Baseball Weekly Honors - May 14
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - MAY 14 (PDF format)
CAA BASEBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK:
Ryne Ogren, Elon
Jr., SS, Devon, Pa./Conestoga
Ogren batted .583 (7-12) with three doubles, five runs scored and eight RBI’s in Elon’s 3-1 week. In the Phoenix’s three-game sweep of Towson, he reached base in 10-of-13 plate appearances, going 5-for-8 with five walks. Ogren, who drove in multiple runs in three of the four games last week, recorded his 200th career hit.
Cole Weiss, UNCW
So., 3B, Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor
Weiss batted .500 (7-14) with two doubles, three runs and five RBI’s last week. The sophomore drove in the tying and winning runs in the 8th inning of the opener at Northeastern and scored the winning run in the 8th of Sunday’s finale to hand the first-place Huskies their first home series loss. Weiss had multiple hits in three of his four contests.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHERS OF THE WEEK:
Kyle Hinton, Delaware
Jr., RHP, Wilmington, Del./Salesianum
Hinton fired a complete-game, 2-hit shutout and fanned 13 in Delaware’s 6-0 win at William & Mary last Friday. The junior only gave up a single in the fifth and ninth innings and struck out multiple batters in five of nine frames. Hinton is 6-5 with a 2.63 ERA for the season.
Evan Sisk, Charleston
Jr., LHP, Chester, S.C./Lewisville
Sisk allowed only one hit over 7.0 shutout innings and struck out five in Charleston’s 9-0 victory at South Carolina. The junior faced the minimum in six of his seven frames and worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Sisk (9-3) is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA vs. Power 5 foes.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Chris Ludman, Delaware
Fr., RHP, Newark, Del./St. Mark’s
Ludman held William & Mary to three hits and one run over 6.0 innings while striking out a career-best 11 on Sunday. After giving up a solo homer to open the second, the freshman retired 15 of the next 17 Tribe batters, including a stretch of six straight K’s.
DIAMOND NOTES:
Charleston (34-16, 14-7 in CAA) - The Cougars gained some in-state bragging rights last week with a 10-5 win over The Citadel and a 9-0 triumph over SEC foe South Carolina. Evan Sisk held the Gamecocks to just one hit over 7.0 shutout innings and fanned five. He’s 9-3 on the year and 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 23.2 innings vs. Power 5 opponents. Carter Love moved to 7-0 with a 1.43 ERA after giving up just one run in 6.0 innings out of the pen vs. The Citadel. Dupree Hart batted .556 (5-9) with a double, homer and two RBI’s last week. He belted a leadoff homer to set the tone vs. USC. Clay Hunt batted .500 (5-10) with four runs scored and four RBI’s in the two games, while Tommy Richter was 5-for-9 and drove in three. Charleston had 15 hits in each of the games last week to raise its league-leading batting average to .282.
Delaware (28-23, 12-9 in CAA) - The Blue Hens clinched a spot in the CAA Tournament following a three-game sweep at William & Mary. Delaware’s pitchers allowed only six earned runs and struck out 44 in the series. Kyle Hinton fired a complete-game, 2-hit shutout with 13 strikeouts as UD won the opener, 6-0. He improved to 6-5 with a 2.63 ERA. Freshman Chris Ludman held W&M to one run on three hits over 6.0 innings and fanned 11 as the Hens took the finale, 6-4 in 10 innings. Freshman Jordan Hutchins batted .500 (6-12) in the series with a double, triple and five runs scored. He also walked four times and stole two bases. Calvin Scott recorded a pair of two-hit games in the series. Kevin Mohollen scored three runs in Friday’s doubleheader and has 43 for the season, which ranks third in the CAA.
Elon (31-21, 13-8 in CAA) - The Phoenix earned a CAA Tournament berth for the fourth straight year after sweeping a three-game series with Towson. Elon reached the 30-win mark for the first time since 2013 and its 22 home victories are the most since 2009. Ryne Ogren reached base in 10-of-13 plate appearances vs. Towson and batted .583 (7-12) for the week with five walks, three doubles, five runs scored and eight RBI’s. He also recorded the 200th hit of his career. Joe Satterfield was 5-for-12 with four RBI’s in the series, while Zach Evers scored seven runs and stole six bases. Kyle Brnovich improved to 7-2 and dropped his ERA to 1.83 after allowing just one hit and an unearned run in 7.0 innings in Friday’s 6-1 victory. He struck out eight to move into 10th on the CAA’s season strikeout list with 132. Elon set a team strikeout mark with 523.
Hofstra (23-21, 12-12 in CAA) - The Pride had a 1-3 week, but defeated JMU 4-1 on Friday to clinch a berth in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2012. John Rooney held the Dukes to one run on three hits over 8.0 innings and fanned nine in the victory. He’s 8-1 with a CAA-best 1.01 ERA and set the Pride’s season strikeout mark with 99. Chris Weiss picked up his 9th save in the win, tying a school record. Teddy Cillis struck out 10 in 5.1 innings of relief vs. JMU on Saturday and also homered twice last week. Vito Friscia batted .429 on the week and extended his hitting streak to a season-high 10 games. Rob Weissheier batted .313 last week with three of his five hits being doubles. Mikey Riesner smacked his first homer of the year against Monmouth.
James Madison (23-26, 8-13 in CAA) - The Dukes capped a tough five-game road trip by winning two-of-three at CAA foe Hofstra over the weekend. Freshman Michael Morgan batted .421 (8-19) with three doubles, four runs scored and four RBI’s. He was 5-for-9 in JMU’s two victories vs. the Pride and raised his season average to a team-best .312. Adam Sisk was 2-for-3 and scored three times in Saturday’s 9-3 win at HU, while Fox Semones was 3-for-5 and drove in two in Friday’s 3-2 victory, including a game-winning RBI single in the 9th. Kevin Kelly gave up just two runs on five hits over 7.1 innings and struck out a career-high 12 in Friday’s win over Hofstra. Nick Stewart improved to 4-3 on Saturday after allowing one earned run on four hits over 5.1 innings. DaVonn Griffin was 5-for-11 in the Hofstra series with a hit in each game.
UNCW (31-19, 13-8 in CAA) - The Seahawks extended their streak of making every CAA Tournament by taking two-of-three at first-place Northeastern last weekend. Cole Weiss batted .500 (7-14) with five RBI’s for the week. He drove in the tying and winning runs in a 7-6 victory in the opener and then scored the tying run in Sunday’s finale as UNCW rallied for six runs in the final two frames to win 6-4. Ryan Jeffers’ two-run homer in the 9th snapped a 3-3 tie on Sunday. He tops the CAA with 13 homers and is tied for the league lead with 50 RBI’s. Clark Cota recorded his 13th save at NU, tying UNCW’s single season record. Mason Berne set a new UNCW record by reaching base for the 44th consecutive game on Sunday. Kep Brown had three doubles among his five hits in the NU series and drove in five. Mark Scalf recorded the 900th win of his career when UNCW beat NU on Friday.
Northeastern (31-17, 15-6 in CAA) - The Huskies had a tough 1-3 week, with the three losses coming by a total of four runs. NU beat UNCW 7-4 in the middle game of their series as Jake Farrell went 2-for-3 with a triple, homer and five RBI’s. Farrell is batting .339 and is tied for the CAA lead with 50 RBI’s. Mason Koppens batted .500 (6-12 for the week and scored five times. He was 3-for-4 in a 6-5 setback to No. 22 UConn. Charlie McConnell hit .333 from the leadoff spot and scored a run in all four games last week. He tops the CAA with 70 hits for the year. Andrew Misiaszek threw a perfect 9th in the win over UNCW and tied a school record with his 11th save. Sean Mellen limited UNCW to one hit over 6.0 shutout innings and fanned nine on Sunday, but didn’t get a decision. He’s 10-1 with a 1.60 ERA and has throw 17.2 consecutive scoreless frames.
Towson (13-39, 6-15 in CAA) - The Tigers dropped four road contests last week, including three at league foe Elon. Billy Lennox went 2-for-5 with a homer and two runs scored in a 9-6 loss to the Phoenix on Sunday. He also homered and scored three times in an 8-7 setback at Maryland last Tuesday. Colin Gimblet had four hits over the final two games of the Elon series, highlighted by a 3-for-4 effort on Sunday. Richie Palacios drew two walks on Sunday to up his league-leading total to 48. He also tops the CAA with 54 runs scored and is second with 24 stolen bases and 16 doubles. Mark Grunberg was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBI’s at Maryland. Starter Dean Stramara tossed 3.0 scoreless frames against the Terps as Towson built a 6-2 lead.
William & Mary (15-35, 3-18 in CAA) - The Tribe fell in all three games of their final home series with Delaware. W&M lost 6-4 in 10 innings on Sunday despite a 3-for-4 effort by Colin Lipke that included his fifth homer and two RBI’s. Chris Farrell turned in a solid start, giving up just one earned run over 6.0 innings. The Tribe nearly rallied for a win in Game 2 on Friday after Matt McDermott’s three-run triple in the ninth, but he was unable to score from third in a 6-5 setback. Ryan Hall became W&M’s all-time leader in at-bats with 829. Charlie Fletcher increased his school-record career appearance total to 103 with two outings vs. UD. He’s two away from third place in CAA history. The Tribe has been involved in 23 one-run games and eight extra-inning contests in 2018.
THREE TEAMS IN TOP 100 OF NCAA RPI: Three CAA teams are ranked in the top 100 of the latest NCAA baseball RPI through games of May 13. Northeastern tops the group at #41 while Charleston is #69 and UNCW is #91.