By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics

With two weekends left in the regular season, William & Mary is one of three CAA baseball teams with at least 30 wins. Yet the Tribe remains just above the line that will separate six teams who make the tournament from five that won't, a sobering fact that isn't lost on head coach Mike McRae.

With a 13-11 league record, W&M is tied for fifth in the standings with Delaware. Making things more interesting, the Tribe hosts second-place Northeastern in a three-game series this weekend and travels to first-place UNC Wilmington next week.

"Our backs are kind of against the wall," McRae said. "When you look at the standings, it doesn't appear that way. But when you look at the schedule, it certainly does.

"So, yeah, we've got a challenge ahead of us, and it's of our own doing. We're going to have to be ready to respond starting Friday night."

W&M and Delaware each has a two-game lead in the loss column over Hofstra (13-13), which because of an earlier rainout will play one fewer game. Also in contention for a tournament spot are Stony Brook (10-14 with Monmouth and Towson remaining) and North Carolina A&T (10-15, Elon remaining).

Northeastern (37-9, 17-7 CAA) is the Colonial's highest-ranked team in the RPI at No. 31. Offensively, the Huskies lead the conference in batting average (.307), runs (8.4 per game), home runs (93) and stolen bases (115).

On the mound, the Huskies are atop the CAA in ERA (3.51), shutouts (six) and fewest hits (8.4 per game). Defensively, Northeastern leads the conference in fielding percentage (.978).

"They're immensely talented on both sides," McRae said. "Last year, they were very pitching oriented and didn't really score a lot of runs. This year, they're doing both. They're big, they're strong, they're physical and they're scoring runs with the long ball.
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"The biggest thing about them is, they're a hardened group. In other words, things aren't going to bother them. They're going to be ready to go. It's not a young, inexperienced team by any means."

Only six of the CAA's 11 teams will make the postseason tournament. The Colonial has three teams in the top 60 and five in the top 100 of the NCAA's RPI.

The limited field makes regular season that much more important and McRae has acknowledged that his team has made reaching the post season tougher on itself.

Despite having a few different opportunities, the Tribe has not swept a conference series this season. One particularly frustrating afternoon came at home against Monmouth (who sit at 5-17 in CAA play entering this weekend) as W&M gave up a 10-run third inning and lost the middle game of a three-game series, 14-12.

The Tribe was also swept at North Carolina A&T with the first two losses coming by a run.

"We've lost some games I think we should have won," McRae said. "You start to factor those things in, and that's kind of why we're in this."

Northeastern (37-9, 17-7) at William & Mary (30-19, 13-11)
Where: Plumeri Park
Schedule
Friday: 6 p.m.
Saturday: 3 p.m.
Sunday: 1 p.m.