WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary baseball (29-22, 12-12 CAA) hits the road for the regular season weekend of the 2024 season at Campbell (29-21, 10-14 CAA) as the teams compete as CAA opponents for the first time.
Last Time Out
The Tribe earned a series victory against Towson in its final home game on Sunday, May 12, as it took down the Tigers, 9-3, in a strong return to the win column.
Scattering crooked numbers throughout the contest, W&M jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning and added four runs in an exclamation point eighth inning.
Ben Parker had a 3-5 day with three RBI and a pair of runs while
Joe Delossantos and
Anthony Greco each had two hits and two RBI. Greco's first of the day was a first-inning home run.
Owen Pierce,
Travis Garnett and
Alex Markus combined to allow only two earned runs and fanned 10 Tigers. Markus earned his first save in Green & Gold.
Shattering Records
In a record-breaking performance at Elon, the Tribe eclipsed the 300-walk mark for the first time in program history. This past weekend against Towson, W&M tacked on 18 more for a total of 321, continuing to build on the program record.
The Green & Gold surpassed a program record for the second consecutive game, this time on the mound, as they overtook the single-season strikeout record. On Friday, with a season-high-tying 16-strikeout performance Friday from
Nate Knowles and
Carter Lovasz, W&M officially broke the record. Adding 16 more in the final two games, the Tribe passed the 500 milestone for the first time in program history.
Fantastic Four
Knowles' 1.86 ERA is nationally ranked at No. 4 as his 67.2 innings of work have seen just 14 earned runs.
He also holds top-30 marks in four other stats with 5.45 hits per nine innings (No. 12), 97 strikeouts (No. 16), 12.9 strikeouts per nine innings (No. 19) and a 1.05 WHIP (No. 28).
Third Time's the Charm
Knowles earned his third conference recognition of the season, taking the CAA Pitcher of the week honor.
Knowles picked up his team-high seventh victory of the season on Friday against Towson in a career outing. He went a career-long 6.1 innings, allowing just four hits and one earned run while fanning a career-high 12 batters - the most in a game by a Tribe pitcher since 2013.
His 12-strikeout performance eclipsed his previous career high nine punchouts from two weeks ago against UNCW and brought his season total to a whopping 97. He pulled into sixth-place in program history in single-season strikeouts, just three away from passing the century-mark which has only been achieved four times in W&M history.
Rising Rankings
Four W&M players appeared in D1Baseball's week 12 player rankings in their respective positions, three of them rising.
Knowles was tabbed the No. 24 starting pitcher, jumping from his week 6 ranking of No. 25 and climbing exponentially from his No. 140 preseason rank.
Potts also appeared on the starting pitcher rankings, coming in at No. 76.
Ben Parker rose to No. 51 among the top 100 outfielders and
Joe Delossantos jumped 20 spots to a No. 80 overall ranking.
Save
Carter Lovasz earned his 18
th career save with his sixth of the season to tie for the program record in the career mark. The junior is poised to take over sole possession of the program record with his next save.
League Leading
Starters Knowles and Potts are among the best arms in the CAA in several statistics.
Knowles' 1.86 ERA is No. 4 nationally, holding to match his highest ranking in the statistic from earlier in the season. Through 13 weeks of play, Knowles has put together an astounding junior campaign. His .172 opponent average leads the CAA and is among the lowest in the NCAA while 85 strikeouts is 16
th in the nation.
Potts, in his first season in the Green & Gold, leads the Tribe with just 1.68 walks allowed per nine innings, ranked No. 28 in the NCAA in the mark. His 1.12 WHIP is second on the team and sits at No. 51 nationally while his 4.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio is 40
th in Division I.
Midseason Recognition
Sophomore righty Pierce was one of 59 NCAA DI pitchers named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year midseason watch list.
Pierce has had an impressive sophomore campaign, tied for the team lead with five saves. He touts a 2.84 ERA, allowing 12 earned runs over 38.0 innings of work. He has struck out 38 while giving up 33 hits. In his 16 appearances, he has posted nine scoreless outings and allowed just one earned run in three more, three times without allowing a hit.
Seeing Double (Digits)
Delossantos and Parker have each belted double-digit home runs on the year, leading the Tribe. Delossantos' 13
th home run, a grand slam at Elon, landed him on the single-season program leaderboard tied at 11. Only nine individual players have ever reached that mark.
Parker's 10 nears his single-season best of 15, which he achieved in 2023 as a senior at Whitman College, a mark which ranked No. 15 in NCAA DIII.
The Series
In the all-time series, the Tribe leads 12-7. The most recent meeting, a midweek at home, the Tribe bested the No. 15 ranked Fighting Camels in a 3-2 game in March 2023.
W&M has not played in Buies Creek since 2019 and owns a 5-7 record on the road, in contrast to the Tribe's 7-0 record at home.
Over the last 10 meetings, stretching back to 2014, the Tribe has accumulated a 6-4 record.
This weekend marks the first time the teams will compete as CAA opponents as the Camels joined the league in the offseason. Heading into the weekend, Campbell is eighth in the league with a 10-14 record against CAA opponents.
Up Next
This weekend the Tribe is vying for a top-six finish in the league to advance to the CAA Tournament. With only UNCW and Charleston having already secured championship berths, four spots remain for the taking. Heading into the weekend, the Tribe sit at fifth.
The 2024 CAA Championships will take place in Wilmington, N.C., on Wednesday-Saturday, May 22-25.
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