Tribe Looks to Extend Seven-Game CAA Winning Streak at UNCW This Weekend

03/20/08 11:10AM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary baseball team will look to extend its seven-game conference winning streak when it plays a three-game series at UNC Wilmington this weekend. Friday’s contest is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., while Saturday’s game will start at 4 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday with a contest at 2 p.m.

The College will send senior LHP Pete Vernon (3-0) to the hill in the opener, while the Seahawks will counter with sophomore RHP Seth Frankoff (2-0). W&M sophomore LHP Tyler Truxell (2-0) will get the start on Saturday against UNCW’s junior RHP Brad Holt (2-0), while freshman RHP Tim Norton (3-0) will go against senior RHP Jeff Hatcher (2-0) in the series finale.

In addition to having won its last seven CAA games, W&M enters this weekend’s series with a 16-5 record overall and a 7-2 mark in league play. Last weekend, the Tribe earned a series sweep against Old Dominion, while it took all three games from Hofstra the previous weekend. During the winning streak, the College is hitting .383 as a team and is averaging more than 10 runs per game. During the impressive stretch, junior Mike Sheridan is hitting .593 with two home runs, 12 RBI and 13 runs scored, while classmate Rob Nickle is batting .452 with four home runs, 16 RBI and nine runs scored.

As a team, the Tribe leads the CAA in batting average (.360), slugging percentage (.578), on-base percentage (.436), runs scored (188), hits (259), RBI (167), doubles (63), total bases (416) and stolen bases (44).

Individually, Sheridan leads the conference in batting average (.477), hits (41), RBI (35) and total bases (69), while he ranks among the CAA’s top five in slugging percentage (.802), on-base percentage (.505), runs scored (30) doubles (8) and home runs (6). Senior Tim Park also ranks among the league’s top five in batting average (.444), slugging percentage (.802), on-base percentage (.511), runs scored (29), hits (36), RBI (27), doubles (11) and total bases (64).

UNCW enters this weekend’s series on a 13-game winning streak and has 14-4 record overall and a 6-0 mark in conference play. Mark Carver leads the team with a .405 batting average, six home runs and 27 RBI, while Jason Appel is hitting .386. Daniel Hargrave has a team-best seven home runs.