FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE:
CAA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Trevor Knight, James Madison
So., 1B/P, Charlottesville, Va./St. Anne’s-Belfield
Knight excelled with the bat and on the mound in JMU’s five games last week. At the plate, Knight batted .600 (15-25) with a double, two triples, four homers, 12 runs scored and 13 RBI. He drove in at least two runs in all five contests and hit .667 as the Dukes won two of three at VCU. Knight also made his first career pitching start on Sunday and allowed just three hits over six shutout innings while fanning six.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Kevin Crum, George Mason
Jr., RHP, Haymarket, Va./Bishop O’Connell
Crum gave up just three hits over seven shutout innings in George Mason’s 12-0 victory over Towson last Friday. It was the first time that the Tigers had been held scoreless in 98 games. Crum fanned four and walked only two to improve his record to 5-2 on the season.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Rich O’Donald, Delaware
Fr., RHP, Wilmington, Del./John Dickinson
O’Donald fired a complete-game, five-hit shutout as Delaware downed Hofstra 19-0 on Sunday afternoon. The freshman right-hander retired the side in order over the first four innings and allowed only four runners to get into scoring position. O’Donald struck out a season-high eight batters and pushed his record to 4-2.
DIAMOND NOTES:
DELAWARE (21-12, 7-5 in CAA)
The Blue Hens went 3-2 last week, including winning two of three at Hofstra. Delaware scored 50 runs against the Pride, including a 27-2 triumph on Friday which was its largest victory margin ever in a CAA game and its most runs in a game since 1997. Junior Ryan Cuneo tied a program record with three homers in Friday’s victory at Hofstra, while senior Bill Merkler belted his league-leading 15th home run in the win and now ranks fourth at UD with 35 career homers. Third baseman Carlos Alonso batted .609 (14-23) with 12 runs scored for the week, including an 11-for-16 (.688) effort at Hofstra with four RBI and eight runs scored. Freshman pitcher Rich O’Donald improved to 4-2 on Sunday after a nine-inning complete-game shutout in a 19-0 triumph over the Pride. O’Donald scattered five hits and struck out a season-high eight. Delaware reached the finals of the Liberty Bell Classic for the first time since 2002 and will face Villanova in Tuesday’s 8 p.m. title game at Citizens Bank Park.
GEORGE MASON (28-6 overall, 9-3 in CAA)
The Patriots remained atop the CAA standings after a 4-1 week, but saw their nine-game overall win streak and nation’s best 23-game home win streak come to an end with a 9-4 setback to Towson on Sunday. Earlier in the week, Mason posted its first back-to-back shutouts in 17 years with 12-0 wins over Liberty and Towson. Kris Mengle allowed only three hits in seven scoreless frames versus LU, while Kevin Crum (5-2) limited TU to three hits over seven shutout innings and is now 3-0 with a 1.29 ERA in his past three outings. Senior Mike Modica (6-1) broke the Mason record for career starts in a 9-6 win over the Tigers on Saturday. Freshman Ryan Pfaeffle (2-0) earned his second win of the year last week. Senior Scott Krieger batted .500 (9-18) with three homers, eight runs scored and 10 RBI last week and became the Patriots’ career RBI leader with 205. Krieger and Justin Bour are tied for second in the CAA with 13 home runs.
GEORGIA STATE (23-11, 6-3 in CAA)
The Panthers posted a 4-2 record last week, including a 2-1 mark in three one-run games with ODU to take sole possession of second place. Shortstop Chase Childers reached base in 15 straight plate appearances and went 12-for-12 over a four-game stretch before popping up in the fourth against ODU on Friday. Childers, who fell only two hits and three plate appearances shy of an NCAA record, batted .591 (13-22) for the week with 11 RBI, highlighted by a walk-off grand slam in Saturday’s 14-13 triumph over the Monarchs. Senior Michael McCree batted .529 for the week with six runs scored and seven RBI. He had five doubles and a triple among his nine hits. Senior Derek Simmons hit .474 with a homer last week. Sophomore Zach Chastain thew 4.1 innings of shutout relief and picked up a pair of wins last week. Starting pitchers Robinson Polanco and Ryan Moore combined to throw 11 innings with just two earned runs.
HOFSTRA (6-21 overall, 2-10 in CAA)
The Pride lost three of four last week, but picked up their second CAA win of the season with a 5-4 triumph over Delaware on Sunday. Third baseman Matt Prokopowicz batted .375 (6-16) last week and had a hit in all four games. He was 3-for-4 with an RBI in the victory over UD. Junior Rob Kumbatovic upped his record to 3-4 after earning the win against UD on Sunday, while sophomore Jeff Guthridge recorded his second save after not allowing a base runner over the final two innings while striking out two. Despite a loss to New York Tech last week, Hofstra is 3-1 this season against local opponents with victories over Stony Brook, Manhattan and St. John’s. Junior Elliot Hagburg has caught in all 27 games for the Pride, including seven doubleheaders.
JAMES MADISON (19-17 overall, 6-6 in CAA)
The Dukes earned three wins in five road games last week, including a pair of victories at VCU that got them back to .500 in CAA play. JMU, which batted .361 and scored 59 runs as a team last week, set a school record with 11 homers by eight different players in a 21-12 win at Mount St. Mary’s last Tuesday. Sophomore Trevor Knight batted .600 (15-25) with four homers, two triples, 12 runs scored and 13 RBI and extended his hitting streak to 15 games. He hit .667 (10-15) in the VCU series and now leads the CAA in batting at .423. Knight also made his first career start on Sunday and gave up just three hits in six shutout innings with six strikeouts. Outfielder Matt Townsend batted .545 (12-22) with three homers, 11 runs scored and nine RBI and increased his hitting streak to 26 games. Freshman pitcher Evan Scott limited VCU to one run and five hits over the first eight innings on Saturday and struck out six.
UNC WILMINGTON (20-12, 7-5 in CAA)
The Seahawks ended an eight-game slide with an 8-3 victory over #14 East Carolina and then went on to win two of three from William & Mary over the weekend. Sophomore catcher Cody Stanley batted .500 (10-20) for the week with two doubles, two homers, seven runs scored and seven RBI. He’s hitting .323 for the year and tops UNCW in homers (9), runs (37) and RBI (33). Shortstop Mike Rooney tripled, homered and scored three times as the Seahawks knocked off ECU. Infielder Matt Holt went 2-for-3 with three RBI in UNCW’s 10-4 victory over the Tribe on Friday. Junior Daniel Cropper gave up four hits and three runs over seven innings to push his record to 4-2. That victory was the 575th in the career of Seahawks’ coach Mark Scalf, who passed program founder Bill Brooks as the all-time winningest coach.
NORTHEASTERN (17-11 overall, 5-4 in CAA)
The Huskies went 3-1 last week, capped by winning two of three from a Dallas Baptist squad that reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago. Northeastern also beat Harvard 16-5 to reach the championship game of the Baseball Beanpot. Senior third baseman Mike Tamsin batted .474 (9-19) last week with a homer, seven runs scored and three RBI. Tamsin tops the squad with a .391 average for the year. Freshman outfielder Matt Miller hit .444 from the leadoff spot and scored five times. Senior pitcher Trevor Smith limited DBU to four runs over eight innings on Saturday to push his record to 2-1. Only one of the 10 hits that Smith allowed was for extra bases. Senior Dan Zehr earned his second save with 2.1 shutout innings versus DBU on Friday. Zehr tops the CAA with a 2.17 ERA. Head coach Neil McPhee won his 600th career game at NU, which is the most of any coach in any sport at the school.
OLD DOMINION (11-19 overall, 5-7 in CAA)
The Monarchs rebounded from back-to-back one-run losses at Georgia State to edge the Panthers 2-1 in Sunday’s series finale. Catcher Edgar Hernandez singled home Chris Buss with the game-winning run with two outs in the ninth. Freshman pitcher Ben Tomchick held State to just one run on three hits over seven innings, but didn’t get a decision. He lowered his ERA to 2.80, which ranks second in the CAA. Freshman pitcher Brett Harris allowed only two runs over seven innings on Friday, but didn’t get a decision in ODU’s 3-2 loss. Freshman Josh Wright drove in six runs in the GSU series, with four coming on a grand slam in the top of the ninth on Saturday that gave the Monarchs a 13-9 lead. Wright has 23 RBI in 29 games. Third baseman Jake McAloose continues to lead the team with a .371 batting average.
TOWSON (16-16 overall, 4-5 in CAA)
The Tigers dropped three of five last week, but knocked off #25 George Mason 9-4 on Sunday to snap the Patriots’ nine-game overall win streak and 23-game home win streak. Towson smacked four of its five homers on Sunday in the final two innings, including a pair by senior catcher Jason Stifler. First baseman Matt Collins batted .500 (9-18) for the week with three doubles, a homer and seven RBI. Collins hit safely in all five games and raised his average to .375. Junior third baseman Steve Yarsinsky had his 20-game hitting streak snapped on Sunday, while Gary Helmick saw an 18-game streak end on Tuesday. Senior closer Josh Squatrito went 2-0 with a 1.67 ERA last week, striking out 10 over 5.1 innings. He tossed two scoreless frames in a win over George Washington and then tossed the final 3.1 innings with six strikeouts at Mason on Sunday.
VCU (16-12 overall, 5-4 in CAA)
The Rams opened the week with victories over VMI (9-3) and James Madison (5-4 in 10), but lost the final two in their series with the Dukes. Senior pitcher Ian Thomas scattered nine hits and allowed just two runs over a career-long eight innings against JMU on Friday. Thomas, who is 2-2 on the year, lowered his ERA to 5.92 and has a team-high 37 strikeouts in 38 innings this season. Junior Andrew Dimino was 7-for-8 from the leadoff spot in the Rams’ two victories with five runs scored, four RBI and his first collegiate homer. He was a perfect 5-for-5 and drove in four against the Keydets. Sophomore Michael Cheatham and senior R.J. Schenk, who had been off to tough starts at the plate, each hit over .350 last week. Sophomore Joe Van Meter ranks seventh in the CAA with a .398 batting average.
WILLIAM & MARY (13-19 overall, 4-8 in CAA)
The Tribe split four games last week, edging Liberty 2-1 last Tuesday before going 1-2 at UNCW over the weekend. Sophomore pitcher Tim Norton limited Liberty to just one run over seven innings to improve his record to 3-2. Norton is 3-0 with a 0.64 ERA during his last three appearances spanning 14 innings. Senior outfielder Rob Nickle batted .533 (8-15) last week with four doubles, a homer and seven RBI. He was 4-for-4 with four RBI as the Tribe topped UNCW 14-8 on Sunday. Senior Tyler Stampone, who is riding a seven-game hitting streak, is batting a team-best .469 in CAA play. Freshman catcher Chris Forsten went 4-for-10 last week and raised his average to .343. Outfielder Jeff Jones is hitting a team-best .367 and leads the CAA with 18 stolen bases.
Mason Ranked #25 by Collegiate Baseball: George Mason is ranked #25 in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll for the second week in a row. The Patriots, who have won nine of their last 10, entered the national polls for the first time in school history last week. It’s the fifth straight week that a CAA team has occupied a spot in the national polls. UNC Wilmington was ranked #26, #27 and #30 over the past three weeks by the NCBWA.
