WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team heads south to UNCW for its first CAA road series this weekend. The conference matchup opens on Friday, March 29 at 6 pm, continues on Saturday, March 30 at 2 pm and wraps up on Sunday, March 31 at 2 pm.
Each contest will be broadcasted on the Seahawk Digital Network. Links for the stream are available on the Tribe Baseball schedule page.
W&M News and Notes
• W&M and UNCW will meet for the 100
th-102
nd time in series history this weekend. The Seahawks have controlled the series behind a 73-26 all-time lead. However, the matchup has been closely contested over past two years. UNCW holds a slime 3-2 advantage in the last five meetings. In addition, three of the last five games were decided by one run.
• It is the third time the Tribe will face a North Carolina program in a three-game series. During the first two weeks of March, W&M visited High Point before hosting Campbell. The Tribe enjoyed success against the Big South foes from across the border with a 6-0 record. Nonetheless, the wins didn't come easy with half of them resulting in a three-run decision or less.
• The Green and Gold has traveled well in 2019 with a 6-1 road record. W&M owns a .323 batting average (16-for-30), scored 54 runs and boasts a 2.32 ERA in hostile environments. It is the best road start in program history.
• The Tribe offense has caught fire over the past few weeks to climb to first in the CAA in runs scored (159). W&M totaled double-digit runs five times this year and has averaged eight runs in its last six games. The Tribe also ranks top five in the league in batting average (.261), slugging percentage (.404) and on-base percentage (.372).
• Senior
Hunter Smith has established himself as the most dangerous home run threat in the CAA. The Caldwell, N.J., native tops the conference behind seven homers. Most recently, Smith generated a multiple home run game for the third time this season during a win over Northeastern (3/24). He now ranks 12
th in school history with 23 in his career. The catcher is top five in the association in practically every hitting category, including batting average (.345), slugging percentage (.724), runs scored (23), RBI (26), and doubles (10).
• Junior
Matthew Trehub has been one of the best players for the Tribe in his last seven starts. Over the stretch, he is hitting .415 (17-for-41) with eight doubles, a triple, four home runs and 16 RBI. The torrid stretch of play also includes three multi-hit performances and a career-high four RBI against Northeastern (3/24).
• Senior
Zach Pearson produced the strongest start to CAA play in the Tribe lineup. He finished last weekend 7-for-14, adding a double, triple and six RBI. The third baseman struck out only twice in his 14 at bats. Against NU, Pearson generated multiple hits in each contest and tallied multi-RBI twice.
• The W&M pitching staff lowered its ERA to 3.67 to leap ahead of James Madison for first place in the league. The Tribe has held an opponent to three earned runs or less on 15 occasions. A key factor in the success is the outstanding effort from the bullpen. The group combines for a 2.96 ERA, 9-3 record and six saves.
• Rookie
Zach Tsakounis was promoted to the weekend rotation against Northeastern after getting off to a tremendous start this year. His stat line includes a 1.84 ERA, 29.1 innings pitched and 28 strikeouts. The Arlington, Va., product has held an opponent to no more than one earned run in six of his seven appearances.
• Senior
Bodie Sheehan will move one step closer to becoming the W&M all-time leader in starts on Saturday. He will make his 51
st career start this weekend and needs only four more to break Jason Inghram's '15 record. Sheehan is also very close to becoming the seventh W&M pitcher to log 300 career innings at 295.1 right now. On top of that, he is only five strikeouts away from reaching the 200 mark. Only 12 Tribe pitchers have exceeded 200 strikeouts.
• The Tribe claimed its second Power Five win of the season after splitting a doubleheader with West Virginia on March 16. The Green and Gold scored five late runs to rally for a 6-4 win. It was the first time the Tribe defeated the Mountaineers since 1968. W&M defeated its first Power Five opponent at Virginia (2/26), 9-3.
• W&M has had three players collect CAA Weekly Awards in the first four weeks of the season. Two freshmen pitchers in
Tristan Snyder and Tsakounis garnered CAA Rookie of the Week honors. The other award went to sophomore
Matt McDermott as the CAA Player of the Week for the week of March 8.
