Hofstra's John Rooney threw six innings in the Pride's second no-hitter of the season.
Baseball Weekly Honors - March 12
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - MARCH 12 (PDF format)
CAA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Adam Sisk, James Madison
Sr., OF, Fairfax, Va./Robinson
Sisk batted .409 (9-22) with two doubles, two triples, a home run, six runs scored and seven RBI’s in JMU’s 3-2 week. The senior outfielder had multiple hits in all three Dukes’ victories, including going 4-for-5 and driving in five as JMU pounded Tennessee, 21-2, last Wednesday. He’s batting .328 with 15 runs and 11 RBI’s.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHERS OF THE WEEK:
Sean Mellen, Northeastern
So., LHP, Norwood, Mass./Norwood
Mellen handed No. 17 Auburn its first loss of the season after holding the Tigers to one run on two hits over 8.0 innings and striking out eight in Northeastern’s 2-1 victory on Saturday. The sophomore didn’t allow a hit over the first 7.2 frames before losing the shutout following back-to-back hits in the eighth. Mellen improved to 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA for the season.
John Rooney, Hofstra
Jr., LHP, Melrose, N.Y./Hoosic Valley
Rooney combined with Seamus Brazill on Hofstra’s second no-hitter of the season as the Pride blanked Mount St. Mary’s, 11-0, last Saturday. The junior right-hander struck out eight and also picked off two runners while throwing 6.0 innings. Rooney is 2-0 on the season and hasn’t allowed a run in 20.0 innings of work.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Josh Jones, James Madison
Fr., SS, Charlotte Courthouse, Va./Randolph Henry
Jones batted . 471 (8-17) with a double, triple and four RBI’s over four games last week. The freshman shortstop had multiple hits in three of the four contests, including going 5-for-8 with three runs scored and two RBI’s in JMU’s two games at SEC foe Tennessee. He’s batting a team-best .348 for the season.
DIAMOND NOTES:
Charleston (13-3) - The Cougars capped a 3-1 week with a weekend sweep of CSU Bakersfield. Charleston has won 10 of its last 11. Logan McRae went 4-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBI’s in Sunday’s 10-1 victory, while Cameron Garrett was 3-for-4 and drove in two. Luke Morgan was 3-for-5 with two RBI’s and Dupree Hart was 2-for-3 and drove in three in Saturday’s 13-1 win. Hart is batting .397 on the year, while Morgan is hitting .349. Pitcher Jakob Frishmuth improved to 3-0 on Sunday after giving up one unearned run on four hits over 7.0 frames. CofC also got quality starts from Evan Sisk (5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R) and Griffin McLarty (5.1 IP, 3 H, 1 R) as both earned their third wins.
Delaware (8-5) - The Blue Hens went 3-1 last week and have won six of their last seven. Delaware defeated Big Ten foe Maryland, 7-1, last Thursday as Diaz Nardo went 4-for-5 with a double, homer and five RBI’s. He batted .333 for the week. Kevin Mohollen was 3-for-5 and scored twice in Sunday’s 7-6 win over Monmouth. In Saturday’s 2-1 triumph over MU, Kyle Hinton retired the first 18 batters he faced and gave up just two hits and one run over 6.1 innings while striking out nine. He has a 1.54 ERA for the year. Reliever Colman Vila picked up wins on consecutive days vs. Monmouth and hasn’t allowed a run in seven appearances (9.1 IP) this season. James Meeker also recorded a pair of saves.
Elon (8-8) - The Phoenix swept their 3-game weekend series with Appalachian State and have won six of their last eight. Elon’s pitching staff tied a school record by giving up two runs in three games vs. ASU, including back-to-back shutouts against the same opponent for the first time since 2006. On Friday, George Kirby (2-1) held ASU to two hits over 6.0 innings and fanned 10 in a 10-0 triumph. In Saturday’s opener, Kyle Brnovich (2-0) allowed only two hits over 7.0 innings and struck out 12 in a 5-0 win. Brnovich lowered his ERA to 1.35 and Kirby dropped his to 1.88. Freshman catcher Matt Oldham batted .353 last week with four RBI’s. He’s had a hit in eight of his last nine games, including five in a row.
Hofstra (8-2) - The Pride extended their winning streak to eight after rolling through the UMBC Tournament with a victory over Mount St. Mary’s and two over the host Retrievers. Hofstra’s streak is its longest since winning nine straight in 2013 and the Pride is off to its best start since 1995. John Rooney (6.0 IP) and Seamus Brazill (3.0 IP) combined on HU’s second no-hitter of the season vs. MSM. Rooney (2-0) hasn’t allowed a run in 20.0 innings this season. Chris Weiss recorded a pair of two-inning saves last weekend. Mikey Riesner batted .538 with three doubles and four RBI’s. He had two 3-hit games. Austin Gauthier and Daniel Page each belted their first home runs as Hofstra had 17 extra-base hits.
James Madison (10-6) - The Dukes had a 3-2 week, splitting a pair of games at Tennessee before winning their home series with St. Bonaventure. JMU’s offense scored 44 runs on 45 hits in the three wins. Adam Sisk led the way by batting .409 with five extra-base hits and seven RBI’s. Freshman Josh Jones batted .471 (8-17) with six runs scored. He had multiple hits in all three victories. Jones leads JMU with a .348 average and Sisk is right behind at .328. Lefty Garrett Richards threw 7.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in two appearances last week. Starter Nick Stewart held SBU to one run over 6.0 innings on Sunday but took the loss in a 1-0 setback.
UNCW (11-4) - The Seahawks won two-of-three at Pac 12 foe Arizona State over the weekend. UNCW’s pitching staff was sensational, allowing just one run over the final 18 innings in 9-0 and 3-1 victories. On Saturday, Zarion Sharpe (5.1 IP, 3 H) and Austin Easter (3.2 IP, 2 H) combined on the shutout. On Sunday, Austin Easter threw 2.1 innings in relief to improve to 3-0 and Clark Cota recorded his fifth save after a perfect ninth. The Seahawks’ bullpen is 8-0 with six saves and a 1.98 ERA for the season. Ryan Jeffers was 3-for-4 and hit his league-leading fifth homer on Sunday. Jeffers, Greg Jones and Mason Berne each had two hits and two RBI’s in Saturday’s triumph.
Northeastern (9-5) - The Huskies beat Georgetown 9-5 for their fifth straight win before handing #17 Auburn its first loss of the year, 2-1, in the finale of a three-game series on Saturday. Lefty Sean Mellen threw 7.2 no-hit innings against the Tigers with eight strikeouts before losing the no-hitter and shutout in the eighth. He still earned the victory to improve to 4-0 with a 1.33 ERA. Offensively, shortstop Max Burt batted .438 (7-16) with two runs scored and four RBI’s. He was 3-for-5 and drove in three vs. Georgetown and went 4-for-4 in the second game of the Auburn series. Burt was also perfect in 20 chances defensively and cut down the tying run at the plate in Saturday’s win at Auburn. Michael Geaslen belted a 3-run homer to cap a seven-run inning in game two of the AU series.
Towson (2-11) - The Tigers dropped four games last week, including a pair of one-run setbacks to Ohio over the weekend. Richie Palacios was 5-for-8 with six runs scored over the final two games of the Ohio series and reached base in seven straight plate appearances at one point. He’s batting .380 for the year and leads the CAA with 17 runs scored. Richard Miller went 3-for-4 with a double, homer, three runs scored and three RBI’s in Saturday’s 10-9 loss to OU and also drove in two runs on Sunday. Charlie Watters was 3-for-5 with a double and a 2-run homer at George Mason. Pitcher Michael Adams turned in a solid start on Sunday, allowing just two runs on five hits over 5.1 innings while fanning six.
William & Mary (5-12) - The Tribe went 2-3 last week, splittng a mid-week series with Radford before taking the opener of a three-game set with Campbell. Hunter Smith batted .368 (7-19) and drove in three last week. He had at least one hit in four of the five contests and was 3-for-5 with a homer and a walk-off RBI double in the 10th as W&M beat Radford, 3-2. Freshman Matt McDermott had two multi-hit games and batted .313 with three runs last week. Bodie Sheehan picked up his first win of the season after limiting Campbell to two runs on five hits over 7.0 innings in a 4-2 victory. Sheehan is 1-1 with a 1.57 ERA for the season and has recorded 22 strikeouts with only three walks over 28.2 innings.
THREE TEAMS IN TOP 75 OF NCAA RPI: Three CAA teams are ranked in the top 75 of the latest NCAA baseball RPI through games of March 11. Northeastern leads the way at #4, while Charleston is #27 and James Madison is #72. The Huskies only trail Clemson, Texas Tech and Auburn.