W&M to Host Old Dominion This Weekend

03/13/08 5:30PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary baseball team will return to conference play when it hosts Old Dominion for a three-game series this weekend at Plumeri Park. Friday’s contest is scheduled to begin at 4 p.m., while Saturday’s game will start at 2 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday with a contest at 1 p.m.

The College will send senior LHP Pete Vernon (2-0) to the hill in the opener, while the Monarchs will counter with junior RHP Dan Hudson (2-1). W&M sophomore LHP Tyler Truxell (2-0) will get he start on Saturday against ODU’s junior RHP Anthony Shawler (2-1), while Sunday’s starters are to be determined.

W&M enters this weekend’s series with a 12-4 record overall and a 4-2 mark in league play. In its last outing, the Tribe earned a 12-3 victory against Virginia Military Institute on Wednesday evening. Senior Tim Park came up big in the triumph, going 4-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored, while senior Greg Maliniak also went deep and finished the day 3-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored. Junior Rob Nickle also registered a home run and drove in three RBI, while classmate Tyler Stampone scored three runs.

One of the Colonial Athletic Association’s top offensive teams, the Tribe leads the conference in batting average (.376), slugging percentage (.589), on-base percentage (.448), runs scored (145), hits (206), RBI (127), doubles (51), total bases (323) and stolen bases (37).

Individually, Mike Sheridan leads the conference in batting average (.547), slugging percentage (.989), runs scored (26), hits (35), RBI (33), home runs (6) and total bases (62). Additionally, the Washington, D.C., native has hit safely in all 16 games this season.

ODU enters this weekend’s series with a 10-4 record overall and a 3-0 mark in conference action. The Monarchs are currently on a six-game winning streak. Old Dominion is led by Hudson and Shawler, who are two of the top pitchers in the CAA. Offensively, Jimmy Miles leads the squad with a .480 batting average and 19 runs scored, while Bryan Cipolla is hitting .353 with 18 RBI.

Last season, W&M closed its season by taking two of three games against the Monarchs at Plumeri Park.