CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - Feb. 26
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - FEB. 26 (PDF)
RICHMOND, Va. (February 26, 2024) – Campbell junior
Grant Knipp earned CAA baseball Player of the Week honors after a monster performance at the plate and a clutch outing on the mound, while Charleston grad left-hander
Connor Campbell was chosen as the CAA Pitcher of the Week after taking a perfect game into the 8
th inning. William & Mary’s
Anthony Greco and Stony Brook’s
Nicholas Rizzo shared Rookie of the Week accolades.
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Grant Knipp, Campbell – Jr., C/P – Louisville, Ky.
Knipp excelled at the plate and on the mound as Campbell extended its winning streak to six with a 4-0 week. The junior batted .462 (6-13) with a 1.462 slugging% after contributing four homers, a double and 11 RBI’s. He also walked four times and stole two bases. Knipp went deep and drove in at least three runs in three games. In the Camels’ 7-6 win over No. 11 East Carolina last Tuesday, Knipp had a homer and four RBI’s and recorded a save in his first career pitching outing by working a scoreless ninth inning.
CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Connor Campbell, Charleston – Gr., LHP – Mason Neck, Va.
Campbell took a perfect game into the 8
th inning as Charleston improved to 7-0 with a 13-0 victory over Youngstown State on Sunday. The left-hander retired the first 20 batters he faced before giving up a two-out single. Campbell, who moved to 2-0, allowed just one hit over 7.2 innings and fanned three with no walks.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Anthony Greco, William & Mary – Fr., IF/OF – Buffalo, N.Y.
Greco batted .385 (5-13) with two homers and seven RBI’s in William & Mary’s 4-0 week. In the Tribe’s 10-1 win at Richmond, the freshman contributed a 2-run homer and a grand slam in back-to-back at-bats. Greco also reached base in all four plate appearances on Sunday vs. UMass Lowell.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Nicholas Rizzo, Stony Brook – Fr., LHP – East Islip, N.Y.
Making his second career start, Rizzo scattered eight hits and allowed just one run over 8.0 innings to earn the win as Stony Brook beat Northwestern State, 5-1, last Saturday. The left-hander struck out four and needed only 92 pitches in the victory.
Conference notes:
WELCOME BACK TO BATON ROUGE: Stony Brook recorded the highest-ranked win in program history last Friday, knocking off No. 3 LSU, 5-2, behind outstanding pitching from Eddie Smink (5.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 7 K’s) and Erik Paulsen (4.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 3 K’s) and three RBI’s from Robert Taylor. It was the latest good fortune in Baton Rouge for the Seawolves, who upset the Tigers in the 2012 Super Regionals to reach the College World Series.
CAMELS MOVE INTO THE TOP 25: Riding a six-game winning streak with three victories over nationally ranked foes, Campbell jumped into the Top 25 this week. The Camels are ranked No. 21 by D1Baseball.com, No. 24 by the NCBWA and No. 25 by Baseball America. Campbell, which beat No. 17 UC Santa Barbara twice and No. 11 East Carolina, visits No. 22 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday. William & Mary received votes in the NCBWA poll.
SIZZLING START CONTINUES: It’s been a great start to the season for CAA teams, which includes four wins over nationally ranked foes (UCSB - 2, LSU, East Carolina) and five victories against Power 5 teams (Arizona, Penn State, Purdue, Minnesota - 2). Charleston (7-0) is one of only 17 remaining unbeaten teams, while Campbell, North Carolina A&T and William & Mary are off to 6-1 starts. All three of Northeastern’s wins were against Power 5 teams and UNCW claimed its first two weekend series.
TAKING ON NO. 1: North Carolina A&T will host No. 1 Wake Forest on Tuesday afternoon and Elon will visit the Demon Deacons on Sunday afternoon. The Phoenix beat Wake, 5-3, last April. Towson has a four-game weekend series at No. 14 NC State.
NORTHEASTERN PICKED TO WIN CAA TITLE: Northeastern was picked to capture the CAA baseball championship in 2024, receiving eight first-place votes and 118 total points from a survey of the coaches. Defending CAA champion UNCW (110 points) got the other four first-place votes and was second in the poll, league newcomer Campbell (103) was third and Charleston (89) was fourth. Rounding out the poll were Elon (77), Delaware (71), William & Mary (65), Stony Brook (48), Hofstra (47), North Carolina A&T (30), Towson (22) and Monmouth (12).
CAMPBELL JOINS THE CAA: CAA baseball expands to 12 teams in 2024 with the addition of Campbell, which won four of the last five Big South titles and has made five straight trips to the NCAA Tournament. Teams will play a 27-game conference schedule, with three-game series against nine of the 11 league members. The top six teams in the standings will compete at the CAA Baseball Championship, which will be held May 22-25 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C.
CAMPBELL (6-1, 0-0 CAA): The Camels extended their winning streak to six following a 7-6 victory over No. 11 East Carolina and a 3-game sweep of Ohio. Grant Knipp had a monster week at the plate, batting .462 with four homers and 11 RBI’s. He went deep in three of the four games. Braeden O’Shaughnessy provided a walk-off RBI single in Sunday’s 8-7 win over Ohio. Freshman Peyton Bonds hit .364 for the week with three RBI’s and three stolen bases. On the mound, Derek Vartanian threw 6.0 shutout innings and struck out 11 in Friday’s 8-2 triumph over the Bobcats. Campbell visits #22 Coastal Carolina on Tuesday.
CHARLESTON (7-0, 0-0 CAA): The Cougars remained unbeaten following a 3-game weekend sweep of Youngstown State. CofC, which ranks 5th nationally in ERA (1.86), got excellent pitching vs. YSU. Connor Campbell took a perfect game into the 8th in Sunday’s 13-0 win, Aidan Hunter tossed 5.0 shutout frames on Saturday and Jake Brink allowed just one run over 7.0 innings in a 2-1 triumph on Friday. Kevin Madden led CofC offensively, batting .600 (6-10) vs. the Penguins with two homers, three RBI’s and five runs scored. Trotter Harlan belted a grand slam on Saturday. Charleston hosts Nebraska in a 4-game series this week.
DELAWARE (4-2, 0-0 CAA): The Blue Hens had a 3-1 week, including a road series win at Jacksonville. Andrew Amato went 3-for-3 with two homers and six RBI’s in Saturday’s 14-4 victory at JU. UD smacked six homers as a team in the game. In Sunday’s 2-1 triumph, Doug Marose limited JU to one run over 5.2 innings with 6 K’s and Anthony Gubitosi picked up the save after retiring all eight batters he faced with five strikeouts. Bryce Greenly drove in four runs and Aaron Graeber and Aidan Kane had three RBI’s apiece as UD beat Delaware State, 14-8, in its home opener. The Hens host Lehigh and Lafayette this week.
ELON (3-4, 0-0 CAA): The Phoenix split four games last week, falling 8-7 at No. 15 North Carolina before taking two-of-three from NJIT. Kenny Mallory, Jr. had multiple hits in all four games, batting .563 (9-16) with a double, homer, nine runs scored and six RBI’s. He had a grand slam in Saturday’s 27-8 romp of NJIT, which was the 2nd-highest run total in EU’s Div. I history. Charlie Granatell extended his streak of games with multiple hits to seven on Saturday and is batting .531 for the year. Justin Mitrovich was outstanding once again on Friday, giving up just two hits over 7.0 shutout innings and fanning a career-high 11. Mitrovich has 0.64 ERA in 14.0 innings with 20 K’s.
HOFSTRA (2-4, 0-0 CAA): The Pride won two-of-three at Liberty over the weekend. Dylan Palmer stayed hot, hitting .636 (7-11) with six runs scored in the series. He extended his hitting streak to 15 games and leads the CAA and ranks 8th nationally with a .600 batting average. Hofstra hit five homers in the series, including a pair from Santino Rosso. The Pride also was 11-for-11 in stolen bases against the Flames. Michael Brown made his first career start on Sunday and reached base three times, scored twice and had his first RBI. Steven Kaenzig threw five scoreless innings on Saturday before running into trouble in the 6th. Mike McKenna picked up a save on Friday.
MONMOUTH (1-6, 0-0 CAA): The Hawks were swept in their three-game series at Mercer, including a 6-5 setback on Friday that was their third one-run loss. Phil Stahl was 2-for-2 with a double and three RBI’s on Friday. Dylan Perry was 3-for-4 in the opener and drove in two runs on Saturday. Casey Caufield contributed five hits from the leadoff spot in the series. Jimmy Wigo threw 2.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Sunday. Harry Padden continues to lead MU in batting (.455), homers (2) and RBI’s (6). The Hawks head to Baltimore this weekend to meet Rider and UMBC.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (6-1, 0-0 CAA): The Aggies had a 3-1 week, which included a 9-2 road win at Gardner-Webb and a pair of victories at the Andre Dawson Classic in Florida. Tatsunori Negishi had a hit in all four games and batted .500 (7-14) for the week with four doubles and five RBI’s. He drove in three in Sunday’s 14-5 victory against Grambling and is batting .412 for the season. Tre Williams was 2-for-5 with two RBI’s in the GWU win and followed with three hits against Prairie View. Evan Hart earned the win vs. Grambling after giving up only one run over 5.0 innings while fanning six. The Aggies host #1 Wake Forest on Tuesday before welcoming Eastern Ilinois this weekend.
UNCW (4-3, 0-0 CAA): The Seahawks split four games last week, rebounding from a setback at #25 Coastal Carolina to take two-of-three from Princeton. RJ Sales was outstanding once again, limiting Princeton to one hit over 7.0 shutout innings and fanning six. He’s 2-0 with a 0.71 ERA and opponents are batting just .050. Jacob Shafer struck out 10 in only 5.0 innings on Saturday. John Newton had a strong week offensively, batting .500 (6-12) with seven runs scored. He was 4-for-5 in the opener vs. Princeton and was a homer shy of hitting for the cycle. UNCW hosts Liberty for a three-game weekend trip to South Alabama.
NORTHEASTERN (3-2, 0-0 CAA): The Huskies swept a pair of games from Big Ten foe Minnesota in Florida. Justin Boland batted .833 (5-6) with two doubles, two triples and four runs scored to pace the NU offense. He also stole three bases, including swiping home for the go-ahead run in an 8-7 triumph. Alex Lane was 3-for-8 with two RBI’s and two runs scored in the series and Tyler MacGregor tallied four hits. Wyatt Scotti earned the win on Sunday after giving up just three hits over 5.0 shutout innings and fanning three. Aidan Tucker followed with two hitless frames. NU is at Mercer this weekend.
STONY BROOK (3-5, 0-0 CAA): The Seawolves went 2-2 in Baton Rouge, splitting a pair of games against both #3 LSU and Northwestern State. SBU upset the Tigers, 5-2, on Friday as Eddie Smink gave up just one earned run over 5.0 innings with 7 K’s and Erik Paulsen followed with 4.0 shutout frames. Brett Paulsen was 3-for-4 and Robert Taylor was 2-for-4 with three RBI’s in the victory. The Seawolves also topped NSU, 5-1, as freshman Nicholas Rizzo allowed one run over 8.0 innings. Taylor also drove in two runs in that win. Johnny Pilla smacked a 3-run homer in a loss to LSU on Sunday. SBU travles to Virginia Tech for a 3-game series this weekend.
TOWSON (1-6, 0-0 CAA): The Tigers were swept in a three-game series at Florida Atlantic last weekend. Towson scored just one run in all three games, with Bryce Frederick smacking solo homers in his first at-bat in two of the contests. Elijah Dickerson posted a pair of two-hit games against the Owls. On the mound, Brett Seils surrendered three runs over 4.1 innings with seven strikeouts. Bobby Spencer provided 2.2 scoreless frames out of the bullpen and Matt Lynch had 2.0 shutout innings of relief. Towson plays a four-game series at No. 14 NC State this weekend.
WILLIAM & MARY (6-1, 0-0 CAA): The Tribe increased its winning streak to six following a 4-0 week that featured a 10-1 victory at Richmond followed by a home sweep of UMass Lowell. Freshman Anthony Greco provided a 2-run homer and a grand slam in consecutive at-bats at UR. Joe Delossantos hit .400 (6-15) with two doubles, a homer and five runs scored. Nate Knowles was excellent on the mound, holding UR hitless over 3.0 innings before firing 4.0 scoreless innings vs. UML on Sunday as part of a shutout. Knowles hasn’t given up a run over 10.0 frames this season and has 18 K’s. Mark Hindy had another good outing, holding UML to one hit over 3.2 frames and fanning six. W&M has four home games this week, including one vs. ACC foe Boston College.