CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - April 24
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - APRIL 24 (PDF)
RICHMOND, Va. (April 24, 2023) – Stony Brook grad student third baseman
Evan Giordano earned CAA baseball Player of the Week honors, while Charleston senior right-hander
Ty Good and North Carolina A&T junior right-hander
Coley Kilpatrick shared CAA Pitcher of the Week accolades. Northeastern outfielder
Cam Maldonado was chosen as the CAA Rookie of the Week.
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Evan Giordano, Stony Brook – Gr., 3B – Sewell, N.J./Gloucester Catholic
Giordano batted .647 (11-for-17) with five doubles, two homers, eight runs scored and five RBI’s in Stony Brook’s four games last week. In the Seawolves’ series win at Elon, he went 10-for-13 (.769) with six extra base hits (five doubles and a homer) and drove in five, including a go-ahead two-run double in the 7
th in Sunday’s series clincher. Giordano also recorded his 200
th career hit on Saturday.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
Ty Good, Charleston – Sr., RHP – Rock Hill, S.C./South Pointe
Good surrendered just one hit over 7.0 shutout innings and struck out eight in Charleston’s 2-0 victory over Western Carolina on Friday. The senior retired the Catamounts in order in five of the seven frames, giving up one walk and a fifth-inning single while not allowing a runner past second base. Good, who improved to 5-2, had at least one strikeout in each inning.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
Coley Kilpatrick, North Carolina A&T – Jr., RHP – Raleigh, N.C./Millbrook
Kilpatrick fired a complete-game, three-hitter with a season-high 10 strikeouts in North Carolina A&T’s 2-1 win over William & Mary on Friday. It was the first complete game by an Aggies’ hurler in four years. Kilpatrick held the Tribe to one hit over the first six frames and carried a shutout into the ninth before giving up a solo homer. He’s now 3-4 this season.
CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week
Cam Maldonado, Northeastern – Fr., OF – Wolcott, Conn./Hamden Hall Country Day
Maldonado batted .500 (8-for-16) with a double, four homers, five runs scored and nine RBI’s in Northeastern’s 4-0 week that included a victory at No. 15 UConn and a CAA sweep of Hofstra. He was 4-for-5 with a double, two homers and six RBI’s at UConn and recorded a pair of 2-for-4 games vs. Hofstra, which included a two long balls in the series finale to break NU’s homer mark by a freshman (9).
Conference notes:
FIVE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 90 OF RPI: Five CAA teams are ranked among the top 90 of the latest NCAA RPI through games of April 23. Northeastern leads the way at #39 followed by Elon at #58, UNCW at #68, Charleston at #80, and William & Mary at #86. The CAA is one of only eight conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big West, Pac 12, SEC, Sun Belt) with at least five top 90 squads. The CAA is ranked #9 among the 30 Division I conferences.
NATIONALLY RANKED WINS CONTINUE: Northeastern defeated #15 UConn, 12-3, last Tuesday, continuing the CAA’s success against nationally ranked teams. CAA squads have recorded 10 wins over ranked opponents in the past six weeks with UNCW (4), Elon (2), Northeastern (2), Hofstra and William & Mary picking them up. The league faces two ranked opponents on Wednesday as Elon hosts #9 Campbell and Towson visits #13 Virginia.
RACE IS ON: With four weeks remaining, the top four teams in the CAA standings are separated by just 1.5 games. UNCW (13-4) is on top, but followed closely by Northeastern (13-5), Charleston (12-6) and Elon (13-7). The Cougars and Phoenix meet for a three-game series this weekend.
TOUGH ON THE MOUND: Four CAA squads rank in the top 26 nationally in ERA. Northeastern is #4 (3.42), William & Mary is #14 (3.83), Elon is #18 (3.86) and Charleston is #26 (4.17).
CHARLESTON (25-14, 12-6 CAA): The Cougars bounced back from a loss at #10 Coastal Carolina (12-4) by sweeping a three-game weekend series against Western Carolina. CofC took the opener over WCU, 2-0, as Ty Good (7.0 IP, 1 H, 8 K’s) and William Privette (2.0 IP, 0 H, 6 K’s) combined on the team’s first 1-hit shutout since 2018. Trey Pooser (5-1) fired 6.1 shutout innings and fanned six in a 9-2 win on Saturday and Cole Mathis (4-1) followed with 7.0 scoreless innings in an 11-3 win on Sunday. Mathis also reached base 10 times in the series and drove in four. Trotter Harlan went 3-for-4 with five RBI’s on Sunday, while JT Marr was 2-for-4 and knocked in three on Saturday. CofC has won seven of its last eight.
DELAWARE (20-20, 9-9 CAA): The Blue Hens dropped an 8-3 decision to Rider in the Liberty Bell Classic title game and suffered three losses at UNCW last week. Joey Silan turned in a strong start in Friday’s 2-1 setback to the Seahawks, allowed just two runs on six hits over 7.0 innings. Tyler Leach homered in the first two games of the UNCW series and has five long balls over the past two weeks. Joey Loynd had two hits in three of the four games last week. He leads the Hens with a .367 average for the season and is the CAA leader with 49 RBI’s. Dan Covino tops the conference with 47 runs scored and tops UD with 10 homers.
ELON (24-15, 13-7 CAA): The Phoenix had a 1-3 week, including a pair of CAA losses to Stony Brook. Justin Cassella had a big week at the plate, batting .467 (7-for-15) with five homers, seven RBI’s and eight runs scored. He went deep in all four games, including a pair of long balls on Sunday. Luke Stephenson went 3-for-5 with a career-high seven RBI’s in Saturday’s 18-5 victory over SBU. He doubled twice and belted a 3-run homer on Saturday and also homered on Friday. Freshman Justin Mitrovich moved to 5-2 after limiting the Seawolves to two runs over 5.2 innings and fanning seven on Saturday. James Broderick had a pair of two-hit games in the SBU series.
HOFSTRA (17-22, 9-12 CAA): The Pride ran their winning streak to seven with victories over Iona (8-3) and Fairfield (11-10), but were swept in their CAA series at Northeastern. Michael Florides excelled offensively, batting .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles and three RBI’s. He has a 9-game hitting streak. Steve Harrington has reached base in 32 consecutive games. Ryan Morash hit .400 for the week, while Kevin Bruggeman batted .350 and homered twice. Zach Bailey picked up a win in relief vs. Fairfield and batted .462 in three games. Steven Kaenzig tossed 3.0 scoreless innings in his start against Iona. Hofstra improved to 13-3 at home this season after the Iona and Fairfield victories.
MONMOUTH (14-22, 5-14 CAA): The Hawks captured their CAA series at Towson with a 21-10 victory on Saturday and a 7-6 win in 10 innings on Sunday. Harry Padden was 3-for-4 with five runs scored and a career-high seven RBI’s vs. TU on Saturday, smacking a pair of 3-run homers. The seven RBI’s were the most by a Monmouth player since 2019 and the five runs scored were the most since 2012. Ben Winstead hit a game-winning solo homer in the 10th on Sunday and was 4-for-6 with three RBI’s on Saturday. Nick Czarnecki provided a game-tying pinch-hit RBI single in the 9th on Sunday. Alex Barker earned the win on Sunday after giving up only one hit over 5.0 shutout innings and striking out nine.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (17-19, 9-10 CAA): The Aggies recorded their first CAA series sweep, taking three games from William & Mary. A&T won 2-1 on Friday behind a complete-game three-hitter with 10 strikeouts from Coley Kilpatrick. It was the first CG from an A&T hurler since 2019. Tre Williams’ solo homer in the 6th on Friday proved to be the difference. Michael Logan went 5-for-9 and scored four times in the W&M series. Anthony Hennings belted a game-winning homer in the 8th as the Aggies won 8-7 on Saturday. Camden Jackson added a three-run triple in the game. Trent Simmons threw 4.0 shutout innings to earn the win on Saturday. Cort Maynard was 3-for-5 and drove in four in a 7-3 win on Sunday.
UNCW (24-14, 13-4 CAA): The Seahawks stayed atop the CAA standings after a 3-game sweep of Delaware. UNCW gave up just eight runs in the series, with the bullpen allowing only two runs over 13.0 innings. Zane Taylor (4-2) held the Hens to one run on three hits over 6.0 innings in Saturday’s 2-1 victory. Trevor Marsh batted .417 with five RBI’s for the week. Jac Croom hit .462 in UD series, while John Newton batted .417 and homered twice. Tanner Thach was 4-for-4 with his team-leading 11th homer in Friday’s 7-3 victory. He also leads UNCW with 47 RBI’s. Brett Banks tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in three appearances last week and hasn’t given up a run in his last seven outings. He has four saves for the year.
NORTHEASTERN (32-7, 13-5 CAA): The Huskies had a 4-0 week, which started with a 12-3 win over #15 UConn and was capped by a series sweep of Hofstra. NU is 20-3 over its past 23 games and its 32 wins are tied for the 3rd-most in the nation. Mike Sirota batted .533 (8-for-15) for the week with four homers, eight RBI’s, eight runs scored and four stolen bases. Cam Maldonado stayed hot, hitting .500 with four homers and nine RBI’s last week. His nine HR’s are the most-ever for a Huskies’ freshman. Jake Gigliotti went 2-0 last week and is 7-0 this season after giving up just two hits over 6.0 shutout innings and fanning eight in the finale vs. Hofstra. Aiven Cabral (5-3) threw 7.0 scoreless frames on Friday, dropping his ERA to a CAA-best 2.19.
STONY BROOK (15-22, 7-11 CAA): The Seawolves won their first CAA series, taking two-of-three at Elon. Evan Giordano batted .769 (10-for-13) with five doubles, a homer and five RBI’s at Elon, recording at least three hits in all three games. He reached 200 career hits on Saturday. Shane Paradine batted .667 (8-12) at Elon. He had multiple hits and two RBI’s in all three games. Evan Fox provided five hits, five RBI’s and four runs from the leadoff spot vs. EU. Freshman Eddie Smink held the Phoenix to one run over 5.0 innings and struck out six in Sunday’s 8-5 win. Quinlan Montgomery picked up his first save after holding EU to one run over the final 3.0 frames. Ben Fero earned his third win on Friday.
TOWSON (12-28, 3-15 CAA): The Tigers split four games last week, putting up 38 runs in wins over Richmond (20-10) and Monmouth (18-5) before dropping the final two games against the Hawks. Reyce Curnane had another big week at the plate, batting .526 (10-19) with three homers, nine runs scored and nine RBI’s. He went deep twice and drove in five vs. UR and was 4-for-5 and knocked in four in the opener against MU. He’s batting a team-best .364. Elijah Dickerson was 4-for-5 with four RBI’s and John Cristino and Bobby Spencer each homered and drove in three vs. UR. Cristino hit .500 for the week with eight RBI’s. Casey Bishop was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and five RBI’s in the MU victory.
WILLIAM & MARY (24-17, 9-9 CAA): The Tribe went 0-4 on the road last week, falling at Duke before suffering a pair of one-run losses in a series sweep at North Carolina A&T. Nate Knowles held A&T to one run over 4.0 innings and fanned five in a 2-1 setback on Friday. Jerry Barnes II homered for W&M’s only run on Friday and then went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBI’s in Saturday’s 8-7 setback. Joe Delossantos drove in three runs in the final two games of the A&T series. Owen Pierce limited the Aggies to one run on three hits over 4.1 innings on Sunday. Ben Williamson continues to lead the CAA with a .404 batting average and a .524 on base percentage.