CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - March 12
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - MARCH 12
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Cole Weiss | IF | UNCW
Jr., 6-4, 200, Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor
Weiss batted .529 (9-for-17) with two doubles, a homer, seven runs scored and 10 RBI’s in UNCW’s 4-1 week. The junior had multiple hits in four of the five contests and currently owns an eight-game hitting streak. His grand slam broke open a close game in a win over Siena last Saturday and gave him seven consecutive games with at least one RBI. He’s batting a team-best .381 for the season and tops the CAA with 23 RBI’s.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
Kevin Kelly | RHP | James Madison
Jr., 6-2, 210, Springfield, Va./Paul VI
Kelly allowed just two hits over a career-best 8.0 shutout innings and struck out 11 in James Madison’s 2-0 victory over High Point last Saturday. The junior right-hander didn’t issue a walk and faced just 25 batters in the game. He retired the first 10 Panthers in order and allowed just one runner past first base all day. Kelly is 3-1 with a 1.16 ERA.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
George Kirby | RHP | Elon
Jr., 6-4, 201, Rye, N.Y./Rye
Kirby threw a complete-game, one-hit shutout with 11 strikeouts in Elon’s 1-0 triumph over Bryant last Sunday. It was the first career shutout for the junior right-hander, who didn’t issue a walk and faced just one batter over the minimum. After giving up a single to start the third inning, he retired 18 consecutive hitters and threw 78-of-101 pitches for strikes. Kirby is now 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA.
CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week
Nick Zona | SS | James Madison
Fr., 6-3, 190, Mechanicville, Va./Hanover
Zona batted .625 (10-for-16) with three doubles, five runs scored and two RBI’s in JMU’s 3-1 week. The freshman shortstop had multiple hits and scored at least one run in all four games, including a 4-for-5 effort in Sunday’s opener against High Point. He also stole two bases and didn’t commit an error in 16 chances defensively. Zona is batting a team-best .388 for the season.
Conference notes:
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: CAA teams have enjoyed being at home this season with a combined record of 43-19.
ELON PICKED TO WIN COMPETITIVE TITLE CHASE: Elon has been picked to win a competitve race for the CAA baseball title according to a vote of the league’s head coaches. The Phoenix received four first-place votes and 57 total points. Defending CAA champion
UNCW, which got one first-place vote, and two-time reigning regular-season champ
Northeastern, which picked up four first-place votes, were tied for second with 54 points.
Charleston was selected fourth with 47 points.
CHARLESTON (10-5): The Cougars dropped two-of-three at Pac 12 foe Arizona over the weekend. Charleston earned a 10-6 victory in Sunday’s finale as five players recorded multiple hits and eight different players drove in a run.
Logan McRae batted .455 with a double, triple, homer and three RBI’s in the series.
Danny Wondrack was 6-for-13 at the plate, including a 3-for-5 outing on Sunday.
Josh Price (3-1) earned the win in relief on Sunday after allowing two runs in 4.2 innings.
Nathan Ocker threw 2.2 scoreless frames with three strikeouts to pick up his third save.
DELAWARE (1-13): The Blue Hens went 1-3 last week, but earned their first victory of the season on Sunday by beating Fairfield, 7-4.
Kevin Mohollen was 2-for-3 with a double, triple and three RBI’s in the win, while
Austin Colmery went 2-for-3 and scored three runs.
Derek Wakeley picked up the victory on the mound after not allowing a hit over the final 3.0 innings.
Zack Miller was 3-for-4 and drove in two in an 11-6 setback at Maryland.
Brandon Walter gave up just one run over 7.0 innings and struck out seven in the series opener against Fairfield.
ELON (9-6): The Phoenix went 2-2 last week, beating High Point (10-8), but losing two-of-three in a weekend series with Bryant.
George Kirby threw a complete-game, 1-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory over Bryant on Sunday. The junior struck out 11 and retired 18 straight batters to close the game. He’s 3-0 with a 1.71 ERA for the year and has registered 38 strikeouts with only one walk. Offensively,
Garrett Stonehouse batted .278 with two doubles, three runs scored and three RBI’s.
Adam Spurlin belted a grand slam in the victory over High Point and finished 2-for-4 with five RBI’s.
HOFSTRA (2-9): The Pride was 0-3 last week, falling 4-2 to Iona and dropping a pair of 4-3 contests to Fordham. Hofstra got a great start from freshman
Ryan Rue in the first Fordham game as he went 6.0 innings and allowed only two hits and an unearned run. Offensively,
Vinnie Costello homered in back-to-back games against Fordham, including a three-run shot that gave the Pride a 3-1 lead.
Sean Rausch contributed a pair of two-hit games on Saturday.
Michael James struck out a career-best eight batters in 6.0 frames vs. Iona.
JAMES MADISON (10-5): The Dukes had a 3-1 week, topping George Mason (10-7), before taking the first two games in a three-game set with High Point. Freshman
Nick Zona recorded multiple hits in all four games, including a 4-for-5 outing in the middle game of the HPU series. He batted .625 (10-16) for the week and doubled three times.
Kyle Novak was 3-for-4 with three RBI’s in Sunday’s opener and
DaVonn Griffin added a pinch-hit 3-run homer. On the mound, JMU recorded two shutouts against HPU.
Kevin Kelly allowed just two hits over 8.0 scoreless frames and fanned 11 in a 2-0 win on Saturday. On Sunday,
Nick Stewart, Shelton Perkins and
Lliam Grubbs combined on a 5-hit shutout with 10 K’s.
UNCW (10-7): The Seahawks swept a three-game weekend series from Siena to cap a 4-1 week. UNCW got a couple of big offensive performances.
Cole Weiss batted .529 with two doubles, a homer, nine runs scored and 10 RBI’s, highlighed by a grand slam vs. SIena on Saturday. He’s currently on an 8-game hitting streak. Freshman
Brooks Baldwin batted .444 with two doubles, a homer and nine RBI’s. He drove in four runs in back-to-back victories over Toledo and SIena.
Luke Gesell overcame a tough start to earn his first win of the year against Siena, allowing four htis and two runs over a career-high 7.0 innings. Five Seahawks’ hurlers combined on a 4-hitter with 16 strikeouts in the finale vs. Siena.
NORTHEASTERN (5-9): The Huskies fell 5-2 against Villanova before dropping all three games in a weekend series at Florida Atlantic.
Sean Mellen turned in another strong start in Sunday’s 2-1 loss at FAU, giving up just three hits over 5.0 shutout innings. He has a 0.82 ERA in 22.0 innings of work this season.
Jake Farrell was 2-for-4 with two RBI’s and
Ian Fair and
Jared Dupere hit solo homers in an 9-6 setback on Saturday. Farrell and Dupere also had two-run homers in the opener vs. FAU.
TOWSON (1-10): The Tigers were swept in a back-to-back doubleheaders at Sacramento State last weekend.
Gavin Weyman turned in a strong start in Friday’s second game, limiting SSU to one run on five hits over 7.0 innings, but Towson fell 1-0.
Richard Miller homered and scored twice in Saturday’s opener, while leadoff hitter
Javon Fields was 2-for-4 and scored a run in the series finale. Towson was held to just six runs in the four games.
WILLIAM & MARY (12-1): The Tribe went 4-0 last week, rolling over Norfolk State (17-2) before sweeping a 3-game series with Campbell. William & Mary increased its winning streak to nine, which is the longest since 2001 and the 12-1 start is the best since 1999. Offensively,
Hunter Smith batted .333 with two doubles, a triple and eight RBI’s. He has reached base in all 13 games this season. Freshman
Jack Cone also had a big week, hitting .500 with six walks, 10 runs scored and three stolen bases. On the mound, freshman
Zach Tsakounis had another impressive week, picking up a win and a save while throwing 7.0 shutout innings in two appearances. He fanned eight in 5.0 innings at NSU and added 3 K’s over the final two innings against Campbell. He’s 3-0 with a 0.77 ERA.