W&M to Host Rhode Island and Maryland This Week

03/17/08 4:15PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Having won eight of its last nine games, the William and Mary baseball team will look for continued success when it hosts Rhode Island and Maryland this week at Plumeri Park. The Tribe will square off against the Rams on Tuesday before playing the Terrapins on Wednesday. Both games are slated to begin at 5 p.m. W&M is currently 12-1 at Plumeri Park this season.

During the weekend, the College (15-4, 7-2) extended its conference winning streak to seven games with a series sweep against Old Dominion. Junior Rob Nickle had an impressive series at the plate, going 5-for-13 with two home runs, seven RBI and five runs scored. Junior Ben Guez also played well against the Monarchs and went 5-for-12 with a home run, five RBI and three runs scored. After the series sweep, W&M earned a national RPI ranking of 37 by the popular college baseball website boydsworld.com.

As a team, the Tribe currently leads the Colonial Athletic Association in batting average (.367), slugging percentage (.578), runs scored (172), hits (239), RBI (151), doubles (57), total bases (376) and stolen bases (43). Additionally, the top six players in W&M’s lineup are batting .392 or better, while the team is averaging more than nine runs per game.

Individually, junior Mike Sheridan leads the team and the conference in batting average (.513), hits (39), runs scored (29), RBI (34), total bases (66) and on-base percentage (.541). Senior Tim Park has also posted impressive numbers with a .458 batting average, five home runs, 25 RBI, 27 runs scored and 11 doubles.

Rhode Island currently has a 5-8 record and will play at Radford on Monday before taking on the Tribe. Oliver Palmer leads the team with a .333 batting average, while Zach Zaneski is also hitting better than .300.

W&M head coach Frank Leoni was a shortstop at URI from 1988-91 and later became the winningest coach in the program’s history.

Maryland is off to an 8-9 start this season and will play at Old Dominion on Tuesday prior to facing the College. Chad Durakis leads the team with a .348 batting average, three home runs and 18 RBI, while Gerry Spessard has a team-high four home runs.