-lifter against ETSU, allowing just four hits. Furthermore, the Green and Gold ranks third in the CAA in strikeouts (163) and second in struck out looking (54).
• Sara was a key cog in the W&M bullpen as he gained his first two wins in a three-day span. Sara logged the most effective innings in the shutout on Friday, before sustaining a 2-all tie in the ninth inning to set the stage for a Sunday walk-off. Since his shift to the 'pen, he has engineered six scoreless innings, allowed just three hits, punched in seven strikeouts and yielded just two free bases.
• Rookie
Jacob Haney put together another banner performance last Sunday with season-best in multiple categories. Haney went seven innings for the first time and registered a 2018-low in runs and walks with one each. He also struck out six batters and retired the side in order four times. Also of note, the righty has not thrown a wild pitch in his last two starts (13.2 innings).
• Since March 7, juniors
Hunter Smith and
Colin Lipke have served as the big bats in the Tribe lineup. Both players boast at least a .500 slugging percentage and tallied eight hits each during the stretch. Smith blasted two solo homers, doubled twice and drove in six runs. Lipke generated an extra base hit in four of his last seven games, including a pair of doubles against Lehigh (March 14). The community college transfer also launched his first DI home run versus Radford (March 7), while collecting four RBI.
• Senior
Charlie Fletcher made back-to-back appearances during the three-game set with ETSU to bring his career total to 86. The Ashburn, Va., native is now 11 appearances away from establishing a new Tribe standard. Fletcher and Strain both tie first in the CAA with 10 calls to the mound this year.
•
Ryan Hall, a Senior CLASS Award candidate, needs just 10 more knocks to become one the top 15 hitters in program history. The Richmond, Va., native boasts 207 hits over the span of his career. With two more doubles, Hall will also reach a collegiate total of 50, which would tie him 10
th all-time. Hall also ranks top 15 in all-time sacrifice files (ninth) at bats (11
th) walks (t-11
th), and games started (14
th).
• Junior
Bodie Sheehan is four strikeouts away from surpassing 150 in his career. The Virginia Beach, Va., product has tallied 28 K's in a CAA-best 36.1 innings of work this year. Sheehan heads into the weekend boasting a 1.73 ERA and 1-1 record. He is also the only Tribe player to collect a weekly award after being named CAA Pitcher of the Week (Feb. 20) following an exceptional Friday start at then-ranked No. 12 Clemson.
• Sophomore
Chris Farrell will make his weekend debut after enjoying success as a mid-week starter. Farrell pitched five innings in three of his four starts and owns a 3.57 ERA. The second-year player picked up his first career win after limiting Lehigh (March 14) to just two runs (one earned) on two hits.
• 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.
