CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - May 13
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - MAY 13 (PDF)
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RICHMOND, Va. (May 13, 2024) – Charleston designated hitter
Cole Singsank was honored as the CAA Baseball Player of the Week after homering six times and driving in 15 in the Cougars’ 3-1 week. William & Mary right-hander
Nate Knowles was named Pitcher of the Week after recording a career-high 12 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Towson infielder
Taye Robinson was chosen as the Rookie of the Week after batting .476 with eight RBI’s.
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Cole Singsank, Charleston – Gr., DH – Durham, N.C.
Singsank batted .529 (9-17) with two doubles, six homers, nine runs scored and 15 RBI’s in Charleston’s 3-1 week, which included a CAA series win over Northeastern. The Cougars’ DH homered twice in a 10-7 win over The Citadel and then continued the streak by hitting two HR’s in each of the first two games of the NU series. Singsank drove in at least three runs in three games, including a 5-for-7 outing with seven RBI’s in Saturday’s 18-5 victory against the Huskies.
CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Nate Knowles, William & Mary – Sr., RHP – Arlington, Va.
Knowles allowed just one earned run on four hits over a career-long 6.1 innings and struck out a career-high 12 in William & Mary’s 5-2 victory over Towson last Friday. The 12 strikeouts were the most by a Tribe hurler since 2013 and helped W&M set a team program record for K’s (503). Knowles improved to 7-2 and increased his league-best strikeout total to 97.
CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week
Taye Robinson, Towson – Fr., IF – Gaithersburg, Md.
Robinson batted .476 (10-21) with seven runs scored and eight RBI’s in Towson’s 3-2 week. The freshman hit safely in all five games, highlighted by a career-best 4-for-6 effort with a double, triple and seven RBI’s in a 20-10 win over Richmond. He also homered in a victory over George Mason and went 2-for-4 and scored twice as Towson topped William & Mary, 9-7, last Saturday.
Conference notes:
THREE TOURNAMENT SPOTS FILLED, THREE TO GO: Half of the field for the CAA Baseball Championship is filled after Northeastern clinched a berth for the 12th year in a row. The Huskies join UNCW and Charleston, who have secured the top two seeds and first-round byes. Delaware needs one win or a Hofstra loss to make the field, leaving six teams - Stony Brook, William & Mary, Hofstra, Campbell, Elon and Monmouth - to battle for the final two spots. The championship will be held May 22-26 at UNCW’s Brooks Field. Tickets are now on sale at www.uncwsports.com/buytickets.
FOUR TEAMS IN TOP 84 OF RPI: Four CAA teams are ranked in the top 84 of the NCAA RPI. Northeastern tops the list at #31, followed by UNCW at #43, Charleston at #50 and Campbell at #84. Only seven other conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC and Sun Belt) have four teams in the top 84 of the RPI.
SINGSANK EARNS NATIONAL HONORS: In addition to his CAA Player of the Week honor, Charleston designated hitter Cole Singsank was recognized as the D1Baseball National Player of the Week and the National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA.
NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: CAA teams have fared well against non-conference competition this season. The league owns 11 wins against nationally ranked foes (UCSB (2), LSU, East Carolina, Coastal Carolina, Wake Forest (2), NC State (3) and Duke) and has 18 victories against Power 5 teams (Arizona, Boston College (2), Duke (2), Georgia Tech, Minnesota (4), NC State (3), Penn State, Purdue, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest (2)).
UNCW EARNS TOP 25 RECOGNITION: UNCW is ranked No. 21 this week by College Baseball Nation and No. 24 by Perfect Game. The Seahawks and Charleston also received votes in the NCBWA Top 25.
8-0 VS. THE ACC ON APRIL TUESDAYS: The CAA had an exceptional run of success against the ACC in April, going 8-0 over four straight Tuesdays. William & Mary (#7 Duke), UNCW (NC State) and Northeastern (Boston College) posted victories on April 9, UNCW (Wake Forest) and Campbell (NC State) earned wins on April 16, Campbell (#6 Duke) and Elon (#8 Wake Forest) picked up wins on April 23 and UNCW (#20 NC State) capped the run with a victory on April 30.
CAMPBELL (29-21, 10-14 CAA): The Camels went 2-2 last week, taking the final two games at Monmouth to end an eight-game slide. Zach Sabers moved to 5-0 after holding MU to two runs over 7.2 innings in a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Freshman Nate Brittain followed with 6.0 scoreless frames on Sunday as Campbell posted its first shutout of the year with a 6-0 triumph. Lawson Harrill belted his 23rd homer of the season and program-record 51st of his career in a 16-10 setback at #11 North Carolina. Dalen Thompson was 4-for-5 with three RBI’s at UNC and had eight hits for the week. Peyton Bonds also had four hits against the Heels and was 2-for-4 in the finale at Monmouth.
CHARLESTON (36-12, 18-5 CAA): The Cougars clinched a first-round bye for the CAA Tournament after taking two-of-three from Northeastern to cap a 3-1 week. Cole Singsank hit two homers in each of the first three games, and batted .529 with 6 HR’s and 15 RBI’s for the week. Kevin Madden belted an 8th-inning grand slam to cap a six-run rally as CofC won the finale over NU, 6-3. Will Baumhofer had seven hits and drove in six last week, recording multiple RBI’s in three games. Connor Campbell held NU to two earned runs over 7.0 innings on Sunday, while Jake Brink improved to 8-2 on Saturday after giving up one earned run in 5.0 innings against the Huskies.
DELAWARE (27-22, 14-10 CAA): The Blue Hens won two-of-three at Stony Brook to close in on a CAA Tournament berth. Delaware got a 3-run homer from Joey Loynd in Sunday’s 10-5 triumph at SBU. He leads UD with 51 RBI’s. Dom Velazquez was outstanding on the mound, giving up just one hit over 5.0 shutout innings. Bryce Greenly and Chris Dengler hit 2-run homers in back-to-back innings as the Hens picked up a 9-6 victory on Saturday. Dengler had a hit in all three games at SBU, while Greenly drove in four in the series. Eli Atiya threw 4.0 scoreless frames in two relief appearances at SBU.
ELON (21-29, 10-14 CAA): The Phoenix closed a 2-2 week with a pair of road wins at North Carolina A&T. Kenny Mallory, Jr. batted .500 (8-16) for the week with two doubles, three homers, five RBI’s and seven runs scored. He had multiple hits in three games and raised his team-leading batting average to .371. Ryan Sprock went 2-for-4 with four RBI’s and picked up the win on the mound in Sunday’s 17-12 win at A&T. Sprock was also 4-for-4 and drove in two in Saturday’s 8-6 victory over the Aggies. Will Vergantino was 5-for-10 with a homer and five RBI’s in the final two games of the A&T series. Ben Sieracki (3-4) held A&T to two hits over 3.2 scoreless innings to secure the win over A&T on Saturday.
HOFSTRA (21-30, 11-13 CAA): The Pride dropped 2-of-3 at first-place UNCW but remained in the hunt for a CAA Tournament berth. Hofstra earned a 5-2 victory on Saturday behind Carlos Martinez, who held the Seahawks to one run on four hits over 6.2 innings to win his third straight decision. He fanned six to up his season strikeout total to 84, which ranks fifth on HU’s season list. Martinez is 4-1 with a 1.21 ERA in CAA play. Mike McKenna tied a Pride season record with his 9th save after firing 1.1 scoreless frames on Saturday. Dylan Palmer batted .417 with a triple in the UNCW series to raise his team-best batting average to .382. Steve Harrington extended his hitting streak to 10 games and is batting .421 in CAA play.
MONMOUTH (17-27, 10-14 CAA): The Hawks defeated Campbell 8-7 in their series opener before dropping the final two games. James Harmstead hit a 2-run homer and drove in three in the victory and scored the game-winning run after an error in the 9th. Austin Denlinger also had a 2-run HR in the win and leads MU with 32 RBI’s for the year. Casey Caufield was 5-for-13 (.385) from the leadoff spot in the CU series and stole two bases. Phil Stahl, who is batting a team-best .366, extended his hitting streak to 12 games. Drew Helmstetter limited the Camels to one earned run on three hits over 7.0 innings and struck out nine in Game 2 of the series. Kevin Opanel held CU to two runs over 6.0 frames on Sunday.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (24-27, 8-16 CAA): The Aggies topped Elon, 8-4, on Friday as part of a 1-3 week. Coley Kilpatrick improved to 6-3 after holding EU to two earned runs on three hits and striking out nine over 7.1 innings. Canyon Brown was 3-for-5 with a double and triple in the win and batted .412 (7-17) for the week with five RBI’s. He has driven in a team-best 48 runs. Tatsunori Negishi was 7-for-12 in the Elon series and scored five times. He’s batting a team-best .380 for the season. Camden Jackson homered twice last week, doubling his season HR total.
UNCW (35-17, 19-5 CAA): The Seahawks won 2-of-3 against Hofstra to remain atop the CAA standings and secure a first-round tournament bye. Tanner Thach broke the UNCW and CAA single-season home run record with 26 after going deep four times last week, hitting two HR’s in a win at Charleston Southern and adding solo shots in the first two games vs. Hofstra. Thach ranks 2nd in the CAA with 69 RBI’s. John Newton was 3-for-5 with a homer and four RBI’s and Jac Croom belted a pair of homers in Sunday’s 14-3 win over the Pride. Jacob Shafer (4-5) held HU to two runs over 7.0 innings as UNCW won the opener over Hofstra, 13-3. Alec DeMartino added three homers and six RBI’s last week.
NORTHEASTERN (34-15, 15-9 CAA): The Huskies split four games last week, rolling over UConn (18-3) but losing 2-of-3 at Charleston. NU rallied for an 14-11 win in the opener at CofC, scoring three runs in the 8th and 9th to tie the game at 10-10 and then adding three in the 12th on a bases-loaded triple from Alex Lane. Jack Goodman batted .611 (11-18) for the week with two homers and six RBI’s. He smacked a grand slam in the UConn victory. Tyler MacGregor went 4-for-4 with three homers and five RBI’s against UConn and has 17 HR’s and 69 RBI’s for the season. Jake Gigliotti upped his record to 5-2 by throwing 2.2 scoreless innings to secure the victory at Charleston on Friday.
STONY BROOK (24-25, 12-12 CAA): The Seawolves topped Delaware, 3-2, in the opener of their CAA series last Friday before falling in the final two games. Colin Rhein (4-3) allowed just two runs over the opening 6.1 innings before Erik Paulsen followed with 2.2 scoreless frames to record his sixth save on Friday. Johnny Pilla batted .375 (6-16) for the week with a pair of doubles and five runs scored. He had multiple hits in three of the four games. Matt Brown-Eiring hit safely in all four games, including his team-leading 6th homer of the season on Sunday. Evan Fox added a 3-run shot in the finale.
TOWSON (14-38, 4-19 CAA): The Tigers had a 3-2 week, defeating A-10 foes Richmond (20-10) and George Mason (8-5) and adding a win at William & Mary (9-7) on Saturday. Jordan Peyton batted .550 (11-20) for the week with seven RBI’s. He had multiple hits in four of the five games. Taye Robinson went 4-for-6 with a career-high 7 RBI’s against Richmond and batted .476 (10-21) for the week. Elijah Dickerson also had multiple hits in four games and batted .455 (10-22). Max Simpson threw 3.0 shutout innings to close out the victory over W&M on Saturday and earn his third save.
WILLIAM & MARY (29-22, 12-12 CAA): The Tribe moved into a tie for fifth place in the CAA after winning two-of-three over Towson. Nate Knowles (7-2) held the Tigers to one earned run over 6.1 innings and struck out a career-high 12 as W&M took Sunday’s finale, 5-2. He leads the CAA with 97 K’s and has contributed to the Tribe setting a program record with 503 strikeouts this season. Carter Lovasz threw 2.2 scoreless frames to earn his sixth save on Sunday. Ben Parker was 5-for-8 with three runs scored and three RBI’s in the two wins over TU. He’s batting .356 this season. Joe Delossantos drove in five runs in the series and has a team-best 56 RBI’s for the year.