WILLIAMSBURG, VA.- William & Mary baseball wraps up the regular season with a trip to Wilmington to face CAA-leading UNCW this weekend. The Tribe and the Seahawks will begin the three-game set Thursday evening. William & Mary is currently fifth in the CAA standings with six teams making next week's conference tournament.
The Tribe enters the weekend winners of seven of nine CAA series this season, and fresh off a 2-1 weekend against Northeastern. UNCW is coming off a 1-2 weekend at Charleston and a 4-0 loss to No.1 Wake Forest on Tuesday.
William & Mary had a pair of players recognized by the CAA this past week as Tank Yaghoubi earned the Rookie of the Week award and Carter Lovasz was named the Pitcher of the Week. Yaghoubi was 7-11 with a pair of runs scored and two RBI. The outfielder knocked in the tying run in Saturday's comeback win and the winning run on Sunday. Lovasz was masterful, allowing zero runs over 5.0 innings out of the bullpen to earn the win on Saturday.
Yaghoubi enters the weekend on a seven game hitting streak, his second longest of the season. Over the last seven ball games, Yaghoubi is hitting .500 (16-32) with five runs scored and three RBI. Yaghoubi is fourth on the team with 12 multi-hit games on the season, six of which have come over the past seven games.
Over his last five outings, Lovasz has allowed just two earned runs in 17.0 innings pitched. The sophomore has walked four and struck out 17 during that stretch. Through two seasons, Lovasz has already recorded 12 saves and seven wins. The righty has 90 strikeouts to just 27 walks over 100.2 innings pitched.
Rojo Prarie earned his fifth save of the season, tossing 2.0 scoreless frames to shut out Northeastern on Sunday. Prarie is second on the Tribe and ranks tied for sixth in the CAA with five saves on the season. Prarie has been a force on the hill this season, with a 1.14 ERA to go with his 1.04 WHIP. Rojo is 3-0 on the season with 43 strikeouts in 39.1 innings of work. Over his last nine innings, Prarie has struck out 12 men and allowed seven hits.
William & Mary enters the weekend tied for the ninth best ERA in the nation. Carter Lovasz, Nate Knowles, and Tom Mayer rank third, sixth, and eighth respectively in the CAA in ERA. The trio all rank inside the top four in the league in batting average against and hits allowed and in the top five in extra base hits allowed.
Mayer has been nothing short of outstanding over his last two outings. The righty has tossed 9.1 innings allowing just one earned run with 10 strikeouts and zero walks during that span. Over his last seven outings, Mayer has allowed just one walk over 26.1 innings and has struck out 22. The senior has the third lowest batting average against in the CAA and ranks 20th in the nation in WHIP.