Northeastern's Scott Holzwasser
Baseball Weekly Honors - Feb. 20
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - FEB. 20 (PDF format)
CAA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Scott Holzwasser, Northeastern
So., 2B, Sudbury, Mass./Lincoln-Sudbury Regional
Holzwasser batted .583 (7-for-12) with a double, homer, four runs scored and five RBI’s as Northeastern won two-of-three in its series with Creighton. The sophomore second baseman had multiple hits and scored at least one run in all three games, highlighted by a 3-for-3 effort with a homer and four RBI’s in Sunday’s 8-3 victory. He also drew two walks, was hit by a pitch and had a stolen base to finish with a .667 on-base percentage.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Bodie Sheehan, William & Mary
Jr., LHP, Virginia Beach, Va./First Colonial
Sheehan allowed just three hits and one run over 7.0 innings in William & Mary’s opener at No. 12 Clemson last Friday. The junior left-hander struck out four and faced only 24 batters, but didn’t get a decision as the Tribe was unable to hang on to a 4-1 lead in the ninth. Sheehan retired Clemson in order in four of his seven innings of work.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Billy Sullivan IV, Delaware
Fr., RHP, New Castle, Del./St. Mark’s
In his collegiate debut last Sunday, Sullivan allowed just one hit over 5.0 shutout innings and struck out nine to earn the win in Delaware’s 1-0 triumph at Charleston Southern. The freshman right-hander gave up just three singles and walked two as the Blue Hens went 2-1 as a team.
DIAMOND NOTES:
Charleston (3-0) - The Cougars are off to a 3-0 start for the first time since 2012 after sweeping their series with Southeast Missouri. Logan McRae batted a team-best .545 (6-11) with three RBI’s, while Dupree Hart hit .400, including a key two-run homer in Sunday’s 5-4 victory. On the mound, starters Griffin McLarty, Jakob Frishmuth and Evan Sisk combined to allow just four earned runs over 15.3 innings. Carter Love locked things down out of the bullpen, earning two saves with 4.0 shutout frames.
Delaware (2-1) - The Blue Hens won the final two games of their three-game set at Charleston Southern. Kyle Baker batted .583 (7-12) with three RBI’s and four stolen bases. He was 4-for-5 with a homer and three runs scored in Saturday’s 6-2 victory. The Blue Hens’ pitching staff posted a 2.42 ERA in the series. James Meeker allowed only two hits over 5.0 shutout innings to earn the win in relief on Saturday, while Billy Sullivan IV gave up just three hits over 5.0 shutout innings and fanned nine to get the victory in his collegiate debut on Sunday.
Elon (0-3) - The Phoenix lost three games by a total of four runs in their season-opening series with Penn State. Elon dropped two one-run games in a weekend series for the first time since March, 2012. Shawn Blake batted a team-best .556 (5-9) with a homer and four runs scored.The Phoenix got strong efforts from their starting pitchers. George Kirby allowed just one run on two hits and struck out a career-high 11 batters over 5.0 innings to set an Elon Opening Day record. Kyle Brnovich followed on Saturday by surrendering just one run on three hits over 5.0 frames while fanning nine.
Hofstra (0-0) - The Pride spent last week in the Dominican Republic, where they played six games as part of an exhibition tour versus professional baseball academy teams. Hofstra, which returns 21 players from a year ago, opens its regular season on Friday with a four-game series at Lamar University.
James Madison (3-0) - The Dukes swept a three-game set at High Point to open the season. JMU never trailed for more than half an inning in the series and earned its first non-conference series sweep of 3+ games since 2015. Freshman Conor Hartigan batted a team-best .333 (3-9) with a homer, two RBI’s and three runs scored. Harry Brown homered in both games of Sunday’s doubleheader. On the mound, lefty Colton Harlow scattered five hits over 5.2 shutout innings and struck out six to get the win in the opener. Dan Goggin picked up a win on Sunday after giving up four hits and a run over 5.0 frames.
UNCW (2-1) - The Seahawks won two-of-three at their own Hughes Bros. Challenge. Catcher Ryan Jeffers went 4-for-4 with two homers, three runs scored and four RBI’s in a 5-4 victory over Lehigh. He batted .545 for the weekend and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Freshman Greg Jones hit .300 from the leadoff spot with four runs scored and four stolen bases. Closer Clark Cota picked up a win and save. He didn’t allow a base runner and struck out five in 2.1 innings of work. Alex Royalty was solid in his Opening Day start, giving up two runs over 5.0 innings and fanning seven.
Northeastern (2-1) - The Huskies went 2-1 against Creighton in Ft. Myers, Fla. NU batted .345 as a team in the series. Scott Holzwasser hit .583 with a homer, four runs scored and five RBI’s, Jake Farrell batted .545 with two doubles, a homer and seven RBI’s and Charlie McConnell hit .538 and scored six runs. Pitcher Sean Mellen allowed two runs on four hits over 5.0 innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters to earn the win in Sunday’s finale. Tyler Brown also got his first win after giving up four hits and two runs in 5.0 innings on Saturday. He fanned four in the game.
Towson (1-2) - The Tigers went 1-2 at New Mexico State to open the season. Shortstop Richie Palacios was 2-for-4 with a homer and a career-high five RBI’s to lead Towson to a 11-6 victory in Game 2. He batted .417 with a pair of doubles, two homers and eight RBI’s in the series. Andrew Cassard hit .333 with three runs scored and three RBI’s at NMSU. On the mound, David Marriggi recorded his first win of the year after allowing two runs on four hits over 5.0 innings and striking out five. Bo Plagge threw 3.0 shutout innings out of the bullpen with four strikeouts.
William & Mary (0-3) - The Tribe suffered three one-run losses at No. 12 Clemson last weekend. Shortstop Zach Pearson had at least one hit in all three games and batted .364 with two doubles and two RBI’s against the Tigers. Lefty Bodie Sheehan held Clemson to one run on three hits over 7.0 innings in the opener, but didn’t get a decision as W&M fell 5-4 in 10 innings. Jamie Sara was solid in his start on Saturday, giving up three hits and two earned runs over 5.0 innings.The Tribe was very impressive defensively, committing just one error in the three games.
PRESEASON NATIONAL AWARDS: Several CAA players have earned preseason national recognition by various groups. Charleston designed hitter Logan McRae received preseason first-team All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball and the NCBWA, while UNCW pitcher Alex Royalty was named to the Collegiate Baseball preseason All-America third team. UNCW’s Clark Cota, JMU’s Kevin Kelly and Northeastern’s Brian Rodriguez were selected to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year preseason list.