WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- William & Mary returns home after a midweek 14-3 win over Duke to host UNCW for the opening series of CAA play this weekend at Plumeri Park. The Tribe and Seahawks will get together Friday at 5:00 p.m., Saturday at 2:00 p.m., and have a 1:00 p.m. finale time on Sunday.
William & Mary brings a four-game winning streak into the weekend, having swept George Mason last weekend, while UNCW enters 12-8 after dropping a midweek game to ECU on Tuesday. The two teams split six games between one another last season with each taking two of three at home.
The Tribe will be looking for a similar offensive output as they put together Tuesday as the Green and Gold exploded for eight runs in the second inning at Duke.
Jack Cone,
Matt Thomas,
Mark Trotta, and
Cole Ragone all homered in the inning with the last three going deep on three consecutive pitches.
The Green and Gold has also played small ball with great effect this season as the Tribe has manufactured 98 walks in just 18 games, third most in the CAA. Conversely the Green and Gold has struck out the second-least of any team in the league.
Matt Thomas and
Mark Trotta are tied for fourth in the league with 14 walks, and
Max Winters is fourth with a .511 OBS.
David Hogarth is the toughest man in the league (3rd nationally) to strike out, going down twice in 71 at bats, while
Ben Williamson ranks fourth with four punch outs in 72 ABs.
A fast start has been key for the Tribe this year as William & Mary has scored in the first inning seven times this season, and the team is 5-2 in those ballgames. In addition, the Tribe has bested teams by a score of 49-18 in the final three innings, and has outscored the opposition 17-6 in the seventh, 22-6 in the eighth, and 10-6 in the ninth.
Matt Thomas' homer on Tuesday moved him into a tie for the CAA lead with six dingers this season, already a career-high. Thomas also ranks seventh in the league in slugging and ninth in OPS, while
Cole Ragone is fifth in slugging and eighth in OPS. Ragone has the league's ninth best batting average, and
Ben Williamson and Thomas rank second and fourth respectively among all CAA players in runs scored.
Despite playing fewer games than most of the teams in the CAA, the Tribe ranks near the top in many offensive categories. William & Mary enters the weekend second in the league in runs scored (127) and runs driven in (118).
Casey Green will make his fifth start this weekend and the righty has been stingy with just a 1.47 ERA on the year. Over 18.0 innings, Green has allowed just four walks to 13 strikeouts, and gave up just two hits in seven scoreless innings last Saturday in a win at George Mason.
Tom Mayer has been solid over his last three outings allowing no runs over 8.1 innings. The junior has struck out nine and walked just two over that frame and is one of six Tribe pitchers averaging at least one strikeout per inning.
Zach Tsakounis picked up his second win of the season at Duke on Tuesday as the lefty tossed 3.0 scoreless and allowed just three hits. The senior has allowed just three runs in his last five outings, while
Mike Weidinger has struck out six and allowed zero hits in his past 5.0 frames.
