UNCW’s Berne, Herring earn CAA baseball weekly honors

WILMINGTON, NC (UNCW SPORTS) — Senior first baseman Mason Berne and freshman righthander Gage Herring were honored at the Colonial Athletic Association’s Player and Rookie-of-the-Week on Monday after helping UNCW to a series win over Hofstra last weekend.

Berne, who shared the honor with Charleston’s Dupree Hart, powered the Seahawks to the series win, hitting four home runs and going 5-fo-11 (.455) while slugging 1.545 for the weekend. Berne is now hitting a team-high .376 and paces the conference with 26 runs batted in. Berne homered in each game, including twice in the series opener.

Herring, meanwhile, made the most of his first collegiate start, tossing five shutout innings and not allowing a hit until the fifth inning with two out. The rookie from Newton Grove walked two and struck out four while facing two more batters than the minimum.

Herring joins freshmen teammates Landon Roupp, a pitcher, and Noah Liles, an outfielder, as UNCW Rookie-of-the-Week honorees this season.

The Seahawks open a four-game roadstand on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. start against longtime rival Campbell. UNCW then returns to conference play next weekend with three games at William & Mary.