Weather forces changes to UNCW Baseball schedule

WILMINGTON, North Carolina (UNCWSports.com) – UNCW and Wofford will meet for the first time on the diamond this weekend, but weather has already affected the schedule. The series opens on Friday with a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. and concludes with the regularly schedule 2 p.m. start on Sunday.

The Seahawks (19-9) and Wofford (20-10) both dropped non-conference tilts this week at nationally-ranked East Carolina with UNCW falling 6-4 and the Terriers coming up short, 13-8.

UNCW earned a road series win at Colonial Athletic Association rival William & Mary last weekend to move into a tie for first in the conference with Elon and the College of Charleston.

D1Baseball has released its positional power rankings and four Seahawks are among the top players in the nation. Ryan Jeffers is ranked ninth among catchers, Clark Cota is 11th on the relievers list, Mason Berne is 14th at first base and Alex Royalty is 48th on the starting pitchers list.

QUICK HITS

• This weekend’s three-game series with Wofford kicks off a brief four-game homestand for the Seahawks, who just completed a five-game road stretch with a record of 3-2 … The homestand continues on Apr. 11 against nationally-ranked NC State.
• The Seahawks dropped a 6-4 decision at 12th-ranked East Carolina on Tuesday in Greenville … The Pirates used a four-run second inning to take control of the game and held off the Seahawks, who managed to get to within 5-4 late in the game.
• UNCW and Wofford will be playing each other for the first time this weekend … Their only common opponent this season has been East Carolina … The Terriers fell, 13-8, to the Pirates Wednesday night in Greenville.
• UNCW’s Mason Berne belted his eighth homer of the season on Tuesday to extend his team-leading hitting streak to eight games … The homer also tied him with Ryan Jeffers for the team lead … Zack Canada also homered on Tuesday, setting a new single-season high for him with five roundtrippers.
• Perfect Game named Jeffers to their second-team midseason All-America team … Jeffers, who also is on the Johnny Bench Award list, is hitting .353 with eight home runs and 29 runs batted in … He leads the Colonial Athletic Association with a .725 slugging percentage.
• Berne and Jeffers have reached safely in 22 consecutive games … The UNCW record is 43, held by Nate Hall in 2008.
• UNCW has posted a 13-5 record at home this season and is coming off a series win against Hofstra in late March … Wofford owns a record of 3-5 away from Spartanburg this season.