2020 Final CAA Baseball Report
Rob Washburn
2020 FINAL CAA BASEBALL REPORT (pdf)
Conference notes:
2020 SEASON CUT SHORT BY CORONAVIRUS: The 2020 baseball season came to an unexpected end on March 13 when it was decided that all competition would be canceled in an attempt to mitigate the spread of the Coronavirus.
FANTASTIC FINISH: CAA teams closed non-conference play with a flourish as squads went a combined 8-2 on March 10 and March 11. UNCW’s 5-2 walk-off victory over #19 East Carolina highlighted the week. Overall, CAA teams were 77-62 (.554) against non-conference foes this season.
HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE: CAA teams performed well on their home fields this season. All nine squads posted winning records at home and were a combined 52-17 (.754).
UNCW PICKED TO WIN CAA TITLE: Two-time defending CAA champion UNCW was the overwhelming choice to capture the conference title again in a vote of the league’s head coaches. The Seahawks received seven first-place votes and 63 total points, while Northeastern got two first-place votes and was second with 54 points. Charleston and Elon were tied for third, followed by William & Mary, James Madison and Delaware. Hofstra and Towson were tied for eighth.
NU’S FAIR CHOSEN AS PRESEASON PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Northeastern junior infielder Ian Fair was selected as the CAA Preseason Player of the Year by the league’s head coaches. Fair led the CAA with a .357 batting average last season and also contributed eight homers, 33 RBI’s and 38 runs scored.
CHARLESTON (12-2, 0-0 CAA): The Cougars closed the season on a six-game winning streak following an 8-3 victory over VCU. Josh Price (2-1) picked up the win out of the bullpen after allowing just one run over 4.1 innings. Freshman Sajon Belser turned in his first three-hit performance and Trotter Harlan became only the 7th player in school history to tally two triples in a game. Ari Sechopoulos finished with a .360 batting average and a CAA-best 20 RBI’s, while Donald Hansis topped the league with five homers. CofC’s pitching staff led the CAA and ranked 7th nationally with a 2.13 team ERA. Caswell Smith topped the Cougars with a 3-0 record and a 1.35 ERA while fanning 20 over 20.0 innings.
DELAWARE (8-7, 0-0 CAA): The Blue Hens topped rival Delaware State, 9-5, to finish the season on a four-game winning streak. Freshman Joey Loynd went 3-for-3 with his first two career homers and three RBI’s vs. DSU, while Jack Goan also went deep twice as part of a 3-for-5 day with four RBI’s. It was the first time since 2014 that UD had multiple players with multiple homers in the same game. Derek Wakeley gave up just one hit over 3.0 shutout innings to earn his second save. Aidan Riley finished with a team-best .389 batting average and was one of five Blue Hens’ starters who hit over .300. Wakeley was 3-1 with two saves in seven appearances for the season.
ELON (7-10, 0-0 CAA): The Phoenix dropped a 7-4 decision at #19 East Carolina in its season finale. Elon jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-run single by Adam Spurlin and an RBI single from Alex Iadisernia, but couldn’t hold on. Brian Edgington held ECU to just one run over 5.0 innings and struck out five in his first Elon start. Joe Satterfield hit his first homer of the year at ECU and batted a team-best .343 in 11 games after returning from an injury. Anthony Galason and Matt Oldham tied for the team lead with 13 RBI’s in 17 games, while Iadisernia topped the Phoenix with 14 runs scored. On the mound, Jared Wetherbee (1-1) had 27 strikeouts in 20.1 innings, while Dean McCarthy (2-2) fanned 25 over 20.2 frames.
HOFSTRA (4-10, 0-0 CAA): The Pride rallied past Long Island, 9-5, in its lone home game before the season ended. Kyle Skidmore came out of the bullpen and allowed just one run over 5.0 innings while striking out a career-high seven to earn his first win. Brian Goulard led Hofstra at the plate, going 2-for-3 with a homer, two RBI’s and three runs scored, while Ryan Morash doubled and drove in three. Austin Gauthier finished with a CAA-best .411 batting average with teammate Anthony D’Onofrio close behind at .407. Gauthier ranked 10th nationally with 1.43 runs per game (20 R in 14 G). Ryan Rue had a solid year on the hill, going 1-1 with a 3.91 ERA and striking out a team-high 15 in 23.0 innings.
JAMES MADISON (10-6, 0-0 CAA): The Dukes picked up road wins at VMI (10-3) and Maryland (4-2) to cap their season. Chase DeLauter was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and three stolen bases vs. VMI as eight of JMU’s nine starters had a hit. Fox Semones and Josh Jones smacked back-to-back homers in the victory over Maryland and JMU’s bullpen trio of Grayson Jones, Andrew Weight and Lliam Grubbs combined for 6.0 shutout innings. DeLauter finished with a team-best .382 batting average, 14 runs and seven steals, while Nick Zona was close behind at .370 with 13 RBI’s. Justin Showalter was outstanding on the mound, going 4-0 with a 0.67 ERA and striking out 21 over 26.2 innings.
UNCW (11-5, 0-0 CAA): The Seahawks closed their season in dramatic fashion, earning a 5-2 walk-off victory over #19 East Carolina. Matt Suggs delivered the game-winning 3-run homer in the ninth, while Brooks Baldwin was 3-for-4 with a double, triple and RBI. Cole Weiss finished with a team-best .305 batting average, while Noah Bridges hit .290 with eight stolen bases. UNCW’s pitching staff compiled a 3.49 team ERA, led by starters Landen Roupp (3-1, 2.00 ERA, 30 K’s), Zarion Sharpe (2-1, 2.18 ERA, 20 K’s) and Luke Gesell (3-1, 4.71 ERA). Closer Blake Deatherage finished 2-0 with three saves and a 2.77 ERA. The Seahawks led the CAA and were 27th nationally in strikeout (141) to walk (43) ratio.
NORTHEASTERN (10-5, 0-0 CAA): The Huskies defeated Hartford, 3-1, in their season-ending home opener. Cam Schlittler held the Hawks to one run on four hits over 6.2 innings to earn his first win, while Brandon Dufault worked a perfect ninth to record his CAA-best fourth save. Jared Dupere hit his first two homers of the year in the win and finished with a .359 batting average and a team-high 13 RBI’s. Teddy Beaudet topped NU with a .378 average and Scott Holzwasser batted .293 and scored 13 runs. On the mound, Kyle Murphy was 2-2 with a 3.00 ERA and struck out 25 in 18.0 innings, while Sebastian Keane (3-1, 24 K’s) and Sam Jacobsak (2-1, 3.65 ERA, 25 K’s) also had strong seasons.
TOWSON (7-8, 0-0 CAA): The Tigers won five of their final six games following a season-closing 5-2 triumph at George Washington. Brandon Austin was 3-for-4 with two RBI’s at GW and reached base in his final 12 games. Matt Arceo ranked third in the CAA with a team-best .395 batting average, while freshman Burke Camper hit .314 and drove in 11. Javon Fields led TU with 12 runs scored and seven stolen bases while batting .293. Topping the Towson pitching staff was Austin Weber, who was 2-0 with a 2.93 ERA. Nick Ramanjulu had a team-high 18 strikeouts and compliled a 3.22 ERA over 22.1 innings, while Cam Clark didn’t surrendered an earned run in 9.2 innings out of the bullpen and fanned 12.
WILLIAM & MARY (8-9, 0-0 CAA): The Tribe suffered a 19-4 setback to close the season, which snapped a four-game winning streak. Tyler Solomon hit a pair of solo homers against the Hokies, and Hunter Hart drove in his team-leading 17th run and extended his hitting streak to seven games. Hart led W&M with a .417 batting average while Brandon Raquet hit .328 with four triples, four homers and a CAA-best 22 runs scored. Jack Cone had an impressive all-around year, batting .326 with 11 runs scored and going 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA on the mound. Chris Farrell led the pitching staff with a 2-0 mark and a 0.42 ERA that led the league and ranked 16th nationally. He fanned 19 over 21.1 innings.