CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - May 6
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - MAY 6
RICHMOND, Va. (May 6, 2024) – Charleston outfielder
Avery Neaves was chosen as the CAA Baseball Player of the Week after reaching base in all 11 of his plate appearances last week, including eight extra-base hits. UNCW left-hander
Luke Craig and Hofstra right-hander Carlos Martinez shared Pitcher of the Week honors after dominant performances on the mound. Monmouth third baseman
Wyatt Hunt was named Rookie of the Week after batting .500 and driving in two in the Hawks’ 3-1 week.
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Avery Neaves, Charleston – Gr., OF – Reston, Va.
Neaves reached base in all 11 of his plate appearances, going 8-for-8 with two walks and an HBP in Charleston’s two wins at Towson last week. All eight of his hits went for extra bases with three doubles, two triples and three homers, while adding eight runs scored and five RBI’s. Neaves, who was 4-for-4 in both games, is 12-for-16 with 16 runs scored since moving to the leadoff spot four games ago.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
Luke Craig, UNCW – Sr., LHP – Sanford, N.C.
Craig went 1-0 with two saves during UNCW’s 4-0 week that included a 5-4 win at #20 NC State and a series sweep of Campbell. The lefty got the win at NCSU after giving up just one hit over 4.0 scoreless innings and striking out four. On Friday vs. Campbell, he struck out all three batters he faced to save an 8-7 victory. On Saturday, he got UNCW out of a bases loaded jam in the 8
th and then worked a scoreless 9
th for his fifth save.
CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week
Carlos Martinez, Hofstra – So., RHP – College Point, N.Y.
Martinez scattered six singles over a career-best 8.0 scoreless innings in Hofstra’s 4-0 victory at Stony Brook last Saturday. The sophomore, who evened his record at 4-4, matched his career-high with nine strikeouts and combined with Russell Hunter on the Pride’s first shutout of the season. Martinez is 3-1 with a 1.18 ERA in CAA play.
CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week
Wyatt Hunt, Monmouth – Fr., 3B – Spring Lake, N.J.
Hunt batted .500 (6-12) with two doubles, two runs scored and two RBI’s in Monmouth’s 3-1 week. The third baseman reached base in all five plate appearances in Friday’s 9-7 win over Delaware, going 4-for-4 with a two-run double and a single that helped break a 6-6 tie in the 8
th inning. He was also 2-for-3 with a double in the series finale vs. the Hens.
Conference notes:
UNCW, CHARLESTON CLINCH TOURNAMENT BERTHS: UNCW and Charleston became the first two teams to clinch berths in the CAA Baseball Championship after the first-place Seahawks swept a three-game series from Campbell and the Cougars went 2-0 at Towson before a Sunday rainout. UNCW extended its incredible streak of reaching the CAA Tournament to 38 consecutive seasons, while Charleston has made the tournament field during all 10 of its seasons as a CAA member. With two weekends left to play, four spots remain in the six-team tournament, which will be held May 22-25 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C.
8-0 VS. THE ACC OVER THE PAST FOUR TUESDAYS: The CAA continued its recent run of Tuesday success against the ACC as UNCW edged #20 NC State, 5-4, in 10 innings last Tuesday. Those results upped the CAA’s record to 8-0 against the ACC over the past four 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, and Campbell (#6 Duke) and Elon (#8 Wake Forest) picked up wins on April 23.
FOUR TEAMS IN TOP 81 OF RPI: Four CAA teams are ranked in the top 81 of the NCAA RPI. Northeastern tops the list at #39, followed by UNCW at #41, Charleston at #54 and Campbell at #81. William & Mary is close behind at #105. Only seven other conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big East, Big Ten, Pac 12, SEC and Sun Belt) have four teams in the top 81 of the RPI.
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)).
MATHIS NAMED NATIONAL HITTER OF THE WEEK: Charleston’s Cole Mathis was named the Co-National Hitter of the Week by the NCBWA on April 30. The first baseman batted .667 with three homers, seven runs scored and 11 RBI’s in the Cougars’ four road games.
UNCW EARNS TOP 25 RECOGNITION: UNCW is ranked No. 19 this week by College Baseball Nation and No. 23 by Perfect Game. The Seahawks also received votes in the NCBWA Top 25 along with Charleston and Northeastern.
CAMPBELL (27-19, 8-13 CAA): The Camels have lost six straight following a setback at Liberty and getting swept at UNCW. Lawson Harrill tied a program record with 50 career homers after going deep twice at Liberty and hitting another at UNCW. He batted .500 (8-16) for the week and is hitting a team-best .378 with 22 HR’s for the season. Reed Stallman had five hits in the UNCW series, including a pair of homers. Braeden O’Shaughnessy doubled twice and drove in two in the opener at UNCW and smacked a 2-run homer on Saturday. The Camels continue a 9-game road swing at #11 North Carolina and Monmouth this week.
CHARLESTON (33-11, 16-4 CAA): The Cougars swept a rain-shortened two-game series at Towson to clinch a berth in the CAA Tournament for the 10th straight season. Charleston is now 19-2 over its last 21 games. Avery Neaves went 8-for-8 with three doubles, two triples and three homers at TU and reached base in all 11 plate appearances. He’s 12-for-16 with 16 runs scored in four games at the leadoff spot. Kevin Madden smacked a 2-run homer in the opener and was 3-for-6 with a homer and five RBI’s on Saturday. Emmett Bice (5-3) threw 5.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen on Saturday and struck out five. Jake Brink improved to 7-2 after holding TU to two runs over 7.0 innings on Friday.
DELAWARE (25-21, 12-9 CAA): The Blue Hens split four games last week, beating George Washington (8-4) and taking the finale of their series against Monmouth (16-5). Aaron Graeber batted .500 (8-16) for the week with a homer and six RBI’s. He had multiple hits in three of the four games. Eric Ludman homered twice and drove in five and Tyler Leach was 2-for-4 with five RBI’s in Saturday’s win over MU. Tyler Strechay (4-0) got the win against the Hawks after tossing 5.0 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. Ethan Shaub also threw 5.0 shutout frames in Game 2 of the series but didn’t get a decision in a 2-1 setback.
ELON (19-27, 8-13 CAA): The Phoenix took 2-of-3 from William & Mary, sweeping a Friday doubleheader. Tank Yaghoubi had a big weekend against his former team, batting .667 (6-9) with four runs scored. He was 3-for-3 and scored three times as Elon won the opener, 8-3. Charlie Granatell had a pair of hits in all three games, finishing 6-for-14 (.429) with four RBI’s to raise his season average to .346. Leadoff man Kenny Mallory, Jr. added five hits vs. W&M and is batting a team-best .359. James Broderick belted a 2-run homer in a 9-8 victory in Game 2. Justin Mitrovich held W&M to two hits over 6.0 scoreless innings and fanned seven to up his record to 4-5.
HOFSTRA (20-28, 10-11 CAA): The Pride won 2-of-3 over rival Stony Brook, moving into a tie for 6th place after capturing their third straight CAA series. Hofstra got outstanding starting pitching in the first two games vs. SBU. Michael O’Hanlon (5-3) gave up two runs on four hits over 8.1 innings and struck out eight in Friday’s 3-2 win, and Carlos Martinez (4-4) followed by scattering six singles over 8.0 scoreless frames with a career-high tying 9 K’s as the Pride posted their first shutout, 4-0, on Saturday. Steve Harrington reached a pair of milestones with his 20th career homer on Friday and his 100th career RBI on Sunday. Mike McKenna recorded a pair of saves last week to up his total to eight for the season.
MONMOUTH (16-25, 9-12 CAA): The Hawks posted a 3-1 week on the road, edging Lafayette (7-6) before sweeping a Friday doubleheader at Delaware to secure their second straight CAA series win. Harry Padden batted .389 (7-18) with two doubles, a homer and six RBI’s for the week. He had a pair of hits in three of the four games and stole home vs. LC to tie the game at 6-6 in the 8th. He has a career-high 12 SB’s which is the most for a MU player since 2019. Wyatt Hunt was 4-for-4 with two RBI’s in a series opening 9-7 win over the Hens and he hit .500 (6-12) for the week. Alec Couture held UD to one run on three hits over 7.0 innings as the Hawks took Friday’s nightcap, 2-1.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (23-24, 7-14 CAA): The Aggies went 2-2 last week, falling at Virginia Tech before sweeping a Friday doubleheader over Northeastern as part of a CAA series win. TJ Ash had at least one hit in all four games and batted .385 (5-13) with a homer and five RBI’s in the NU series. Canyon Brown hit .545 and drove in three against the Huskies, including a 4-for-5 effort with a homer and two RBI’s in a 13-5 win in the series opener. Tre Williams was also 4-for-5 and scored three runs in that game and finished the series batting .583 (7-12). The Aggies took a 4-2 win over NU in Game 2 as Angel Ortiz evened his record at 3-3 the Huskies to one run over 6.0 innings while striking out eight.
UNCW (32-16, 17-4 CAA): The Seahawks had an impressive 4-0 week, knocking off #20 NC State (5-4) before sweeping their CAA series over Campbell to clinch a tournament berth for the 38th straight year. Trevor Marsh had two hits in all four games and batted .500 (8-16) with four doubles, a homer and five RBI’s. He drove in the eventual game-winning run at NCSU. Tanner Thach set a program record with his 22nd homer of the season in Sunday’s 14-7 win over CU. He was 6-for-13 and drove in seven vs. the Camels. RJ Sales improved to a CAA-best 9-2 after limiting CU to one earned run over 6.0 innings on Sunday. Luke Craig threw 6.1 scoreless innings out of the pen, getting a win and two saves.
NORTHEASTERN (32-13, 14-7 CAA): The Huskies dropped a doubleheader at North Carolina A&T on Friday, but rebounded for a 13-3 victory on Saturday. Tyler MacGregor hit a pair of solo homers in the series opener and went deep twice and drove in five in the finale. He’s tied with Alex Lane for the team lead with 14 HR’s. Luke Beckstein had four hits over the final two games. Cam Maldonado also had four hits in the series, including a homer on Friday. Wyatt Scotti set a program record with his 25th career win on Saturday. He held A&T to one earned run over 6.0 innings and struck out seven to move to 7-4 for the season.
STONY BROOK (23-22, 11-10 CAA): The Seawolves had a 1-3 week, but beat rival Hofstra, 11-6, on Sunday to end a five-game slide. Brett Paulsen went 4-for-5 with a double, homer and five RBI’s in the win and tallied six hits in the final two games of the series. It was the fifth 4-hit game for a SBU player this season and the first five-RBI effort of the year. Evan Fox batted .455 (5-11) against the Pride and scored twice. Brendan Patterman allowed just one earned run over 5.0 innings in a pair of relief outings, and earned his second save on Sunday. Erik Paulsen had a hit in all four games and batted .313 for the week. He also threw 3.0 innings of relief, giving up just one run.
TOWSON (11-36, 3-17 CAA): The Tigers rolled past Mount St. Mary (19-8), but fell twice to Charleston in CAA play last week. Brian Heckelman had a career day at MSM, going 3-for-4 with two homers, four runs scored and six RBI’s. Jordan Peyton batted .571 (8-14) with five RBI’s over the three games, tallying a career-high four hits at MSM before going 4-for-8 in the Charleston series. Elijah Dickerson was 6-for-14 and scored five runs last week, raising his team best batting average to .339. Reliever Nick Karls threw 2.0 scoreless innings vs. CofC and didn’t allow an earned run over 2.2 frames.
WILLIAM & MARY (27-21, 10-11 CAA): The Tribe went 1-3 on the road last week, losing at #12 North Carolina and dropping 2-of-3 at Elon. W&M broke loose for a 20-1 victory over EU in the series finale as Christian Rush became the first Tribe player since 2007 to hit for the cycle, going 4-for-5 with four runs scored and three RBI’s. Rush, who also stole home on Saturday, was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBI’s in Game 2 of the series. Joe Delossantos went 3-for-6 with two homers, including a grand slam, and six RBI’s on Saturday. He tops W&M wit 13 HR’s and 51 RBI’s. Carter Lovasz earned his fifth save with 3.0 scoreless innings at EU. His 17 career saves are one shy of the program record.