CAA Baseball Weekly Awards - April 14
Rob Washburn
CAA BASEBALL WEEKLY REPORT - APRIL 14 (PDF)
RICHMOND, Va. (April 14, 2025) – Elon junior catcher
Alex Duffey was selected as the CAA baseball Player of the Week, while Charleston junior right-hander
Jake Brink was chosen as the CAA Pitcher of the Week. Monmouth freshman pitcher
Ryan Mealy and North Carolina A&T freshman outfielder
Bruce Wyche shared CAA Rookie of the Week honors.
CAA Baseball Player of the Week
Alex Duffey, Elon – Jr., C – Bernardsville, N.J.
Duffey batted .643 (9-14) with three doubles, five runs scored and five RBI’s in Elon’s 2-2 week. The junior had multiple hits and drove in at least one run in all four games, going 3-for-4 with two RBI’s vs. No. 16 North Carolina before going 6-for-10 with four runs and three RBI’s in a series victory over Towson. Duffey is batting a league-best .468 in CAA play.
CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week
Jake Brink, Charleston – Jr., RHP – Whitestone, N.Y,
Brink allowed just a pair of singles over 7.0 shutout innings and struck out a career-high nine in Charleston’s 12-0 win over Delaware last Friday. The junior retired the first nine batters he faced, didn’t allow a runner past second base and fanned at least one in six of seven frames. Brink (5-2) is the first CofC pitcher to throw back-to-back complete games since Bailey Ober in 2016.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Ryan Mealy, Monmouth – Fr., RHP – Wappingers Falls, N.Y.
Mealy fired a complete-game shutout with a career-high 10 strikeouts in Monmouth’s 13-0 win at North Carolina A&T on Sunday. The right-hander retired the first nine batters he faced and scattered six singles over 9.0 innings. The 10 K’s were the most by a Hawks’ pitcher since 2023 and it was MU’s first 9-inning complete game since 2019.
CAA Baseball Co-Rookie of the Week
Bruce Wyche, North Carolina A&T – Fr., OF – McDonough, Ga.
Wyche batted .500 (10-20) with a double, two homers, four runs scored and five RBI’s in North Carolina A&T’s 3-2 week. The freshman recorded multiple hits in four of the five contests, including first-inning homers from the leadoff spot against High Point and Monmouth. He batted .500 in the Aggies’ series victory over the Hawks.
Conference notes:
NORTHEASTERN EXTENDS CAA LEAD: Northeastern opened up a three-game lead atop the CAA standings following a sweep of its conference series with Hofstra. The Huskies are the only team to have captured all four of their conference series, including a pair of sweeps. Northeastern, which has won 13 of its last 14 games, has a pair of home contests against Big 12 foe Kansas State this week before hosting Charleston in a key CAA series. The Huskies have climbed to #56 in the latest NCAA RPI.
COMPETITIVE CONFERENCE RACE: While Northeastern has built a 3-game advantage atop the conference, the rest of the league standings remain tight.
Charleston, North Carolina A&T and
William & Mary are tied for second at 7-5 and only two games separate second place to 11th place in the standings.
PUTTING UP ZEROS: There were five shutouts in CAA play last weekend, including three stellar complete-game pitching performances. Throwing the complete games were Monmouth’s
Ryan Mealey (9 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 10 K’s), Elon’s
Justin Mitrovich (8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 7 K’s), and Charleston’s
Jake Brink (7 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 9 K’s). Northeastern, which leads the nation with nine shutouts this season, got a pair of combined shutouts that included strong starts from
Jordan Gottesman (7 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 9 K’s) and
Aiven Cabral (6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 8 K’s).
CAMPBELL (15-20, 6-6 CAA): The Camels had a 1-3 week on the road, suffering a 10-7 walk-off loss at Duke and dropping two-of-three at Stony Brook.
Charlie Meglio homered twice and drove in five at Duke and added a 3-run shot in Sunday’s 16-6 win at SBU. He has 8 HR’s for the season.
Jett Music had five hits in the SBU series, including a pair of solo homers on Sunday. He tops the Camels with a .311 batting average.
Lleyton Grubich threw 4.0 shutout innings of relief and struck out four at SBU on Saturday.
Jake Murray fanned five at Stony Brook on Sunday, raising his CAA-best strikeout total to 60.
CHARLESTON (21-13, 7-5 CAA): The Cougars topped Charleston Southern (6-4) before winning their third CAA series of the season over Delaware.
Jake Brink (5-2) threw a complete-game 2-hit shutout in Friday’s 12-0 victory over the Hens and
Daniel Brooks (4-1) followed by allowing one run over 7.0 frames in Saturday’s 9-3 triumph. Freshman
Landon Penfield was a single shy of the cycle vs. UD on Friday, going 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBI’s. He batted .400 with four extra base hits for the week.
Ethan Plyler was 2-for-4 and drove in four against the Hens on Saturday.
Davis Aiken tallied his 17th career save vs. CSU.
DELAWARE (18-16, 6-6 CAA): The Blue Hens ended a 1-3 week on a high note, beating Charleston 11-1 on Sunday.
Brett Walmsley was 2-for-3 with his first collegiate homer and four RBI’s in the win.
Brett Lesher was 4-for-5 and doubled twice in the game and
Aiden Stewart drove in two. Four UD pitchers combined on a 2-hitter, with starter
Tim Hartman tossing 3.0 scoreless frames. He also threw 3.0 shutout innings against Maryland last Tuesday.
Andrew Amato was 2-for-4 and smacked his 4th homer of the year on Saturday at CofC.
Vincent Libretto provided a pinch hit solo homer in the 9th vs. the Terps.
.
ELON (13-22, 5-7 CAA): The Phoenix dropped a narrow 12-10 decision to #16 North Carolina before winning their first CAA series of the season over Towson.
Alex Duffey and
Ryan Sprock both went 3-for-4 vs. the Tar Heels to start big weeks. Duffey batted .643 and drove in five over the four games, while Sprock hit .429 with a homer and four RBI’s and also picked up the save in Sunday’s 6-4 win over the Tigers.
Justin Mitrovich (4-2) fired a complete-game 3-hit shutout in the opener vs. Towson with seven strikeouts. He hasn’t allowed a run in two of his last three CAA starts.
Jackson Alford hit .462 in the Towson series.
HOFSTRA (12-24, 3-9 CAA): The Pride suffered four setbacks on the road last week, losing at UConn (12-4) prior to being swept at first-place Northeastern.
Dylan Palmer batted .375 (6-16) for the week and extended his hitting streak to 19 games. Palmer, who is 21-of-24 on stolen bases, became the first player in program history to swipe 20+ bases in three seasons.
Tristan Nemjo threw the Pride’s first complete game of the season at NU on Sunday, allowing four runs on four hits over 8.0 innings. Catcher
Dom Camera batted .500 (5-10) against the Huskies.
Sean Hamilton fanned seven over 6.0 frames vs. NU on Friday.
MONMOUTH (17-19, 5-7 CAA): The Hawks opened a 2-2 week with a 13-3 win over Princeton and closed it by blanking North Carolina A&T, 13-0. Freshman
Ryan Mealy (4-0 fired a complete-game, 6-hit shutout at A&T with a career-high 10 strikeouts. It was MU’s first 9-inning CG since 2019. Offensively,
Chris Walsh batted .533 (8-15) with three doubles, a homer, nine runs scored and three RBI’s. He also stole three bases.
Jay Bant homered and drove in five over the final two games of the A&T series.
Harry Padden, who is 21-for-22 on stolen bases this season, became the 7th player in school history with 50 career steals.
NORTH CAROLINA A&T (12-22, 7-5 CAA): The Aggies pulled into a tie for 2nd place in the CAA following a 3-2 week that included a series win over Monmouth. A&T posted a pair of one-run wins (4-3, 9-8) over the Hawks on Saturday, including a walk-off RBI single by
Andrew Tinsley in the nightcap. Freshman
Bruce Wyche batted .500 (10-20) from the leadoff spot with two homers and five RBI’s. He had multiple hits in four of the five games.
Jacob Halford tallied two saves after tossing 2.1 scoreless innings to up his season total to four.
Angel Ortiz moved to 5-2 after limiting Monmouth to three runs over 7.2 innings.
UNCW (18-18, 6-6 CAA): The Seahawks claimed their second straight CAA series against William & Mary as part of a 2-2 week. UNCW beat W&M, 9-1, on Friday as
Trace Baker threw 5.0 shutout innings of relief and fanned five, dropping his CAA-best ERA to 1.83.
Trevor Lucas went 3-for-4 with a double, homer and four RBI’s in the win. Lucas knocked in seven runs for the week and tops UNCW with 31 RBI’s.
Tanner Thach had five hits, including his 6th homer, vs. W&M and drove in five.
Kevin Jones contributed four hits over the final two games against the Tribe, raising his season average to .301.
NORTHEASTERN (25-9, 10-2 CAA): The Huskies have won 13 of their last 14 games following their second CAA series sweep of the season over Hofstra. NU’s pitching staff allowed just one run in 27 innings to the Pride, dropping its ERA to 3.47, which ranks 7th nationally. The Huskies also upped their nation’s best shutout total to nine as
Aiven Cabral (6.0 IP, 8 K’s) and three relievers combined for a 9-0 win on Friday and
Jordan Gottesman (7.0 IP, 9 K’s) and two relievers teammed for a 4-0 victory on Sunday.
Harrison Feinberg led the offense, batting .429 with a double, two homers and eight RBI’s. He added three SB’s.
STONY BROOK (17-16, 5-7 CAA): The Seawolves posted a 3-1 week that included their second straight CAA series win over Campbell.
Nico Azpilcueta, who has reached base in all 33 games this season, batted .357 for the week with three homers and seven RBI’s. He has 12 HR’s for the year, which leads the CAA and is tied for the 8th-most in a season in program history. SBU beat Sacred Heart, 14-13, on a walk-off RBI single from
Chanz Doughty.
Erik Paulsen hit .500 (7-14) last week with seven runs scored and five RBI’s.
Ty Panariello (4-0) held CU to a run on two hits over 7.2 innings in a 5-1 victory.
TOWSON (13-23, 5-7 CAA): The Tigers dropped two-of-three at Elon as part of a 1-3 week. The win was a big one as Towson topped Elon, 23-5, in the middle game of the series.
Brady Nathison was 2-for-3 with a homer and five RBI’s, while
Taye Robinson, Max D’Alessandro and
Josh Janove drove in three runs apiece.
Brian Heckelman was 6-for-10 in the final two games of the Elon series and is batting a team-best .377 for the season.
Nate Nabholz held the Phoenix to one hit over 4.0 scoreless innings of relief in Sunday’s 6-4 setback. Nabholz lowered his ERA to 2.32 over 31.0 innings.
WILLIAM & MARY (13-22, 7-5 CAA): The Tribe went 1-3 on the road last week, dropping a 3-2 decision in 12 innings at Duke before losing 2-of-3 at UNCW. W&M picked up an 8-4 win on Saturday as
Christian Rush belted a grand slam and
Ben Parker added a 3-run homer in the 12th. The Tribe bullpen held UNCW to one run over the final 9.0 innings, with
Carter Lovasz giving up only one hit over 5.0 frames and striking out nine. Parker and
Lucas Carmichael both extended their hitting streaks to 21 games last week. Parker batted .333 at UNCW while Carmichael homered for the 6th time in 13 games.