Total Domination: Seahawks Make a Statement
UNCW piles up 17 hits as pitchers control dangerous Pirate offense
WILMINGTON — Randy Hood isn’t afraid to admit he was a little concerned.
And who wouldn’t be, watching one of the nation’s best offenses pound a freshman pitcher, running off three hits and scoring a run before he even got an out?
“I kind of looked down to (Pitching) Coach (Matt) Myers and said, ‘Hey, we need to get anybody?’ and he just kind of ignored me,” Hood said. “So I took that as, ‘No, we don’t need to go get anybody or even get anybody moving.’”
UNCW righthander Jacob Shafer repaid his coaches for their faith by turning in a stellar effort, allowing just one hit after the early hiccups, helping the Seahawks to a 10-2 victory over No. 7 East Carolina on Wednesday night at Brooks Field.
Shafer (1-0) was quick to pass on the credit to the UNCW offense, which dug him out of the quick 2-0 deficit by tying things in the bottom half of the inning.
From there, it was all Seahawks (11-3), piling up a season-high 17 hits as they took a 4-2 lead in the second inning and never looked back.
“The offense putting up two, matching them, took a lot of pressure off and then I was just able to get into a groove,” Shafer said. “A lot more downhill and just found a better angle and from there just got going and settled in.”
Even with the early difficulties, Hood and Myers intended to let the big freshman sink or swim in his second collegiate start — regardless of the fact that he was getting shelled by a team that ranked inside the top 20 nationally in batting average and home runs.
“He’s just got a lot of potential and he’s part of our future on the mound, and at some point, you’ve got to let them grow a little bit — even if they have failure,” he said.
After allowing four hits in the first, Shafer retired 11 straight ECU (13-3) batters before allowing Ryder Giles to get on with a single in the fifth.
“Sometimes you get in that situations where things happen so quick, you’ve got to make that decision if you’re going to have some patience and trust someone or make a move and then start running a lot of pitchers out there,” Hood said. “I’m glad from a coaching-staff standpoint, we said, ‘Hey, we want him to get out there and keep getting his feet wet.’ He did a heck of a job after that first inning.”
Everybody Eats
As quickly as ECU got the lead, UNCW had tied it with doubles from Jac Croom and Matt Suggs to go along with a Cole Weiss single and a Brooks Baldwin walk.
And truth be told, the Seahawks probably left a few more runs on the basepaths in the bottom of the first.
Any concern about that coming back to bite them was erased as UNCW hitters piled up one hit after another as the Pirates kept rolling out new pitchers.
Lefty, righty — it didn’t matter.
In all, the Seahawks ended up with four doubles, a triple and a two-run homer from Kip Brandenburg in the fifth hat made it 7-2 and changed the feel of the game.
“It’s just kind of a culmination of we continue to just keep working, and you know, you get a couple things happen, early in the game, it gets contagious a little bit from a hitting standpoint and I thought our guys just did a great job,” Hood said.
Brandeburg, who extended his hitting streak to 16 games, agreed.
“Everybody on the team was hunting that fastball and putting a good swing on it, which is awesome to see,” he said. “Everybody got a hit today and that just creates energy.”
Baldwin led the way at 4-4 while Croom, Suggs, Trevor Marsh, Dillon Lifrieri and Taber Mongero had two hits apiece.
The Bigger Picture
Often, the difference between power-conference programs and a mid-major like UNCW in an NCAA Regional has been pitching depth in that fourth or fifth game — an unfortunate fact South Carolina has driven home twice.
Pitching depth and a parade of capable bullpen arms have been a selling point for these Seahawks since the preseason, and while it’s only one midweek game in March, this was certainly a step toward exactly what the program needs to take the next step in the postseason.
“I think our pitching has got a chance to be really good and you want to try to develop that fourth and fifth starter,” he said. “That gives you a chance in midweeks and things like that where you don’t just have to have a pen day, where you send eight or nine guys out there.”
After Shafer turned it over to the bullpen on Wednesday, Bryce Cota, Hunter Hodges and Adam Smith combined to throw five no-hit innings with five strikeouts and three walks.
Over the past four games, the pen has worked 14.1 scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out 13 and walking seven.
“We do have a lot of depth,” Hood said. “Now, a lot of that’s just because of some of the guys having extra years and having a bigger roster that the NCAA’s allowed us, but I think we’ve done a really good job recruiting the last several years, and we’ve got a couple recruiting classes ready to come in the next couple years, too.”
A Little Help
Shafer’s bumpy first inning turned on an excellent double play with runners on the corners and one out when Croom fielded a chopper and flipped to Mongero, who threw out the runner at first — their first of two double plays.
All night, the two made highlight-reel stops on would-be hits as the Seahawks played their fourth straight error-free game, with Cole Weiss adding some solid glove work, too.
As a team, UNCW is fielding .979 with Matt Suggs (72 chances) and Cole Weiss (40) perfect on the season. Croom has committed just one error in 64 chances and leads the team with 38 assists, while Mongero has four errors on 63 chances and is second on the roster with 34 assists.
“We continue to just play great defense behind our pitching staff,” Hood said. “A lot of really big plays in clutch situations.”
The Spotlight
With the victory, UNCW jumped 18 spots to No. 21 in the RPI rankings, according to WarrenNolan.com
That’s a major boost headed into conference play against CAA opponents that haven’t excelled in nonconference play.
Still, it doesn’t mean anything if the Seahawks don’t take care of business starting this weekend at William & Mary.
“If we keep building our resume as as the season progresses, this win is going to help us out down the road because I firmly believe that East Carolina is a top-10 program this year and, you know, could very well be a national seed at the end of this year,” Hood said. “So, this will will look pretty good on a resume if we can keep adding some more wins as we keep moving forward.”
After hovering around the fringes of Top 25 polls for the first several weeks of the season, this victory will certainly get more national attention focused on Wilmington.
“I feel like we’ve got the ability to be ranked, the talent to be ranked,” Hood said. “We’ve just got to keep putting good games together and winning baseball games and beating quality opponents when we get the opportunity.”
Up Next
UNCW travels to Williamsburg, Va. to meet William & Mary for a three-game series, starting with a double-header on Saturday afternoon with first pitch set for Noon.
The Tribe (2-7, 1-2) has struggled to put runs on the board this season, suffering a sweep at the hands of Charlotte, dropping two straight to Central Michigan and losing two at Charleston last weekend.
Because of COVID protocols, no visiting fans or parents will be allowed at Plumeri Park this weekend as the Seahawks travel with a limited roster. The games will be streamed by William & Mary.