CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - April 17
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - APRIL 17 (pdf)
RICHMOND, Va. (April 17, 2023) – Delaware junior catcher
Tyler Leach and Charleston junior infielder
Luke Wood shared CAA baseball Player of the Week accolades after huge performances at the plate, while Hofstra grad student right-hander
Brad Camarda was honored as the CAA Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout. UNCW pitcher
Connor Kane and William & Mary outfielder
Tank Yaghoubi were chosen as CAA Co-Rookies of the Week.
CAA Baseball Co-Player of the Week
Tyler Leach, Delaware – Jr., C – Bel Air, Md./John Carroll
Leach batted .467 (7-15) with three homers, six runs scored and 11 RBI’s in Delaware’s 5-0 week. The junior belted a 2-run homer in the 7
th and 3-run homer in the 8
th as the Hens rallied for an 8-7 win over North Carolina A&T on Friday and followed with a grand slam in Sunday’s 11-4 victory over the Aggies. He had multiple hits in three of the five games.
CAA Baseball Co-Player of the Week
Luke Wood, Charleston – Jr., IF – Fletcher, N.C./TC Roberson
Wood batted .474 (9-19) with four homers, five runs scored and 10 RBI’s in Charleston’s 4-0 week. The junior batted .571 (8-14) and drove in nine in a series sweep at Monmouth that included multiple hits in all three games. He became the first CofC player since 2012 to smack three homers in a game on Friday against the Hawks.
CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Brad Camarda, Hofstra – Gr., RHP – Dix Hills, N.Y./Half Hollow Hills West
Camarda tossed a complete-game, four-hit shutout as Hofstra topped Towson, 13-0, on Sunday for a series sweep. It was the second complete-game shutout in three weeks for Camarda, who struck out six and walked just one. He won his fourth straight decision to move to 4-1 this season and took over 2
nd place on the Pride’s career wins list with 17.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Connor Kane, UNCW – Fr., RHP – Wilmington, N.C./Laney
Kane came out of the bullpen to hold #23 TCU to two hits over a career-long 5.2 innings and earn the win as UNCW beat the Horned Frogs, 12-6, to clinch the series. The freshman, who struck out a career-high six, held TCU scoreless for four consecutive innings as UNCW broke the game open.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Tank Yaghoubi, William & Mary – Fr., OF – Massapequa, N.Y./Woodberry Forest
Yaghoubi batted .429 with four runs scored and two RBI’s in William & Mary’s 3-1 week that included a series win over Elon. The freshman scored the game-winning run in the 10
th on Friday as the Tribe edged the Phoenix, 6-5. On Sunday, he started a two-out rally with a base hit in the 9
th and then scored the tying run as W&M won 4-3. Yaghoubi hit safely in all four games.
Conference notes:
SEASON-HIGH SIX CAA TEAMS IN TOP 100 OF RPI: A season-high six CAA teams are ranked among the top 100 of the latest NCAA RPI through games of April 16. Elon leads the way at #34 followed by Northeastern at #47, William & Mary at #66, UNCW at 70, Charleston at #83 and Delaware at #99. The CAA is one of only seven conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC, Sun Belt) with at least six top 100 squads. The CAA is ranked #9 among the 30 Division I conferences.
UNCW WINS SERIES AT #23 TCU: UNCW posted its first road series win over a ranked opponent, taking two-of-three from #23 TCU over the weekend. The Seahawks captured Friday’s opener 14-6 and then earned a 12-6 victory on Sunday as their offense piled up 31 runs on 33 hits over the three games.
NATIONALLY RANKED WINS CONTINUE: CAA teams have recorded nine wins over nationally ranked teams over the past five weeks with UNCW (4), Elon (2), Northeastern, Hofstra and William & Mary picking them up. The league faces three ranked opponents on Tuesday as Charleston visits #10 Coastal Carolina, UNCW hosts #11 Campbell and Northeastern travels to #15 UConn.
TOUGH ON THE MOUND: Three CAA squads rank in the top 13 nationally in ERA. Elon is #8 (3.49), Northeastern is #11 (3.53), and William & Mary is #13 at 3.65.
CHARLESTON (22-13, 12-6 CAA): The Cougars outscored their opponents 51-9 during an impressive 4-0 week, beating Charleston Southern (8-0) and sweeping a 3-game series at Monmouth. Luke Wood homered three times and drove in seven at MU on Friday and was 8-for-14 with 4 HR’s and 9 RBI’s in the series. Cole Mathis hit .429 last week with three homers and 10 RBI’s and pushed his hitting streak to 10 games. Will Baumhofer has reached base in 24 straight games and Joseph Mershon has reached in 23. Trey Pooser (4-1) threw 6.0 shutout innings and struck out six vs. MU on Saturday, Ty Good (4-2) tallied 6.1 scoreless frames with 8 K’s on Friday and Connor Campbell threw 5.0 shutout innings vs. CSU.
DELAWARE (20-16, 9-6 CAA): The Blue Hens went 5-0 last week, capped by a three-game sweep of North Carolina A&T. Tyler Leach hit a 2-run homer in the 7th and 3-run shot in the 8th as UD rallied past A&T, 8-7, on Friday. He added a grand slam on Sunday for an 11-RBI week. The Hens overcame a 3-0 deficit vs. A&T on Saturday as Aidan Kane and Dan Covino went deep and Jake Dunion scored the winning run on a wild pitch in the 9th for a 4-3 triumph. Carter Welch held George Washington to two earned runs over a career-high 7.0 innings in an 8-3 victory. It was the longest start by a Hens’ hurler this season. Anthony Gubitosi didn’t give up a run over 2.1 innings in three appearances last week.
ELON (23-12, 12-5 CAA): The Phoenix split four road games last week, defeating High Point (7-3) but losing two-of-three at William & Mary. A two-run homer in the 8th by Ryan Sprock helped Elon rally past HPU. Shea Sprague (5-2) scattered six hits and struck out nine over 7.0 shutout innings in an 8-0 win over W&M on Saturday and lowered his ERA to 2.45. Spencer Bauer didn’t give up a hit over the final 2.0 frames and now has a 0.40 ERA in 22.1 innings this season. Adam Berry belted a 3-run homer and Parker Haskin added a 3-run double in the victory. Tanner Holliman and Luke Stephenson both went deep on Sunday at W&M, but the Phoenix suffered their second one-run walk-off setback to the Tribe.
HOFSTRA (15-19, 9-9 CAA): The Pride are on a season-best five-game winning streak after a 17-5 rout of St. John’s and a three-game sweep of Towson last week. Kevin Bruggeman batted .438 with four doubles, six RBI’s and seven runs scored, including going 6-for-12 vs. TU. Anthony D’Onofrio hit .571 (8-14) last week, while Michael Florides batted .500 and drove in five as Hofstra outscored its opponents 51-19. Brad Camarda (4-1) threw his second complete-game shutout in three weeks, limiting TU to four hits in a 13-0 win. Mark Faello earned the win as a starter vs. SJU after giving up two runs over 6.0 innings and then tossed 3.1 shutout innings against Towson to earn his first save.
MONMOUTH (12-19, 3-13 CAA): The Hawks dropped four games last week, losing 17-11 to Princeton before being swept by Charleston. All nine Monmouth starters had at least one hit vs. Princeton as the Hawks tallied 10+ runs for the eighth time this season. Will Trochiano was 3-for-3 and one of four players with a pair of RBI’s. Austin Denlinger went 4-for-5 with a double and two RBI’s and Jay Bant was 2-for-5 with a homer and two RBI’s in Sunday’s 12-6 setback to Charleston. James Harmstead accounted for all of the Hawks’ offense on Friday and Saturday with a solo homer and a 2-run shot. He has 6 HR’s for the year.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (14-18, 6-10 CAA): The Aggies picked up a 12-11 walk-off win in 11 innings of High Point, but dropped a pair of one-run contests in their three-game series at Delaware. Camden Jackson batted .563 (9-16) with three doubles, a homer and five RBI’s last week. He had four hits vs. HPU and belted a 3-run homer vs. UD on Sunday. Anthony Hennings went 2-for-4 with a double and homer in Friday’s 8-7 loss to the Hens. Coley Kilpatrick limited UD to three runs on three hits over 6.0 innings on Friday. Devon Rodriguez delivered the game-winning hit in the 11th to beat High Point. The Aggies used 10 pitchers in the game, with Avery Cain throwing a scoreless frame to get his first win.
UNCW (21-13, 10-4 CAA): The Seahawks won two-of-three at #23 TCU, continuing their streak of not losing a weekend series all season. Taber Mongero was 3-for-5 with three RBI’s in Friday’s 14-6 win over the Horned Frogs and had a two-run single in Sunday’s 12-6 victory. He was perfect in 21 defensive chances. Freshman Tanner Thach went 3-for-5 with a double, homer and five RBI’s on Friday. He tops UNCW with 10 homers and 43 RBI’s for the year. Bryan Arendt batted .600 (6-10) for the week, including a 3-for-5 outing on Sunday. Brett Banks threw 2.2 scoreless innings to finish the two TCU wins. Connor Kane held TCU to two hits over a career-long 5.2 innings from the pen and fanned a career-high six.
NORTHEASTERN (28-7, 10-5 CAA): The Huskies had a 3-1 week, which included their fourth straight CAA series win at Stony Brook. Freshman Cam Maldonado became the first NU player to hit for the cycle this centure, going 5-for-6 with two doubles, a triple, homer and six RBI’s in an 18-11 win over UMass. He batted .444 for the week and is now 17-for-17 in stolen bases after swiping four. Eric Yost (3-0) held SBU to six hits over 8.1 shutout innings and struck out six in a 5-0 victory on Sunday. Alex Lane smacked his league-leading 11th homer in Sunday’s win and also went deep to start a five-run 10th inning in Friday’s 8-3 triumph. Wyatt Scotti gave up just one run over 7.0 frames vs. SBU on Friday.
STONY BROOK (13-20, 5-10 CAA): The Seawolves suffered a pair of 10-inning setbacks during a 1-3 week. Stony Brook beat Northeastern 11-3 on Saturday as Matt Brown-Eiring went 3-for-4 with a homer and four RBI’s. Evan Fox, Evan Giordano and Brett Paulsen also had three hits in the victory. Josh O’Neill (4-3) earned the win after holding NU to one run on three hits over 6.0 innings and striking out eight. Giordano, Brown-Eiring and Shane Pardine hit homers in a 7-6 loss to Army. Fox batted .429 (6-14) in the NU series, while Giordano was 5-for-13 vs. the Huskies and is batting a team-best .355 for the season.
TOWSON (10-26, 2-13 CAA): The Tigers had an 0-4 week, falling to George Washington and losing three games at Hofstra. Towson was beaten 14-10 by the Pride on Friday despite tallying 17 hits. Reyce Curnane was 4-for-4 with a two-run homer, while Elijah Dickerson was 3-for-5 and drove in five. Dickerson batted .583 (7-12) for the week and is on a six-game hitting streak. Curnane is hitting a team-best .325 in 21 games. Jeremy Wagner had six hits last week and has a hit in eight of his last nine contests. Jordan Peyton belted a two-run homer on Saturday that gave the Tigers a 4-3 advantage. Towson starts a five-game homestand on Wednesday.
WILLIAM & MARY (24-13, 9-6 CAA): The Tribe posted three walk-off victories in a 3-1 week, rallying past VCU (13-12) before edging Elon 6-5 in 10 innings on Friday and 4-3 on Sunday. W&M plated two runs with two out in the 9th on Sunday as Corey Adams had the game-winning two-run single. Lucas Carmichael had five hits last week, including a game-tying RBI double in the 9th vs. Elon on Friday. Freshman Tank Yaghoubi batted .429 for the week and scored the winning run in two games. Rojo Prarie threw 4.0 shutout innings and struck out five vs. Elon on Friday. He has a 0.92 ERA in 29.1 innings of work this season. Nate Knowles fanned eight over 3.0 scoreless frames vs. Elon on Sunday.