CAA Baseball Championship Gets Started On Wednesday
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
CAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET
RICHMOND, Va. (May 22, 2018) – The 2018 CAA Baseball Championship gets underway on Wednesday from JMU’s Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va.
Six teams will compete for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament using a format that rewards the top two seeds with first-round byes. Eight different schools have won the CAA championship over the past nine years, with UNCW (2012, 2015) the only repeat champion during that stretch.
The double-elimination tournament starts at 11 a.m. on Wednesday when #4 UNCW (33-20, 14-9 in CAA) faces #5 Delaware (29-25, 12-11 in CAA), followed by #3 Charleston (35-17, 15-8 in CAA) against #6 Hofstra (23-21, 12-12 in CAA) at 3 p.m. The losers of the first two games will meet in an elimination game at 7 p.m.
At Noon on Thursday, top-seeded Northeastern (33-17, 17-6 in CAA) takes on the UNCW/Delaware winner, followed by #2 Elon (35-21, 16-8 in CAA) versus the Charleston/Hofstra winner at 3 p.m. Another elimination contest will take place at 7 p.m. on Thursday. There are three games on Friday, setting the stage for the championship game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Northeastern, which is looking to win its first CAA Tournament championship, became the first team to capture back-to-back CAA regular-season titles since 2013 and the Huskies have already set a program record for overall victories. Four Northeastern starters are batting .300 or better, led by junior outfielder Charlie McConnell (.353, 25 RBI’s, 34 SB) and junior first baseman Jake Farrell (.343, 8 HR, 51 RBI’s). The Huskies’ pitching staff owns a league-best 2.43 team ERA in CAA play. Sean Mellen (10-1, 1.60 ERA, 75 K’s) is among the nation’s leaders in wins and anchors the starting staff along with Tyler Brown (7-3, 4.36 ERA). In the bullpen, closer Andrew Misiaszek set a program record with 12 saves and recorded 56 strikeouts in 48 innings.
Elon, which has made the CAA Tournament field in all four seasons as a league member, won its final six conference games to earn its highest seed ever in the event and a first-round bye. The Phoenix offense is paced by junior shortstop Ryne Ogren (.350, 16 2B, 52 RBI’s) and senior outfielder Zach Evers (.314, 51 R, 25 SB). Elon pitchers have registered a school-record 550 strikeouts this season. The staff is led by sophomore Kyle Brnovich (8-2, 1.68), who has a nation’s best 141 K’s and is a semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award. George Kirby (10-2, 2.49 ERA, 93 K’s) has the most wins by a Phoenix hurler since 2012. In the bullpen, Robbie Welhaf (4-4, 2.59) has a team-best six saves.
Charleston is making its fifth consecutive CAA Tournament appearance and will try to claim its first title since 2014. The Cougars’ pitching staff leads the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio and WHIP and ranks 8
th nationally in ERA (3.05). Evan Sisk (9-3, 2.85 ERA, 75 K’s) and Griffin McLarty (7-2, 3.33 ERA, 81 K’s) are the team’s top starters, and Charleston’s bullpen is also strong with Carter Love (7-0, 4 svs., 1.52 ERA) and Nathan Ocker (2-3, 10 svs., 1.90 ERA). Offensively, the Cougars feature junior second baseman Dupree Hart (.332, 14 2B, 15 SB) and senior outfielder Luke Morgan (.325, 6 HR, 27 RBI’s, 20 SB), who are among the league’s top 10 in batting. Charleston also tops the CAA and is 18
th nationally in fielding percentage.
UNCW is the only team to earn a spot in all 33 CAA Tournaments and the Seahawks have taken home the championship trophy four times (2004, 2006, 2012, 2015). UNCW features two of the league’s top offensive performers in catcher Ryan Jeffers (.324, 18 2B, 14 HR, 46 RBI’s), who tops the CAA in doubles, homers, on base percentage and slugging, and first baseman Mason Berne (.353, 12 HR, 51 RBI’s), who leads the conference in batting and ranks second in homers and RBI’s. Alex Royalty (5-4, 4.22 ERA) is the Seahawks’ top starting pitcher, but UNCW relies heavily on a bullpen that has recorded a nation’s-best 24 wins. Austin Warren (7-0, 2.15 ERA) and Austin Easter (3-2, 2.77 ERA) set the stage for closer Clark Cota (3-0, 13 svs., 1.59 ERA).
Delaware swept all four games and rolled to its first CAA Tournament title last season. The Blue Hens will count a solid group of returnees as they look to repeat. Outfielders Kyle Baker (.349, 2 HR, 37 RBI’s) and Kevin Mohollen (.290, 44 R, 14 SB) are among the league’s top five in batting and runs scored, respectively, while first baseman Nick Patten (.243, 8 HR, 29 RBI’s) made the all-tournament team last year. Kyle Hinton (6-6, 2.83 ERA, 84 K’s) and freshman Billy Sullivan IV (6-3, 3.15 ERA, 84 K’s) anchor Delaware’s starting rotation, and the Blue Hens have a pair of strong bullpen options with Colman Vila (5-2, 5 svs., 1.65 ERA) and James Meeker (4-2, 5 svs., 3.28 ERA).
Hofstra earned a berth in the CAA Tournament for just the third time ever, and the first since 2012. The Pride pitching staff has recorded six shutouts this season, including a pair of no-hitters. Junior lefty John Rooney, a Golden Spikes Award semifinalist, is 8-1 with a nation’s best 1.01 ERA. He’s second in the CAA with 99 strikeouts and has allowed only 45 hits in 89 innings. Matt Weissheier (4-4, 3.05 ERA) has also had a solid year, while closer Chris Weiss (2-4, 3.83 ERA) tied a school record with nine saves. Hofstra has been paced offensively by Vito Friscia (.352, 6 HR, 30 RBI’s), Mikey Riesner (.277, 21 R) and Rob Weissheier (.244, 4 HR, 30 RBI’s). The Pride has been helped by a defense that committed only 11 errors in 24 CAA games.
All-session tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for youth (8 & under). Single-day tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for youth. Students from participating institutions are admitted free with a valid student ID.
The first nine games of the 2018 CAA Baseball Championship will be video-streamed live for free in high definition on CAA.TV and are also available on OTT platforms Roku, AppleTV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Saturday’s championship will be streamed for free on CollegeSportsLive.com.
2018 CAA BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Veterans Memorial Park – Harrisonburg, Va.
Wednesday, May 23
Game 1 - #4 UNCW vs. #5 Delaware – 11 am
Game 2 - #3 Charleston vs. #6 Hofstra – 3 pm
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 – 7 pm
Thursday, May 24
Game 4 - #1 Northeastern vs. UNCW/Delaware winner – 11 am
Game 5 - #2 Elon vs. Charleston/Hofstra winner – 3 pm
Game 6 – Game 3 winner vs. Lowest Seeded Game 4/5 loser – 7 pm
Friday May 25
Game 7 – Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 – 11 am
Game 8 - Winner of Game 6 vs. Highest Seeded Game 4/5 loser – 3 pm
Game 9 – Game 7 loser vs. Game 8 winner – 7 pm
Saturday, May 26
Game 10 - Winner of Game 7 vs. Winner of Game 9 – 1 pm
Game 11 (if necessary) - Same two teams, 30 minutes after Game 10