UNCW Baseball On Top Of Colonial - CAA Weekly Report

CAA BASEBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Mark Carver, UNC Wilmington

Sr., C, Wendell, N.C./East Wake

Carver batted .455 (5-11) with three homers, seven runs and nine RBI in four games last week. The senior catcher also had a double and a triple and walked five times for a .647 on-base average. For the season, Carver is hitting .368 with a league-best 19 home runs.

CAA BASEBALL Co-PLAYER OF THE WEEK:

Ryan Cuneo, Delaware

So., 1B, Freehold, N.J./Freehold

Cuneo hit .476 (10-21) with two homers and 11 RBI in Delaware’s five games last week. The sophomore, who is riding a 19-game hitting streak, batted .571 (8-14) in UD’s series at Georgia State and drove in eight runs.

CAA BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK:

David Slovak, Delaware

Sr., RHP, Louisville, Ky./Eastern

Slovak didn’t allow a hit over five innings in three relief appearances last week while striking out seven. The senior closer recorded a pair of two-inning saves as Delaware posted key league wins at Georgia State and moved within one of the school’s career saves mark with 17.

CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:

Joe Van Meter, VCU

Fr., SS, Long Island, N.Y./St. Dominic’s

Van Meter hit .308 and drove in six runs as VCU won two of three from Towson over the weekend. The freshman’s RBI single in the ninth knocked in the winning run on Saturday and he belted a 3-run homer that broke the game open on Sunday.

DIAMOND NOTES:

Three Teams Lock Up Tourney Spots: With two weekends of regular-season play remaining, UNC Wilmington, James Madison and George Mason have locked up spots in the six-team CAA Baseball Championship, which will be held March 21-24 at Brooks Field in Wilmington, N.C. William & Mary needs just one win to join the field, while Old Dominion sits fifth at 12-10. Four teams - Towson, Northeastern, Georgia State and Delaware are separated by just one game for the sixth spot.

CAA In The RPI: Three CAA baseball teams are ranked in the top 70 of the RPI through games of May 4 according to popular college baseball web site boydsworld.com. UNC Wilmington leads the way at #28, followed by William & Mary at #58 and James Madison at #67. The CAA is ranked #11 as a conference and improved to a season-best 31 games over .500 in non-league action.

Five CAA Players On Wallace Award Watch List: Five CAA players are among 100 who have been placed on the Watch List for the Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award, which is awarded to the nation’s top collegiate baseball player by the College Baseball Foundation. Making the list were George Mason sophomore Justin Bour, James Madison junior Brett Sellers, UNCW seniors Mark Carver and Daniel Hargrave, William & Mary junior Mike Sheridan.

DELAWARE (18-28, 9-15 in CAA)

The Blue Hens had a 3-2 week, including winning two of three at Georgia State to move within a game of sixth place in the CAA standings. Sophomore first baseman Ryan Cuneo batted .476 (10-21) with a pair of homers and 11 RBI. He also extended his hitting streak to 19 games, which is the 12th-longest in program history. Senior closer David Slovak saved a pair of games last week and now has 17 for his career, which is one shy of the UD all-time saves mark. Slovak didn’t allow a hit over five shutout innings and struck out seven. Josh Dean hit .400 for the week and stole three bases, while freshman Pat Dameron batted .385 and drew five walks. Reliever Brad Miller didn’t give up an earned run in 7.2 innings of work last week. Delaware batted .317 as a team over the five games and recorded a 3.48 team ERA with 33 strikeouts in 44 innings.

GEORGE MASON (25-23, 15-10 in CAA)

The Patriots beat Georgetown, Liberty and UNC Wilmington to run their winning streak to a season-best five games before suffering a pair of setbacks to the Seahawks over the weekend. Mason became the first CAA team to top UNCW at Brooks Field this season with a 13-3 triumph on Friday. Senior Dan Jaycox (2-4) threw his second career complete game in the win, giving up nine hits and three runs but fanning seven. Second baseman Ryan Soares smacked a pair of solo homers in the win over UNCW and catcher Chris Henderson hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high five runs. First baseman Justin Bour saw his streak of reaching base safely come to an end at 47 straight games. The Patriots gave up 17 earned runs over the final two games of the UNCW series, which was the most in back-to-back games since March 4-5. Mason ranks second in the CAA with a .970 fielding percentage, which is tied for the best mark in school history.

GEORGIA STATE (27-20, 9-14 in CAA)

The Panthers split four home games last week, but moved within a half-game of sixth place in the CAA after edging Delaware 5-4 on Sunday. Junior shortstop Chase Childers hit .429 (6-14) with a homer, four RBI and five runs scored. He was one of three State players who hit .400 or better for the week, joining Derek Simmons (.429) and Dusty Bennett (.400). Outfielder Matt Van Horn batted .462 in the UD series with two doubles and three runs scored, while infielder Bradley Logan laced his 19th double of the year on Saturday, which ranks seventh on State’s season list. Logan is riding a 13-game hitting streak. Freshman Jonathan Kolowich batted .364 and drove in three last week. Junior pitcher Adam Knight allowed just one earned run and four hits over five innings in the Panthers’ 12-4 rout of Samford. State has a key series at Old Dominion this weekend.

HOFSTRA (18-33, 6-21 in CAA)

The Pride topped Northeastern 5-2 on Friday, but saw its streak of consecutive conference series wins come to an end after getting swept in a twinbill on Saturday. Sophomore Matt Prokopowicz batted .316 (6-19) for the week and belted a three-run homer in Friday’s triumph. Junior Chris Mentrasti batted .350 for the week and had a hit in each contest to extend his hitting streak to eight. Junior Nick Panzarella has recorded seven multi-RBI games this season. Sophomore Rob Kumbatovic threw his league-leading fourth complete game of the year at NU on Friday, scattering 11 hits and allowing just one earned run for his second win of the year. Kumbatovic fanned four and didn’t issue a walk. Senior Anthony Sarno tossed three shutout innings to earn a win over Fordham last Tuesday. Senior Tom Catlabiano has made 12 starts at catcher and 11 appearances as a pitcher this season.

JAMES MADISON (30-12, 18-5 in CAA)

The Dukes were beaten 9-7 at Radford on Sunday in their only action of the week due to exams and commencement. JMU held a 6-3 lead after four frames, but the league’s top defensive squad committed a season-high four errors. The Dukes, who have the nation’s 8th-best road record, slipped to 13-5 in away games. JMU got a pair of hits from Brett Sellers, Alex Foltz and Brett Garner at RU. Sellers, who was named to the Wallace Award watch list, is batting .432 with 13 homers and 40 RBI. The Dukes are ranked third in the league in both batting (.352) and pitching (5.26). JMU hosts UNC Wilmington in a battle of the league’s top two squads this weekend.

UNC WILMINGTON (35-11-1, 20-3-1 in CAA)

The 29th-ranked Seahawks took two of three from George Mason over the weekend to maintain their spot atop the CAA standings. UNCW is two victories from the CAA record for conference wins in a season set by JMU in 2006 (22-8). All three of the Seahawks’ league losses have come in the opening game of the series. Senior catcher Mark Carver batted .455 (5-11) with three homers, seven runs scored and nine RBI last week and he also drew five walks. Carver tops the CAA with 19 homers, which is two shy of the school record, and his league-leading 70 RBI are just three are short of the UNCW season mark. Jes Snyder had three hits and three runs scored in Sunday’s 8-3 win over Mason to raise his average to .344. Freshman Alex Hill had a .500 OBP last week and scored five times. Senior Jeff Hatcher improved to 5-0 after giving up eight hits and three runs over a season-best eight innings on Sunday. Five pitchers combined on a 5-hit shutout of Mason on Saturday, including freshman Cameron Roth, who upped his record to 5-1 after retiring eight of the nine batters he faced.

NORTHEASTERN (19-22-1, 9-14-1 in CAA)

The Huskies stayed in contention for a CAA Tournament berth after taking two of three from Hofstra over the weekend. Third baseman Mike Tamsin batted .500 over five games last week, including .571 (8-14) with a double and two RBI against Hofstra. He is batting a team-best .364 for the year. Senior shortstop Mike Lyon smacked three homers and had six RBI in NU’s 8-5 win over the Pride on Saturday, highlighted by a walk-off, 3-run shot in the ninth. Catcher Frank Pesanello went deep twice last week to increase his season homer total to 15, which ranks second in the conference and ties a Huskies’ single-season record. Sophomore pitcher Sheldon McDonald went 2-0 in three appearances last week to run his record to a league-best 9-1 with a 3.04 ERA. McDonald, who gave up four runs over 7.1 innings but struck out 10, earned both wins in Saturday’s sweep of the Pride by throwing the final inning in the opener and the first 5.1 frames in the night cap in which NU won 6-2.

OLD DOMINION (21-21, 12-10 in CAA)

The Monarchs were idle last week due to exams, but return to action this week with five home contests. Senior outfielder Jimmy Miles ranks eighth in CAA with a .374 batting average and is seventh in the conference with 52 runs scored. Miles is also third in the nation with 32 stolen bases in 42 attempts and his 73 career thefts ranks fifth all-time at ODU. Senior pitcher Ryan Bergh (5-4), who ranks second in the CAA in ERA (3.07), received the Wilkins-Howard Award as ODU’s top male scholar-athlete. Bergh will graduate with a 3.51 GPA. The Monarchs are second in the conference with a 5.21 team ERA. Juniors Dan Hudson (86 K’s) and Anthony Shawler (83 K’s) are ranked first and second in the CAA in strikeouts. ODU hosts Georgia State in an important league series this weekend.

TOWSON (24-23, 10-14 in CAA)

The Tigers dropped two of three at VCU over the weekend, but maintained a slim lead for the sixth and final CAA Tournament spot. Towson used a seven-run eighth inning to rally for a 10-7 victory in Friday’s opener, but then fell 9-8 and 11-5 in the final two contests. Towson batted .325 as a team in the series. Senior Brian Conley led the offense with a .467 average, four doubles, three runs scored and two RBI while junior Jason Stifler hit .462 with a pair of doubles, a homer and five RBI. Junior Josh Squatrito earned his seventh save on Friday, tying the school season record set by Jason Walters in 2001. Towson will try for its first-ever three-game sweep of in-state rival Maryland on Wednesday before visiting Delaware for a critical 3-game CAA series. Towson is 2-10 in conference road games thus far.

VCU (13-27, 6-15 in CAA)

The Rams took two of three from Towson over the weekend to remain in the race for a CAA Tournament berth. VCU’s offense broke loose for 27 runs in the series. Junior first baseman Jared Bolden batted .538 (7-13) with three homers, six runs scored and seven RBI. Bolden had at least two hits in each contest and is now riding a 14-game hitting streak. He has smacked five homers in his past four contests. Junior R.J. Schenk also had a solid series, going 5-for-8 at the plate. Freshman shortstop Joe Van Meter’s RBI single in the ninth was the game-winning hit in Saturday’s 9-8 triumph. Van Meter, who batted .308 in the series with six RBI, also belted a 3-run homer in Sunday’s 11-5 victory. Freshman Michael Graham got the start in Sunday’s contest and earned the win after working five-plus innings and allowing four earned runs.

WILLIAM & MARY (34-13, 14-8 in CAA)

The Tribe swept a Saturday doubleheader from Longwood in their only action of the week, winning the opener 13-9 and the nightcap, 14-1. William & Mary, which has won 18 of its last 21 contests, is just four wins away from breaking the school record for victories. The Tribe is batting .425 as a team and averaging nearly 15 runs over its past five contests. Junior outfielder Ben Guez went 8-for-10 in the sweep of Longwood with two homers, three RBI and six runs scored. Junior Mike Sheridan was 5-for-9 with a homer, five RBI and five runs scored, while senior Greg Maliniak went 4-for-7 with a homer and extended his hitting streak to 12 games. The Tribe has four of the CAA’s top 10 in batting with Sheridan (.448), senior Tim Park (.440), Guez (.413) and Maliniak (.365). Senior closer Pat Kantakevich tied the school record for saves in a season (9) and a career (11) in the opening game win over Longwood. Sophomore Kevin Landry got the win in the nightcap after allowing just an earned run on three hits over six innings.

- Courtesy CAA

-- Jesse Jones, CAPE FEAR SPORTS REPORT