WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team will open 2019 with a home series against Marist this weekend. The four-game set begins with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 4 pm, continue on Saturday with a tentative start time of 2 pm and conclude on Sunday at 1 pm.
W&M News and Notes
• W&M and Marist will meet for the first time in series history. The contest will be the only inaugural matchup of the season for the Tribe. However, it will not be the first time W&M has faced a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. The Green and Gold has competed against five MAAC foes all-time.
• Historically, W&M baseball holds a 17-9 (.654) record against MAAC opponents. Despite the overall success, the Tribe is 1-3 against the MAAC in the last two seasons. Quinnipiac pulled off a three-game sweep last year, before the Tribe edged Monmouth, 6-5, at the 2017 Irish Classic.
• The Tribe makes a season-debut at Plumeri Park for the first time in four years. The last time W&M started a new year in front of its home crowd it worked out well. In 2014, the Tribe took two of a three-game series against Army. It's also the first time the Tribe begins a new campaign with a four-game series since 2010.
• The Tribe had a flair for drama in 2018. W&M had 42.6 percent of its games decided by one run, which led the nation. Games were also tight against nationally ranked opponents. The Tribe challenged a top 25 program seven times and lost by one run on four occasions. On top of that, eight contests were decided in extra innings.
• After consistently making the weekend rotation since freshman year, senior
Bodie Sheehan is now on the cusp of reaching multiple milestones. He ranks sixth with 44 career starts and needs only 11 more to pass
Jason Inghram '15 as the all-time leader. With 259.2 inning pitched, he is on pace to become the seventh W&M player to log at least 300 innings. The Virginia Beach, Va., native also needs just 20 more strikeouts to exceed 200. Only 12 pitchers in program history have eclipsed 200 K's.
• Juniors
Wade Strain and
Chris Farrell and senior
Zach Pearson each enjoyed breakout seasons in 2018. Pearson set career-highs in every hitting statistic. The infielder ranked second on the team in hits (52) and RBI (25). Strain started the season as the closer, before sliding into the weekend rotation. Strain held a 4.80 ERA with 48 strikeouts and six saves. Farrell started in 13 of his 14 appearances and owned a 4.44 ERA through 52.2 innings pitched.
• Senior
Colin Lipke and junior
Brandon Raquet provided the most offensive production in the final 25 games of 2018. Lipke led the team with a .314 batting average (27-for-86), seven doubles, a triple and four home runs during the stretch. Raquet matched Lipke in doubles, triples and home runs after experiencing a bit of a sophomore slump in the early going.
• A batch of 11 newcomers will provide new life to the Tribe roster. It is the largest freshman class since 2013. W&M added six pitchers in
Zach Tsakounis,
Jack Cone,
Tristan Snyder,
Rojo Prarie,
Ned Ruffin and
Jack Ryan. The positional players include
Cole Ragone (INF),
Phil Conti (INF),
Matt Thomas (C/OF),
Hunter Hart (INF/OF), and
Flynn Hopkins (OF). A couple of the freshman have gained immediate attention after Hart (Hitters Point Chart) and Thomas (Summer Baseball) both claimed Fall Team Awards.
•
Brink Ambler is the newest addition to the Tribe staff as a volunteer assistant. Ambler brings championship success to the Tribe after helping guide Division III program Otterbein to Ohio Athletic Conference regular season and tournament titles and back-to-back NCAA regional appearances. In two seasons, he assisted the Cardinals in fashioning a 61-30 record and set single-season records in hits (502), at bats (1,616) and total bases (766).
• Plumeri Park, the home of the Tribe Baseball, turns 20 this spring. The anniversary will be celebrated and recognized over the course of the season. The facility was constructed in large part due to the generous donation by Mr. Joseph J. Plumeri II in the autumn of 1996. It is now considered one the finest baseball facilities in the region, consistently receiving upgrades over the course of time. W&M has enjoyed a lot of success at Plumeri Park with a 378-196 (.636) since its completion.
