Baseball Report - May 14
CAA BASEBALL PLAYER OF THE WEEK:
Jon Leroux, Northeastern
Jr., C, Auburn, Mass./Auburn
Leroux batted .563 (9-16) with three doubles, three home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBI’s in Northeastern’s 3-1 week. The junior catcher had multiple hits in all four games and raised his season average to .353. Leroux has hit seven home runs in nine games in the month of May.
CAA BASEBALL PITCHER OF THE WEEK:
Corey Crispell, Delaware
Sr., RHP, Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham
Crispell allowed just one run on three hits over 8.0 innings in Delaware’s 4-1 victory at Georgia State last Saturday. The senior right-hander struck out four and didn’t issue a walk while upping his record to 6-3 and dropping his ERA to 3.47. Crispell is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last two starts.
CAA BASEBALL ROOKIE OF THE WEEK:
Vimael Machin, VCU
Fr., SS, San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico/Puerto Rico Baseball Acad.
Machin batted .438 (7-16) with a double, triple, homer, two RBI’s and seven runs scored in VCU’s 3-1 week. The freshman shortstop hit .500 (6-12) against JMU, including a 3-for-4 effort with a two-run homer in Saturday’s 9-3 victory and a 2-for-4 outing with three runs scored in Sunday’s 10-8 triumph.
DIAMOND NOTES:
DELAWARE (26-23, 16-11 in CAA)
The Blue Hens clinched a spot in the CAA Tournament after sweeping a doubleheader at Georgia State last Saturday. Delaware finished 12-3 on the road in CAA play. Junior Alex Maruri batted .455 (5-11) at GSU with a double, homer, two runs scored and two RBI’s. Jimmy Yezzo homered twice and drove in three as UD won Saturday’s second game 11-6. D.J. Long has a hit in 12 of his last 13 games. Senior Corey Crispell (6-3) limited GSU to one run on three hits over 8.0 innings and fanned four in a 4-1 win in Saturday’s opener. Crispell is 2-0 with a 1.13 ERA in his last two starts. Stephen Richter, who leads UD with eight saves, is averaging 16.3 K’s per 9 innings (38 K’s/21 IP).
GEORGE MASON (32-20, 15-12 in CAA)
The Patriots were off last week for final exams, but locked up a spot in next week’s CAA Tournament. It will be the Patriots’ first appearance in the event since 2009. Senior Brig Tison ranks 5th in the CAA in batting (.363) and 3rd in hits (78), while senior Zack Helgeson is 2nd in the league in home runs (11), 7th in doubles (17) and 9th in RBI’s (40). Junior closer Chris O’Grady is 1-0 with a league-best 14 saves and a 0.54 ERA in 23 appearances. Jake Kalish has also been strong out of the pen with a 5-1 record, 5 saves and a 1.56 ERA. Mason closes the regular season at first-place UNCW this weekend.
GEORGIA STATE (22-30, 12-15 in CAA)
The Panthers split four games last week, winning 13-8 at UNC Asheville before dropping two-of-three to Delaware. GSU defeated UD 4-3 on Friday on freshman Joel Van Asch’s pinch-hit, 2-run double with two outs in the ninth. It was GSU’s ninth one-run victory this season. Landon Bennett had six more hits last week and has raised his average to .302. Drew Shields had four hits in the UNCA win. Senior Ben Marshall threw his league-high 4th complete game in Saturday’s 4-1 setback to UD, allowing just four hits over 9.0 innings while striking out seven. Justin Malone threw seven shutout innings versus the Hens on Friday before giving up two runs in the eighth and not getting a decision.
HOFSTRA (31-19, 18-9 in CAA)
The Pride went 3-1 last week and earned a berth in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2005. Hofstra took the final two games of its series at Towson 7-1 and 11-6 and needs just one win to clinch the #2 seed and a first-round bye. Kenny Jackson batted .529 (9-17) with three doubles, four runs scored and two RBI’s last week. Matt Reistetter hit .571 (8-15) with a pair of doubles and five runs scored. Andrew Barbarino threw four scoreless innings of relief last week, while Brett Schreiber earned the save on Sunday with four shutout frames. Schreiber gave up only one run on five hits over 7.0 innings in the Towson series. Hofstra is 18-16 away from home this season after going 4-23 a year ago. The Pride has reached the 30-win mark for the first time in school history.
JAMES MADISON (16-31-2, 10-17 in CAA)
The Dukes rallied past VCU 13-11 last Friday, but lost the final two games of the series and damaged their chances of a CAA Tournament berth. JMU scored five runs in the ninth in Friday’s win, getting a two-run double from Evan Scott and a walk-off three-run homer from Casey Goss. Junior Cole McInturff batted .500 (7-14) for the week with five runs scored, two RBI’s and four stolen bases, while senior Ian Haynes hit .462 (6-13). The Dukes allowed 33 runs in the VCU series and were hurt by 11 errors defensively. JMU was just 10-18 at home this season after going 36-11 during the first two years at Veterans Memorial Park.
UNCW (32-19, 22-5 in CAA)
The Seahawks locked up the #1 seed for the CAA Tournament after a three-game sweep at William & Mary. UNCW went 12-3 on the road in CAA play. Senior Tyler McSwain (8-3) limited W&M to one run over 6.1 innings in Thursday’s 4-1 triumph at W&M. He became UNCW’s all-time leader in CAA wins with 16. Jake Koenig batted .556 (5-9) with a homer and double in the W&M series. Senior Thomas Pope, who is 6th in the CAA in batting (.362), became the 17th Seahawk to reach 200 career hits. Ricky Holden threw 2.2 shutout innings at W&M to lower his league-best ERA to 1.39. William Prince tossed 3.0 shutout innings on Saturday to earn his fourth save of the year.
NORTHEASTERN (21-26, 11-16 in CAA)
The Huskies moved into contention for a CAA Tournament berth after a three-game sweep of Old Dominion. NU is 7-2 over its last nine CAA games. The Huskies scored 33 runs on 43 hits in the ODU series. Catcher Jon Leroux batted .563 (9-16) with three doubles, three homers and 11 RBI’s last week and has seven homers in nine games this month. Aaron Barbosa and Oliver Hart hit .538 versus ODU and Jason Vosler batted .500. Freshman Rob Fonseca and sophomore Connor Lyons each smacked a pair of homers last week. Junior Kevin Ferguson (5-3) held ODU to one run on four hits over 8.0 innings and fanned nine in Sunday’s 14-1 victory. He has 18 K’s over his last 17 innings.
OLD DOMINION (18-32, 8-19 in CAA)
The Monarchs suffered four losses last week, including a conference sweep at Northeastern that knocked them out of contention for a CAA Tournament spot. Josh Wright went 3-for-5 in a 9-7 loss against Longwood and was 2-for-4 in the series opener at NU. He leads the Monarchs in batting (.300), doubles (15), runs scored (47) and stolen bases (18). Chris Baker had five hits last week and is batting .277 with seven homers and a team-best 39 RBI’s. ODU entertains Georgia State in a three-game season-ending series starting on Thursday.
TOWSON (23-29, 12-15 in CAA)
The Tigers split four games last week, defeating UMES 14-4 before dropping two-of-three against Hofstra. Freshman Brendan Butler batted .375 for the week with two doubles, four runs scored and six RBI’s. Catcher Andrew Parker threw out 3-of-5 baserunners versus a Hofstra team that led the nation with 139 thefts. Junior Michael Trionfo (8-3) allowed just one run on six hits over 5.1 innings in Towson’s 4-3 win over the Pride last Friday. He’s one shy of the Towson record for wins in a season (9). Senior Tyler Austin set a Towson season mark with his 28th appearance and became the first Tigers’ pitcher with 200 career strikeouts. Towson hosts JMU this weekend in a critical CAA series.
VCU (30-22, 15-15 in CAA)
The Rams topped city rival Richmond 6-4 and then won two-of-three at JMU to clinch a spot in the CAA Tournament. Freshman infielder Vimael Machin batted .438 with a homer, seven runs scored and two RBI’s last week. Junior Brent Mikionis was 3-for-4 with a pair of homers and four RBI’s as the Rams posted a 10-8 victory at JMU on Sunday. Joey Cujas was 3-for-5 in Saturday’s 9-3 triumph and is batting .382 on the year. Senior Seth Cutler-Voltz took a shutout into the 9th inning on Saturday but gave up three runs before tallying his 8th career complete game. The Rams have won eight of their last 10 games.
WILLIAM & MARY (28-23, 11-16 in CAA)
The Tribe was swept in a three-game home series by first-place UNCW over the weekend. The three losses came by five total runs, including a pair of one-run contests. Freshman Michael Katz batted .545 (6-11) in the series, including a three-run homer in Friday’s 5-4 setback. The homer was Katz’ team-leading 9th of the year, which ranks fourth in the CAA, and he raised his season average to .309. Kevin Nutter went 3-for-5 and scored a run from the leadoff spot in a 4-1 setback to UNCW on Thursday and was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI in a 4-3 loss on Saturday. The Tribe has five games in six days this week, including a big conference series at Hofstra.