UNCW dominant in five-game winning streak

UNCW (11-3, 0-0) vs.
William & Mary (2-8, 1-2)

Sat. 12 & 4 p.m. (CAA.tv) | Sun. 1 p.m. (CAA.tv)

It’s time to take this show on the road.

After spending the first month of the season inside the friendly confines of Brooks Field, UNCW heads north amid a five-game winning streak to open conference play with a three-game series against William & Mary at Plumeri Park.

Per the Tribe’s scheduling protocol this season, the teams will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon before wrapping things up on Sunday.

Aside from the typical challenge of playing on the road, UNCW also has to navigate its first trip in a world changed by COVID, meaning players and coaches will be tested, abide by particular seating arrangements on buses and other safety measures over the course of the trip.

Most noticeable to fans — and coaches — will be a pared-down travel roster, meaning several players will have to stay home in Wilmington.

Meet the Tribe

Starting pitchers: RHP Wade Strain (2-1, 2.41 ERA, .225 bating average); LHP Zach Tsakounis (0-1, 5.62, .300); RHP Ben Greenspon (0-2, 3.65, .356).

Top hitters: Ben Williamson (.343, 4 2B, 3 RBI), Tyler Solomon (.194, HR, 2 2B, 5 RBI), Jack Cone (.303, 2 2B, 3 RBI), Matt McDermott (.265, 2 2B, 3B, 2 RBI).

William & Mary has gotten some decent pitching from its top arms, but beyond that, this season has been a struggle for the team picked to finish fifth in the CAA’s South Division.

Averaging 2.7 runs per game, the Tribe has managed more than four runs just once, in a 7-3 victory over Charleston last weekend.

Overall, William & Mary batters are hitting just .199 with an on-base percentage of .292 and a paltry slugging percentage of .301.

Strain (18.2 IP, 5 ER, 16 H, 16 K) has been solid, and while Greenspon (12.1 IP, 21 H, 5 ER) has given up some hits, the bigger issue is his defense letting him down to the tune of 10 unearned runs in three starts.

In all, the Tribe has committed 14 errors and allowed 15 unearned runs.

Staying Focused

Way back on April 23, 2013, UNCW went up to Chapel Hill and rallied to knock off No. 1 North Carolina, ending the Tar Heels’ 14-game winning streak.

With that victory, the Seahawks moved to 31-11 and looked poised for a big finish and even had an outside shot at a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Instead, UNCW dropped CAA series against middling Towson and Hofstra clubs, went two-and-out in the conference and lost twice against Elon in the Charlottesville Regional to wrap up the season at 38-23.

Wednesday’s win over ECU could ultimately mean a great deal to the Seahawks in the NCAA Tournament selection process, but it won’t matter a bit if UNCW doesn’t go out and take care of business in the league against teams like William & Mary.

Fortunately, Coach Randy Hood was a part of that experience and can use the experience to shape how his team goes forward after one of the program’s bigger nonconference victories.

Deeper Depth

If we had a dollar for every time pitching depth was mentioned around here this season, well, we’d donate the money toward stadium upgrades.

Over the past four games, UNCW pitchers have been untouchable.

• Starters have allowed four runs on 17 hits, striking out 19 in 21.2 innings with a 1.66 ERA and 1.10 WHIP.

• Relievers have allowed one run on five hits, striking out 18 in 14.1 innings with an 0.63 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.

Most importantly, Landen Roupp got on track in his most recent start, Ryan Calvert had a solid outing on Sunday and Jacob Shafer was phenomenal vs. ECU.

The next step is getting Roupp to replicate what he did last Friday and having Calvert build on what he’s done thus far, commanding the strike zone a little better and extending his starts further.

In the bullpen, Breydan Gorham, Bryce Cota and Cole Benton have established themselves as the guys to handle things before turning to Hunter Hodges and Adam Smith to close the door.

Should UNCW take care of business and build healthy leads this weekend, it should offer opportunities to other pitchers to get valuable innings.

Gage Herring clearly has the talent and experience to help UNCW win big games and Ethan Chenault has loads of potential. Carter Holjes has looked great in two innings of work, as has Will Liverpool in 1.2 innings.

There’s no such thing as too much depth, and the more pitchers the Seahawks can get on the mound this weekend, the better.

Killer B’s

To borrow a phrase from Aristotle, the entire lineup is absolutely raking right now.

But no one is raking like Brooks Baldwin, who is 9-13 with a double, triple and home run over the past three games, adding three RBI and two stolen bases.

In all, Baldwin is hitting .361 with an on-base percentage of .400, helping pile up a team-best 16 runs.

Among the guys bringing him in to score regularly has been Kip Brandenburg, who pushed his hitting streak to 16 games with a homer on Wednesday night. He continues to flourish in his second season at UNCW, hitting .389 with seven doubles and a triple, and perhaps most importantly, just 11 strikeouts.

Their hot starts have been amplified by the overall success of the top of the order, where along with Coles Weiss and Jac Croom, they’re averaging a .409 on-base percentage.

Taber Mongero has also contributed from the No. 9 slot, where the first-year Seahawk is hitting .357 with a team-best .481 on-base percentage.

Deeper Depth, Part 2

With the usual suspects taking care of business at the plate, Hood and the Seahawks frequently referenced the need for a few bats further down the order to come alive.

Dillon Lifrieri is among the guys who have answered the call, picking up four hits and an RBI over the past four games, while Trevor Marsh has made great contact lately, picking up two hits — a triple included — and an RBI vs. ECU.

As mentioned earlier with pitchers, UNCW should be in position to get a few more guys into the lineup this weekend.

Ron Evans is always among the first names that come to mind because of the impressive potential he showed last season, while Noah Liles is another substitute likely to get a few swings.

Base Hits

• UNCW is 81-32 all-time against William & Mary, including a 34-16 mark in Williamsburg, Va. The teams have split the past 10 meetings.

• As of today, UNCW stands at No. 20 in the RPI rankings while William & Mary is No. 246.

• The Seahawks have a four-game errorless streak.

• Noah Bridges has reached base 10 times this season. Once getting there, he’s stolen five bases and scored nine runs.

• While UNCW has 11 wins, the other four teams in the CAA South have a combined 15 victories (15-31), while the North Division is a combined 18-25. Hofstra and Northeastern (7-5) are the only other teams in the league with winning records.

• UNCW is 6-1 in its white caps this season and 4-2 in navy, along with 1-0 in the green throwback hat.

• The Seahawks are 3-0 in the navy “UNCW” jersey, 2-0 in teal and 1-0 in the throwback yellow jersey. They’re 3-1 in the white script jersey and 2-2 in the new navy logo jersey.