UNCW could play its way into first place with a sweep

UNCW (18-13, 4-5) at Elon (11-16, 4-5)

Fri. 6 p.m. (YouTube) | Sat. 4 p.m. (Flo) | Sun. 1 p.m. (Flo) | Listen  | Notes

From here on, they’re all UNCW’s biggest series of the season, but this is the biggest of them all.

With one month remaining in the regular season, one team could leave Elon atop the CAA’s South Division while the other could be all alone in the cellar.

At the very least, one stands to earn an important tiebreaker and gain plenty of momentum headed down the home-stretch.

Luckily for the Seahawks, they finally got things moving in ther right direction with last weekend’s sweep of UNC Asheville.

Here’s what we’ll be watching this weekend at Latham Park.

Meet the Phoenix

Starting Pitchers: RHP Brian Edgington (1-3, 4.28); RHP Joe Savino (0-1, 3.86); TBA.

Top Hitters: Alex Iadisernia (.374, .447 OB%, 7 2B, 8 HR, 23 RBI); Anthony Galason (.295, 5 HR, 17 RBI, 7 SB); Cole Reynolds (.273, 3 HR, 19 RBI); Garrett Stonehones (.237, 5 2B, 13 RBI).

The past two weekends have been pretty emblematic of Elon’s season, with the Phoenix sweeping William & Mary at home then traveling to Williamsburg to be swept by the Tribe.

So, really, who knows?

At its best, Elon can be a pretty dangerous team and has two wins over VCU and another over ECU to prove it. Typically, though, the Phoenix has been pretty average — ranking in the middle of the CAA pack in both pitching and hitting.

Iadisernia, however, isn’t anywhere near the middle of the pack — he can singlehandedly change a series.

First meeting

April 2-4: UNCW 6, Elon 4; Elon 5, UNCW 4 (10); UNCW 8, Elon 2

After a tough start in CAA play, the Seahawks cleaned up their defense, committing just two errors in the series. Add that to solid pitching and four hits from each Cole Weiss and Dillon Lifrieri, UNCW won its first conference series of the season.

The Right Formula

Speaking of CAA rankings, the Seahawks rank second in the league in both batting average and ERA, which are a pretty high-level overview of how you’re playing.

Those numbers don’t match up with the 4-5 conference mark, but after last weekend, UNCW might be headed in the right direction with finding the right formula on the mound.

Landen Roupp was phenomenal in a complete-game shutout, Adam Smith was nearly that good on Saturday and Luke Gesell rebounded from a shaky start on Sunday to finish strong in Sunday’s win.

It’s obviously tough to move a shut-down closer like Smith out of that role, but the Seahawks might have the bullpen depth to pull it off — especially when your starters eat up 22 innings.

It certainly looked just fine last week as Ethan Chenault, Hunter Hodges and Jacob Shafer combined to allow one earned run over five innings.

Given the importance of this series, it’ll be revealing to see who gets the ball in big moments.

Still Tinkering

While last weekend’s changes in the pitching staff paid off with immediate results, things were a little less clear at the plate.

UNCW rolled out three different lineups and made changes in the order for each game, and after putting up eight runs in Friday’s victory, managed just seven the rest of the way.

The Seahawks hit .284 in the series, but .230 in the the final two games.

It was good enough to squeeze out a couple of wins, but it might have been a little easier had they drawn more than nine walks, stolen a couple more bases or successfully executed a few bunts.

UNCW also had some bad luck, too, as UNCA turned four double plays.

The Seahawks are just a few details away from sweeping that series comfortably, and maybe this weekend is the big breakthrough after experimenting with the lineup last weekend.

Close Ones

On the flip side, it was incredibly important for UNCW to win two straight one-run games after losing five straight decided by one run.

Saturday, it was holding off a late rally from the Bulldogs and Sunday, the Seahawks fell behind 3-0 before beginning a comeback in the fifth inning.

They’re now 4-6 in one-run games on the season and should be playing with more confidence in close games after a strange run of luck that began with one errant throw at William & Mary.

Let’s Play Two?

Latham Park’s turf infield could help, but a rainy forecast for Saturday might mean we’re destined for a doubleheader on Sunday.

Given the depth and performance of the UNCW bullpen, the Seahawks would certainly have an advantage in the event the teams are forced to play two.

And one more note on Latham, the right field wall stands just 325 feet from homeplate, which could bode well for Cole Weiss, Brooks Baldwin, Noah Bridges and Trevor Marsh.