WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Continuing conference play, this time on the road, William & Mary Baseball (18-7, 2-1 CAA) will travel to Newark, Del., to take on Delaware (12-11, 2-1) in the first away weekend of the 2024 season.
The Tribe have picked up victories on the road at Richmond, Longwood, Norfolk State and VCU, three of them by nine-plus-run margins. Falling in a pair of 6-2 midweek matchups at Old Dominion and No. 15 Virginia, W&M has a 4-2 away record.
Last Time Out
Following a conference-opening series victory over Stony Brook, the Tribe earned a road victory at VCU on Tuesday. Improving to an 18-7 record, the team achieved this mark for only the fourth time to tie the program record start through 25 games.
Once again, the pitching staff posted strong numbers, carrying a one-hit shutout game into the seventh inning before the Rams put together an attempt at a late rally.
Nate Knowles,
Travis Garnett,
Mark Hindy and
Carter Lovasz combined to allow only a pair of earned runs in the 6-3 victory, while giving up four hits and striking out 14.
The Tribe's home run leaders,
Joe Delossantos and
Ben Parker each tacked on another to their season totals, Parker's came as one of his three hits.
Kevin Francella also added a pair of hits, and reigning CAA Rookie of the Week
Josiah Seguin drove in two runs for his third multi-RBI game.
On the Rise
Four Tribe players were recognized in D1Baseball's Top 100 in their respective positions.
Nate Knowles (No. 48) and
Zack Potts (No. 65) appeared in the starting pitchers rankings while
Ben Parker (No. 55) and
Joe Delossantos (No. 100) broke into the top 100 ranked outfielders.
Knowles' 50 punchouts leads the Tribe and ranks 13
th in the nation. He has made starts in all nine of his appearances, twice combining for shutouts and posting a 1.78 ERA. Through 30.1 innings, the junior has given up 20 hits and only six earned runs.
Potts leads the Tribe with a 4-0 record and paces the team with a 12
th-nationally ranked 1.32 ERA. Over 27.1 innings of work, the grad student has accumulated 26 strikeouts, while allowing 19 hits, four earned runs and just four walks. His two most recent starts, both at a team-high 6.0 IP, Potts has fanned 11, allowing no walks with only two runs and nine hits.
Parker boasts a .368 average through the team's 25 games in his first season in the Green & Gold. He leads the Tribe in runs (36), hits (35), doubles (7), triples (2), home runs (8), RBI (29), total bases (70) and slugging percentage (.737), while his .512 on-base percentage paces qualified players and his 25 walks tie for first.
Delossantos has an impressive 25-game on base streak, reaching safely in all of the Tribe's contests. His .370 batting average leads W&M while tying for first in walks with 25. Neck-and-neck with Parker in nearly every category, the fifth year is second on the team in runs (30), hits (34), home runs (6), RBI (26), total bases (57) and on-base percentage (.508).
Rookie of the Week(s)
Josiah Seguin went back-to-back, earning CAA Rookie of the Week titles two weeks in a row on March 18 and March 25.
Last week, taking W&M through its first week of conference play, Seguin followed his impressive performance from a week earlier with an equally remarkable effort, slashing .500/.625/.833 and leading the team with six hits, six runs and five RBI. His home runs, two HBP and 10 total bases tied for the most on the Tribe during the week.
Seguin carried his streak into the midweek, getting a hit in his ninth-consecutive contest with a two-RBI single in the second inning at VCU. Also adding a run, the rookie ticked up his season totals to 11 RBI on 13 hits with 16 runs. With all his hits coming in his last nine games, Seguin's .342 average is quite the impressive feat.
The Series
The all-time series against the Blue Hens is even at 35-35 through 70 contests dating back to 1908. Also even, the Tribe have split the last 10 games with Delaware, going 5-5.
In the two most recent CAA weekend series against the Hens, W&M has taken five of the six games, sweeping the weekend (13-0, 5-2, 10-5) in 2022 and coming out on top with a series win in 2023 (3-6, 8-5, 8-7).
In four of the last five three-game weekend series, the home team has come away with the series victory, twice to the tune of a sweep. The Tribe looks to break out of this pattern and post their third-straight series win over the Hens.
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