FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE:
CAA BASEBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Chris Henderson, George Mason
Jr., C, Marlton, N.J./Cherokee
Henderson batted .640 (16-25) with a homer, five doubles, six RBI and eight runs scored in Mason’s 4-1 week. The junior catcher hit .733 (11-15) in a three-game sweep of Hofstra, while driving in and scoring five. Henderson leads the CAA with a .436 average.
CAA BASEBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Gary Helmick, Towson
Sr., SS, Severn, Md./Northeast
Helmick batted .500 (10-20) with three homers, six runs scored and 10 RBI in Towson’s 3-1 week. The senior shortstop drove in the game-winning runs in both of the Tigers’ victories over UNCW and had a homer in three of four contests. He is batting .425 on the year.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
JT Ross, Northeastern
So., LHP, Newton, Mass./Newton North
Ross threw a complete-game 1-hitter as Northeastern rolled past Rhode Island 12-1 last Monday. The sophomore lefty struck out 12 and didn’t issue a walk while improving to 3-1. He gave up the lone hit in the second and then retired the final 23 straight batters.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Josh Wright, Old Dominion
Fr., 1B, Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby
Harris batted .381 (8-21) with a homer and nine RBI in ODU’s 3-2 week. The freshman first baseman belted a game-winning grand slam in the 10th as the Monarchs beat VMI 6-2 and also drove in two in a win over W&M on Friday. Wright leads ODU with 8 HR and 39 RBI.
DIAMOND NOTES:
DELAWARE (22-15, 8-7 in CAA)
The Blue Hens dropped a 3-1 decision at Delaware State in their only action last week. Junior pitcher Brian Rorick tossed his first complete game in the setback, scattering seven hits while fanning six. Junior Carlos Alonso went 1-for-3 with a walk and has now reached base safely in all 37 games this season. Alonso is fourth in the CAA with a .392 batting average. UD ranks second in the league with a .329 team batting average. The Blue Hens only had three hits at Delaware State, but got their lone run on senior outfielder Jared Olsen’s homer in the seventh. Delaware, which is in a four-way tie for fourth place, has a big three-game series at UNC Wilmington this weekend.
GEORGE MASON (34-8 overall, 14-4 in CAA)
The Patriots expanded their lead atop the CAA standings to three games after a sweep of Hofstra over the weekend. Mason has won all of its CAA series this season, but suffered their first mid-week loss of the year at Maryland. Catcher Chris Henderson batted .640 (16-25) with a homer, five doubles, six RBI and eight runs scored last week. He leads the CAA in batting (.436), hits (78) and doubles (20) and is third in runs (52). Senior Scott Krieger broke the Mason record for career hits with 285, topping the mark held by Jeff Palumbo. Krieger homered three times last week and leads the league with 17 homers and 62 RBI. Senior pitcher Mike Modica upped his record to 8-1 on Saturday, limiting Hofstra to four hits and a pair of earned runs while tossing his first complete game of the year. Modica struck out eight over nine innings. Freshman Ryan Pfaeffle improved to 3-0 with a 2.78 ERA after giving up just two runs and seven hits while fanning eight over seven frames in a win over George Washington.
GEORGIA STATE (26-18, 8-7 in CAA)
The Panthers dropped four of five last week and slipped into a tie for fourth in the CAA after being swept at James Madison. Catcher Marc Mimeault batted .438 for the week with his team-leading 10th homer and six RBI. He tops State with a .378 batting average. Senior Nick Hogan homered twice at JMU on Sunday, including a two-run shot in the ninth that brought the Panthers within 6-5. Hogan had eight hits and scored four runs for the week and leads the team in runs with 44. Junior Bradley Logan was hit by a pitch for the 26th time in his career, tying Charlie Pelt’s school record. Freshman reliever Nick Squeglia allowed just one run over 6.1 innings on Friday, giving State a chance to climb out an early 6-0 hole. After going 3-5 on an eight-game road swing, State closes the season with a 10-game homestand, including three with VCU this weekend. The Panthers have a 13-6 record at home this season.
HOFSTRA (6-27 overall, 2-16 in CAA)
The Pride saw its losing streak reach seven games after being swept at first-place George Mason over the weekend. Hofstra got another impressive week from senior outfielder Mark Stuckless, who hit .417 (5-12) against the Patriots with a homer, three runs scored and three RBI. Stuckless had at least one hit in each game at Mason and ranks third in the CAA with a .398 average. The Pride out-hit Mason 13-12 on Sunday, but is still looking for its first road victory in CAA play. Junior Matt Prokopowicz went 3-for-5 with two RBI and four other players were 2-for-4. Reliever Jeff Guthridge didn’t allow a hit during 1.2 innings of work on Sunday and struck out three. Guthridge leads the Pride with a 4.21 ERA and has given up only 20 hits in 25.2 innings this season. Hofstra, which hosts Towson this week, has earned five of its six wins at home.
JAMES MADISON (27-18 overall, 11-7 in CAA)
The Dukes, who have won four in a row and 10 of their last 11, moved into second place in the CAA standings after a weekend sweep of Georgia State. JMU is 7-1 over its last eight league contests. Junior outfielder Matt Townsend extended his hitting streak to 34 games, tying the JMU record set by Mark Brockell in 1988, before going 0-for-4 on Sunday. Townsend is still batting .390 on the year. Senior Bryan Lescanec hit .600 (6-10) with two doubles, a triple and five runs scored last week. Junior Mike Fabiaschi pushed his hitting streak to a career-best 17 games last week, while freshman Jake Lowery batted .625 (5-8). Sophomore Turner Phelps improved to 7-0 on the season and 15-0 for his career after tossing a complete-game 5-hitter with nine strikeouts against Georgia State on Friday. Kevin Munson recorded his league-leading seventh save on Saturday. JMU overcame a 10-0 deficit and scored six in the ninth to beat Longwood 16-14 last Wednesday. David Herbek had a walk-off 3-run homer.
UNC WILMINGTON (22-17, 8-7 in CAA)
The Seahawks lost three of four on the road last week, but halted a five-game slide with a 10-7 victory at Towson on Sunday. Junior Grayson Evans went 3-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two RBI in the win at Towson. He leads UNCW with 16 doubles on the season and has driven in 36. Third baseman Matt Holt hit .412 last week with four runs scored and five RBI. Shortstop Mike Rooney is now 10th in career assists at UNCW with 316. Rooney is batting .317 and has committed only eight errors in 197 chances at short. Sophomore Cameron Roth picked up his first save of the season on Sunday, striking out three batters in the ninth. First baseman Robbie Monday belted his ninth homer of the season on Sunday. Second baseman Ben Thielsen was 2-for-3 with four RBI in Friday’s 12-10 setback at TU. UNCW hosts Delaware in a key CAA series this weekend.
NORTHEASTERN (22-15 overall, 8-7 in CAA)
The Huskies went 3-1 last week, including winning two of three in an important league series with VCU. Senior catcher Frank Pesanello batted .533 with a pair of homers last week and scored the eventual game-winning run in NU’s 6-5 triumph over the Rams on Sunday. Pesanello, who tied the Huskies’ career homers mark (37), also excelled defensively, throwing out six VCU runners. Second baseman James Donaldson went 2-for-5 with a homer and three RBI in Saturday’s 8-6 win. Senior Mike Tamsin was 4-for-7 in the final two games of the VCU series and raised his team-leading average to .387. Closer Dan Zehr earned his fifth save of the season on Sunday and tied the Huskies’ career saves mark with nine. Zehr has a 2.12 ERA on the year and has struck out 38 batters in 34 innings. Sophomore JT Ross threw a complete-game 1-hitter and fanned 12 in a 12-1 win over Rhode Island. He retired the final 23 batters.
OLD DOMINION (18-22 overall, 10-8 in CAA)
The Monarchs took over sole possession of third place in the CAA after taking two of three in their series with William & Mary. ODU has won six of its last seven league games. Freshman Josh Wright continued to swing a hot bat, hitting .381 (8-21) with a homer and nine RBI last week. Wright, who tops the team with 8 HR and 39 RBI, smacked a game-winning grand slam in the 10th as the Monarchs beat VMI 6-2 last Tuesday. Shortstop Gerard Hall batted .409 last week and extended his hitting streak to 10 games. Junior pitcher Chris Boggs was 1-0 with a 0.96 ERA in two games last week. He gave up only one earned run over eight innings and struck out 11 versus VMI before tossing 1.1 shutout innings in relief against W&M on Sunday to raise his record to 5-0. Leadoff hitter Max Most has drawn a league-high 37 walks in 40 games this season. Due to exams, ODU is idle until hosting Longwood on May 6.
TOWSON (20-20 overall, 7-8 in CAA)
The Tigers won two of three against UNCW over the weekend to move within a game of fourth place and a spot in the CAA Tournament. Senior Gary Helmick batted .500 (10-20) with three homers and 10 RBI last week and drove in the game-winning runs in both victories over UNCW. Helmick leads the league in triples (7) and runs (55), and ranks second in batting (.425). He has also belted 14 homers this season after hitting only 13 over his first three years. Towson is among NCAA leaders with 67 homers in 40 games. Along with Helmick, Kevin Collins (11) and Chris Wychock (10) are in double digits in long balls. Sophomore Drew Permison pitched Towson’s first complete game since March, 2008 on Saturday as the Tigers won 3-2. Permison held UNCW to five hits and struck out seven. He allowed only an unearned run over the final seven frames. Towson is 8-3 in one-run games this season.
VCU (19-17 overall, 7-8 in CAA)
The Rams lost three of four last week, including the final two games of their weekend series at Northeastern. VCU took the opener over the Huskies, 7-2, as sophomore lefty Ian Thomas threw his first complete game of the season to improve his record to 4-2. Thomas, who has thrown at least eight frames in his past three starts, scattered eight hits and gave up only one earned run to NU. Junior M.L. Morgan was 6-for-9 in the final two games of the NU series, highlighted by a 4-for-5 effort on Sunday. Morgan is hitting .471 in 34 at-bats this year. Infielder Richard Gonzalez also had a pair of multi-hit games last week, including going 2-for-3 in a setback to nationally ranked Virginia. R.J. Schenk and Joe Van Meter each went 2-for-4 with two RBI in an 8-6 loss on Saturday. The Rams are back on the road this weekend at Georgia State.
WILLIAM & MARY (18-22 overall, 7-11 in CAA)
The Tribe split four games last week, rallying past Virginia Tech 14-10 before dropping two of three in a tight series with ODU. W&M scored six runs in the ninth to get by the Hokies and scored four in the ninth to rally past ODU. Senior Tyler Stampone batted .400 (6-15) for the week with three RBI and three runs scored. He doubled three times to increase his league-leading doubles total to 20 for the season. Stampone is currently riding a 15-game hitting streak and is batting .375. Sophomore Derrick Osteen also had two hits on Saturday, including a game-tying 2-run single. Junior Kevin Landry threw his first complete game of the season in Saturday’s win at ODU, allowing five runs on 12 hits while fanning eight. Shortstop Lanny Stanfield was 3-for-4 with three RBI and three runs scored at Tech and Tadd Bower and Jeff Jones also drove in three.
Mason Ranked In Two Polls This Week: George Mason is ranked for the fourth straight week in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll, coming in at #29. The Patriots, who sit atop the CAA standings at 14-4 and have gone 30-5 after a 4-3 start, are also ranked #28 by the NCBWA. It’s the seventh straight week that a CAA team has occupied a spot in the national polls. UNC Wilmington was ranked #26, #27 and #30 over a three-week stretch by the NCBWA.
