UNCW baseball, tennis and golf teams get bragging rights over the weekend

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WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) –The UNCW men’s tennis team sent popular seniors Zach Hublitz and Sam Williams out on a winning note with a 4-3 victory over former Colonial Athletic Association rival Georgia State in the regular season finale for both teams Sunday at the UNCW Courts.

The Seahawks broke out of a three-match slide to improve to 10-7 this spring heading into this week’s Colonial Athletic Association Men’s Tennis Championships in Williamsburg, Va. The Panthers of the Sun Belt Conference dropped to 8-13.

“Today was an emotional day as we expressed our appreciation to our two seniors,” said eighth-year UNCW Head Coach Mait DuBois. “We had a lot of ceremonial things going on around ‘Senior Day’ and I was pleased that we were able to focus on the match once we started.”

The Seahawks notched the doubles point with wins by the top two teams and then added victories in the first three singles matches off the court at No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6 singles to push their career record to 6-4 against the Panthers.

“Georgia State is a very good team and we will take a lot of confidence from this match going into the conference tournament,” added DuBois. “I was very pleased with our doubles. We’ve improved a lot since the beginning of the spring.

“I was also impressed with Santtu (Leskinen) and the way he put in a very professional, mature match for us at the top of the lineup.”

In doubles, the top team of Christian Van der Burgh and Sam Williams trimmed Zack Kennedy and Sofiane Chevalier, 8-4, before the No. 2 tandem of Leskinen and Xander Veys slipped past Felipe Jaworski and Joseph Bishop, 8-7.

Freshman Andres Torres moved to a team-best 11-5 on the season in singles with a 6-1, 6-4 mastering of Bishop at No. 6 singles to raise the score to 2-0 before Leskinen topped Jannis Koeke, 6-3, 6-4, at No. 1 singles for a 3-0 advantage.

Hublitz, from Vienna, Va., then clinched the match – his fourth clincher of the season – with a 6-4, 6-0, verdict over Jaworski at the No. 5 position.

DuBois said, “It was fitting that Zach clinched the match for us on ‘Senior Day.’ He has always been there when we needed him, and he showed it once again today.”

The Seahawks, who have won back-to-back CAA crowns, will learn the pairings for the CAA Championships late Monday.

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WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW) — Zach Shields drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and Andy Austin started a game-ending double play with the bases loaded in the ninth, as UNCW rallied again for a 6-5 win and a series sweep of William & Mary on Sunday at Brooks Field.

The Seahawks trailed 5-2 in the eighth and scored four runs, capped by Shields’ single, to win their seventh straight game, a season high, and improve to 25-8 overall and 8-1 in the Colonial Athletic Association.

The Tribe dropped to 14-14 overall and 6-6 with the loss.

Jared Gesell (2-0) picked up the win in relief for the Seahawks while W&M reliever Charlie Fletcher was tagged with the loss to fall to 3-1.

Robbie Thorburn came off the bench with two hits, including a game-tying two-run single in the eighth inning. Steven Linkous, Shields and Terence Connelly each added two hits for UNCW.

Ryan Hissey knocked in three runs, all coming on a homer in the third inning; it was his eighth of the season. Charley Gould added two hits for the Tribe and connected on his 10th home run of the season.

Up next: The Seahawks visit East Carolina on April 14 for a 6:30 p.m. game.

How it happened: Nine Seahawk hitters made their way to the plate in the four-run eighth. Luke Dunlap and Connelly opened the inning with walks off Fletcher and Austin followed with a RBI double for the first run. Thorburn then delivered the tying hit one batter later. Kennard McDowell reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on an infield single by Linkous. Shields followed with a single to center that plated McDowell with the go-ahead run.

How it happened II: In the ninth, the Tribe had runners on second and third and one out and UNCW intentionally walked the bases loaded. Gesell was able to induce a ground ball to first base where Austin started a game-ending 3-6-3 double play.

Inside the box score: W&M landed its leadoff hitter on base safely in 4-of-9 innings, UNCW just 2-of-8 … Connelly had two of UNCW’s five, two-out hits … The Tribe was held to 2-of-8 hitting with RISP … Austin Magestro held W&M to one run over 3.2 innings of relief.

Notes: The seven-game winning streak is a season-high for UNCW and the Seahawks improved to 22-4 at home … The sweep was UNCW’s second in conference play and their fifth overall … UNCW improved to 6-7 when trailing after seven innings and is now 7-2 in one-run games … The Seahawks have won their last seven straight one-run games … With four runs in the eighth, UNCW has now outscored its opponents, 52-9, in that inning … The Seahawks also upped their record to 16-5 when the opponent scores first.

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WALLACE, NC (UNCW) — Led by a career-best second place effort from senior Mallory Warrick (Fike H.S./Wilson, N.C.), the UNCW women’s golf team finished in seventh place after the third round of the River Landing Classic at the River Landing Golf Course on Sunday afternoon.

Columbia, which made its first-ever appearance in the tournament, claimed the team title after posting a three-round total of 886, including an impressive three-over-par 288 in the final round. Sophomore Jacqueline Chulya (Bangkok, Thailand) earned the individual medalist honors for the Lions after posting an even-par finish, including a tournament-low 69 on Sunday.

Warrick, who posted the second top-5 finish of her career, carded a 74 in the final round on Sunday to finish with a three-round total of 220. She was one of two UNCW players to finish in the top 10 as junior Annette Lyche (Baerum, Norway) earned a share of sixth place after ending the tournament with a 73.

Freshman Alaina Yeatts (Trinity School/Durham, N.C.) finished in 34th place after firing an 80 in the final round while freshman Chandler Danielson (West Henderson H.S./Etowah, N.C.) completed the tournament in a tie for 50th place after posting a three-round total of 239.

Sophomore Sydney Boyd (E.A. Laney H.S./Wilmington, N.C.) rounded out the Seahawks’ efforts with an 88 in the final round for a three-round score of 252.

The Seahawks will compete at the Colonial Athletic Association Championship next weekend at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C.

Notes: Columbia finished with the sixth-best 54-hole total in the tournament’s 15-year history while Chulya finished in a tie for 11th place on the tournament’s all-time individual scores list … Delaware finished eight strokes behind Columbia to earn second place … The Blue Hens’ 894 team score also ranks 10th on the tournament’s all-time list … Warrick’s other top-5 finish came at the 2013 CAA Championship when she earned a share of fifth place … In addition to Columbia, Towson and Rutgers also played in the tournament for the first time.

UNCW Results: 2. Mallory Warrick (71-75-74=220); T-6. Annette Lyche (74-75-73=222); 34. Alaina Yeatts (74-76-80=230); T-50. Chandler Danielson (81-77-81=239). 63. Sydney Boyd (82-82-88=252).

Team Results: 1. Columbia (299-296-291=886); 2. Delaware (295-298-301=894). 3. William & Mary (304-300-295=899); T-4. James Madison (294-301-309=904); T-4. East Carolina (305-298-301=904); 6. Eastern Michigan (307-296-306=909); 7. UNCW (313-303-308=911); 8. Rutgers (315-299-312=926); T-9. Towson (313-307-307=927); T-9. UAB (303-308-316=927); 11. Old Dominion (311-306-314=931); 12. Navy (322-322-325=969).

Individual Leaders: 1. Jacqueline Chulya (Columbia) 73-74-69=216; 2. Mallory Warrick (UNCW) 71-75-74=220; T-3. Rachel Lee (Delaware) 72-73-76=221; T-3. Alessandra Liu (William & Mary) 74-77-70=221; T-3. Maggie Simmermacher (Old Dominion) 70-73-78=221; T-6. Thelma Beck (Eastern Michigan) 73-75-74=222; T-6. Monique Ishikawa (Columbia) 75-73-74=222; T-6. Annette Lyche (UNCW) 74-75-73=222; 9. Rachel Shi (Columbia) 76-70-77=223; 10. Kelly Okun (William & Mary) 77-77-70=224.

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HARRISONBURG, VA (UNCW) –Sophomore outfielder Taylor Newton (Lakewood Ranch H.S./Bradenton, Fla.) had three hits and drove in four runs as No. 24/25 James Madison completed a sweep of its three-game Colonial Athletic Association series with a 10-0 victory over UNCW in five innings at Veterans Memorial Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Dukes, who won their 23rd game in a row, improved to 32-6 overall with a perfect 11-0 record in CAA play. Meanwhile, the Seahawks dropped to 15-21 overall and 2-10 in CAA play.

Newton led the Dukes’ nine-hit attack by going 3-for-3 with a home run and two stolen bases. Freshman Megan Good (Fort Defiance H.S./Mount Sidney, Va.) also hit her seventh home run of the season while improving to 19-0 in the circle after scattering just one hit in five innings.

Freshman Sarah Davis (Walter Williams H.S./Burlington, N.C.) collected the Seahawks’ lone hit with a single in the fourth inning.

How It Happened: Newton gave JMU a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a single to right field. The Dukes added two more runs in the second inning on a two-run home run by sophomore Niki Prince (Stone Bridge H.S./Ashburn, Va.) before adding another run in the third inning for a 4-0 edge. James Madison secured the victory by scoring six times in the fourth inning, including a three-run home run by Newton.

Inside the Box Score: JMU limited the Seahawks to just five hits in the series, including one hit in each of the final two games … The Dukes were 4-for-8 with runners in scoring position … The teams combined to hit 4-for-13 with two outs.

What’s Ahead for UNCW: The Seahawks will complete their seven-game road trip on Wednesday by traveling to the University of North Carolina for a pair of games against the Tar Heels beginning at 4:00 p.m.