WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – - The William & Mary baseball team concludes the regular season at travels to Hofstra for a crucial three-game Colonial Athletic Association series on Friday, May 17 and Saturday, May 18. The set gets underway tomorrow with a doubleheader at Noon, before the series conlcudes with a single game Saturday at Noon as well.
W&M News and Notes
- W&M and Hofstra meet for the 43rd through the 45th time on Friday and Saturday. The Tribe leads all-time series with Pride 27-15, but Hofstra won all three games in Williamsburg a season ago. Senior
Colin Lipke led the Tribe going 3-for-6 with two RBI in two games, while junior
Brandon Raquet added three RBI over the weekend.
- Both senior
Hunter Smith and
Brandon Raquet were honored for their work in the classroom as the duo was tabbed to the CoSIDA Google Cloud Academic All-District Team on May 9. Smith graduated with his degree in kinesiology and health sciences, while Raquet his nearing his degree in neuroscience and is on a pre-med track.
- With one more win this season, W&M will win 30 games for the 11th time in program history. It will also be the fifth time in the last seven seasons, the Tribe has surpassed the 30 win mark in the season.
- W&M won its sixth CAA weekly award of the season as junior
Brandon Raquet was named the CAA Player of the Week on May 6. Raquet led the Tribe to a sweep of Charleston by hitting .583 with two homers, four RBI, and four runs scored. He joins classmate
Wade Strain, who was CAA Pitcher of the Week, sophomore Matthew McDermott (CAA Player of the Week) and freshmen
Tristan Snyder and
Zach Tsakounis (twice), who won CAA Rookie of the Week, to garner a CAA weekly award.
- Senior
Owen Socher has seemed to have a knack for being hit by a pitch throughout his Tribe career and even more so this season. The senior ranks 20th in the NCAA reaching base by 15 HBPs this season. He currently ranks ninth in single-season school history, while his 30 career HBPs rank him sixth in school history.
- The Tribe has had its most success offensively in the second inning of games this year. W&M has outscored its opponents 50-11 in the second frame.
- W&M stole four bases in the win at George Mason on April 24. The four stolen bases were the second most this season behind five bags swiped against Campbell on March 8. Senior
Zach Pearson tied a career-high with two steals in the game. For the season, W&M has swiped 50 bags.
- Socher has made the most of his recent opportunity, since starting 24 of the last 26 games, The senior has added 18 hits, six doubles, two triples, a homer, six RBI, and 18 runs scored. His 18 runs scored are the most on the team in that time.
- The Green and Gold played a pair of extra-inning contests to complete the series sweep of Charleston. W&M picked up a 4-3 win in 13 innings in the second game, before a 4-3 triumph in the finale to improve its record to 2-1 in extra frames this season. Head coach
Brian Murphy is 13-13 in extra-inning games in his Tribe career.
- The Tribe recorded three walk-off wins during the home portion of its regular season schedule. The Green and Gold had a walk-off error against George Washington, before sophomore
Matt McDermott and freshman
Jack Cone had walk-off doubles on back-to-back days in the Charleston series. The Tribe now has 15 walk-off wins under
Brian Murphy.
- W&M's has played 14 one-run games of the season. The Tribe is 9-5 in those contests this season, including winning its last three one-run games.
- The Tribe turned nine double plays in the series against Charleston the last time out. For the year, the Tribe pitching staff and defense has turned 48 double plays, which ranks second in the CAA and 16th nationally. W&M's 1.0 double plays per game rank ninth in the country.
- Senior
Bodie Sheehan has been one of the Tribe's all-time most consistent pitchers during his career. The senior has turned five of his best starts of the year the last six times out, getting into the seventh inning each time. He has recorded eight quality starts in his 12 starts this season, and has not allowed an earned run since the seventh inning of the Elon game on April 20. The Virginia Beach, Va. native has now made 56 starts, which is the school record. He also ranks in the top in W&M school history in wins (10th - 17), innings pitched (third - 337.0), strikeouts (seventh - 229), and pick-offs (10th - 6).
- On the offensive end, the Tribe is fourth in the CAA with 276 runs scored. The team has put at least eight runs on the scoreboard in 13 games, going 11-2. W&M ranks 93rd in the NCAA with 92 doubles, while its 20 triples are good for 13th in the NCAA.
- Senior
Hunter Smith became the 20th player in school history to record 200 career hits in the doubleheader on Saturday against Elon. The senior ranks second in the CAA with 11 homers, while his 27 career bombs are good for ninth in W&M history.
- Classmate
Zach Pearson is enjoying a strong close to his Tribe career. He leads the team and ranks eighth in the CAA with a .311 batting average this year. The senior also leads the team in multi-hit games with 17, including a pair of games in the Charleston series. Pearson has added 13 doubles, three triples, a homer, and 30 RBI.
- 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 of 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 394-207 (.656) since its completion.
