WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary baseball will face its first ranked opponent Tuesday, March 12 as it travels to Charlottesville, Va., to take on Virginia before continuing the in-state road trip to Farmville, Va., for a Wednesday, March 13 matchup at Longwood.
Heading into the week, the Tribe has compiled a 10-5 record, earning three weekend-series wins over Holy Cross, UMass Lowell and Fordham, and posting a pair of shutout victories in the process.
This week will feature W&M's second shot at an ACC opponent and the first Big South team in the Tribe's schedule thus far.
Last Time Out
The Tribe earned a series victory over Fordham at Plumeri Park this past weekend, opening the three-game slate with a dominant performance on the mound.
Nate Knowles,
Mark Hindy and
Carter Lovasz posted the Green & Gold's second shutout victory, combining to fan 13 and allow only six hits in the contest.
Knowles, who is expected to start at No. 15 Virginia, opened the game with a one-hit performance over three frames in which he added five strikeouts to his season total of 28. Allowing only a pair of earned runs in the entire season, the righty boasts an ERA of 1.13.
Both Knowles and Lovasz have appeared in each of the Tribe's shutout victories.
League Leaders
The Tribe leads the CAA in five different statistics, ranking in the top 20 in the nation in three of those.
The pitching staff, which has put together an impressive season thus far, sits at No. 15 in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings (11.4) with a CAA-leading strikeout to walk ratio of 2.74. Notably, also in the country's top 50, their 7.59 hits allowed per nine innings is No. 32 and the team ERA of 3.90 is No. 34 overall.
Offensively, the Tribe sits at No. 16 in the nation and paces the conference with 35 HBP, as well as holds the league lead with a .423 on-base percentage.
Individually among the nation's top 20, Hindy's 0.62 WHIP is No. 7 and his 0.56 ERA is No. 9 – both CAA-leading marks – while his 3.94 hits allowed per nine innings sits at No.14. Knowles' 15.75 strikeouts per nine innings is No. 14 nationally.
Ranked Opponents
For the first time this season, the Tribe will take on a ranked opponent in Virginia.
Against No. 15 opponents, the Tribe is 1-0, earning a victory over Campbell last year under the leadership of Head Coach
Mike McRae. Also played on a Tuesday in March, the Tribe upset the Camels 3-2.
W&M has played ranked UVA 13 times, posting a 1-12 record. However, the win came against No. 8 Virginia in the teams' second meeting of the 2016 Charlottesville Regional, in which the Tribe eliminated the host team to advance to the Regional Final.
About The Cavaliers
Earning their first ranking in preseason polls, the Cavaliers have appeared in national rankings every week, maintaining their rank among the top 15 after their ACC opening weekend in which they dropped a pair to Miami.
Following the 2-2 week, Virginia sits at 13-3 on the season, their only other loss coming to UMass in a close series at home. The Cavs walked off the first game of the three-game series against the Minutemen in 10 innings, 4-3.
They have scored double-digit runs in nine of their contests so far and have an impressive 8-1 record at Disharoon Park.
The Cavaliers have a 44 RPI and their offense leads the NCAA with 217 hits while ranking among the top 10 in the nation in nine different categories, notably including doubles per game (No. 2, 3.00), doubles (No. 3, 48) and batting average (No. 4, .363).
Henry Godbout leads the nation as toughest to strike out, with no punchouts in 47 at-bats. He is one of only three qualifying players in the NCAA with that mark. He has drawn 11 walks and amassed 21 hits for a .556 on-base percentage through 15 games.
In the all-time series against UVA, the Tribe trail 31-81-2. The teams met for the first time in 1902, playing their first 11 contests in Charlottesville. Since 2016, the Tribe have won a pair against the Cavaliers, with a 2-8 record over the last 10 meetings. W&M last won in Charlottesville on Feb. 26, 2019.
About The Lancers
In the all-time series against the Lancers, the Tribe lead 20-11. The most recent contest between the two teams was a 7-2 Longwood victory in Farmville on April 8, 2015. Over the last five contests, stretching all the way back to 2012, the Tribe are 3-2.
The Lancers will host VCU for a Tuesday midweek before the Tribe visit, but through the fourth weekend of play, Longwood is 7-8 with a pair of weekend series sweeps. They have yet to win a midweek game, falling in games to VCU, then-No. 17 North Carolina and Elon.
Up Next
The Tribe will return to Plumeri Park to wrap up their final non-conference weekend with Quinnipiac on Friday-Sunday, March 15-17. Making one final midweek stop before CAA play begins, the Tribe will head to Norfolk State on Wednesday, March 20.
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