UNCW wins CAA title in baseball; secures NCAA bid

MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (WWAY) — UNCW played with the lead for the vast majority of the baseball game on Saturday against the College of Charleston. The Seahawks attempted to sweep their way through the tournament with a perfect record. The Seahawks accomplished that when Jared Gassell and the UNCW bullpen held off the Cougars for a 7-6 victory. It’s the first CAA Baseball Tournament title for UNCW since 2012. The victory secures a NCAA bid for UNCW. Pairings for the NCAA’s will be released on Monday.

Click the icon above to see game highlights, the celebration (including the dogpile ) and postgame reaction from head coach Mark Scalf.

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MOUNT PLEASANT, SC (UNCW) — Led by Colonial Athletic Association tournament most valuable player Corey Dick, UNCW held off top-seeded and thirteenth-ranked College of Charleston, 7-6, to win the championship and advance to the upcoming NCAA Tournament.

The Seahawks claimed their fourth tournament title and their first since 2012. The tournament field will be announced on May 25 at noon.

Dick led a 14-hit offense for the Seahawks, going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI doubles. Casey Golden, Gavin Stupienski and Zack Canada had two hits apiece as every starter in the UNCW lineup had a hit.

Freshman reliever Austin Magestro (5-2) earned the win with three innings of one-run relief. Jared Gesell allowed just a hit and struck out one to earn his fifth save of the season.

Ryan Brown led the Cougars at the top of the order, going 2-for-4 and scoring a run.

CofC starter Eric Bauer (4-4) took the loss, allowing six runs on 11 hits over five innings. Reliever Chase Henry limited UNCW to a run on three hits over three innings.

How it happened: With the game tied at four-all in the fifth, Terence Connelly drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a bunt single by Zach Shields. Kennard McDowell followed with a single up the middle to score Connelly and send Shields around to third. Steven Linkous followed with a short fly ball behind third that was caught and Shields tagged up and scored to make it 6-4.

Inside the box score: Charleston landed its leadoff hitter on base in 4-of-9 innings, but went 1-for-8 with two outs … Both teams had a two-out RBI … UNCW advanced runners in 14-of-27 opportunities … CofC went 4-for-11 with RISP while UNCW was 5-for-15.

Notes: Terence Connelly extended his on-base streak to 26 straight games while Corey Dick will carry a nine-game hitting streak into the NCAA tournament … The #2 seed has now won the CAA tournament 11 times … The Seahawks have won two tournament titles on the road (Harrisonburg and Charleston) … Mark Scalf picked up his 797th career win … The UNCW bullpen has accounted for 28 wins this season … UNCW hit .364 as a team during the tournament while opponents hit .224.

All-Tournament: Representing UNCW were Luke Dunlap, Stupienski, McDowell and pitchers Evan Phillips and Jordan Ramsey. CofC was represented by Brown and starting pitchers Taylor Clarke and Hayden McCutcheon. Rounding out the squad were Delaware’s Brock Niggebrugge and Adam Davis and Northeastern’s Cam Hanley.