CAA Baseball

CAA Baseball Report | April 24, 2023

CAA Baseball Report | April 24, 2023

Catch up on the CAA Baseball weekly news, notes and awards.

Apr 25, 2023 by FloBaseball Staff
CAA Baseball Report | April 24, 2023

Catch up on the CAA Baseball weekly news, notes and awards.

CAA Baseball Player of the Week

Evan Giordano, Stony Brook – Gr., 3B – Sewell, New Jersey/Gloucester Catholic

Giordano batted .647 (11-for-17) with five doubles, two homers, eight runs scored and five RBIs in Stony Brook’s four games last week. 

In the Seawolves’ series win at Elon, he went 10-for-13 (.769) with six extra-base hits (five doubles and a home run) and drove in five, including a go-ahead two-run double in the seventh inning in Sunday’s series clincher. 

Giordano also recorded his 200th career hit Saturday.

CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week

Ty Good, Charleston – Sr., RHP – Rock Hill, South Carolina/South Pointe

Good surrendered just one hit over seven shutout innings and struck out eight in Charleston’s 2-0 victory over Western Carolina on Friday. 

The senior retired the Catamounts in order in five of the seven frames, giving up one walk and a fifth-inning single, while not allowing a runner past second base. 

Good, who improved to 5-2, had at least one strikeout in each inning.

CAA Baseball Co-Pitcher of the Week

Coley Kilpatrick, North Carolina A&T – Jr., RHP – Raleigh, North Carolina/Millbrook

Kilpatrick fired a complete-game, three-hitter with a season-high 10 strikeouts in North Carolina A&T’s 2-1 win over William & Mary on Friday. 

It was the first complete game by an Aggies’ hurler in four years. 

Kilpatrick held the Tribe to one hit over the first six frames and carried a shutout into the ninth inning, before giving up a solo homer. He’s now 3-4 this season.

CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week

Cam Maldonado, Northeastern – Fr., OF – Wolcott, Connecticut/Hamden Hall Country Day

Maldonado batted .500 (8-for-16) with a double, four homers, five runs scored and nine RBIs in Northeastern’s 4-0 week, which included a victory at No. 15 UConn and a CAA sweep of Hofstra. 

He was 4-for-5 with a double, two homers and six RBIs at UConn and recorded a pair of 2-for-4 games against Hofstra, which included a two long balls in the series finale to break NU’s freshman home run mark (nine).

CONFERENCE NOTES

FIVE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 90 OF RPI: Five CAA teams are ranked among the top 90 of the latest NCAA RPI for games played through April 23. 

Northeastern leads the way at No. 39, followed by Elon at No. 58, UNCW at No. 68, Charleston at No. 80 and William & Mary at No. 86. 

The CAA is one of only eight conferences (ACC, Big 12, Big Ten, Big West, Pac 12, SEC, Sun Belt) with at least five top-90 squads. 

The CAA is ranked No. 9 among the 30 Division I conferences.

NATIONALLY RANKED WINS CONTINUE: Northeastern defeated No. 15 UConn, 12-3, last Tuesday, continuing the CAA’s success against nationally-ranked teams. 

CAA squads have recorded 10 wins over ranked opponents in the past six weeks, with UNCW (four), Elon (two), Northeastern (two), Hofstra and William & Mary picking them up. 

The league faces two ranked opponents Wednesday. Elon hosts No. 9 Campbell, and Towson visits No. 13 Virginia.

RACE IS ON: With four weeks remaining, the top four teams in the CAA standings are separated by just 1.5 games.

UNCW (13-4) is on top but followed closely by Northeastern (13-5), Charleston (12-6) and Elon (13-7). 

The Cougars and Phoenix meet for a three-game series this weekend.

TOUGH ON THE MOUND: Four CAA squads rank in the top 26 nationally in ERA. 

Northeastern is No. 4 (3.42), William & Mary is No. 14 (3.83), Elon is No. 18 (3.86) and Charleston is No. 26 (4.17).


TEAM NOTES

CHARLESTON (25-14, 12-6 CAA): The Cougars bounced back from a loss at No. 10 Coastal Carolina (12-4) by sweeping a three-game weekend series against Western Carolina. 

CofC took the opener over WCU, 2-0, as Ty Good (7.0 IP, 1 H, 8 Ks) and William Privette (2.0 IP, 0 H, 6 Ks) combined for the team’s first one-hit shutout since 2018. 

Trey Pooser (5-1) fired 6.1 shutout innings and fanned six in a 9-2 win Saturday, and Cole Mathis (4-1) followed with seven scoreless innings in an 11-3 win on Sunday. 

Mathis also reached base 10 times in the series and drove in four. 

Trotter Harlan went 3-for-4 with five RBIs on Sunday, while JT Marr was 2-for-4 and knocked in three on Saturday. 

CofC has won seven of its last eight games.

DELAWARE (20-20, 9-9 CAA): The Blue Hens dropped an 8-3 decision to Rider in the title game of the Liberty Bell Classic and suffered three losses at UNCW last week. 

Joey Silan turned in a strong start in Friday’s 2-1 setback to the Seahawks, allowing just two runs on six hits over seven innings. 

Tyler Leach homered in the first two games of the UNCW series and has five long balls over the past two weeks. 

Joey Loynd had two hits in three of the four games last week. He leads the Hens with a .367 average for the season and is the CAA leader with 49 RBIs. 

Dan Covino tops the conference with 47 runs scored and tops UD with 10 homers.

ELON (24-15, 13-7 CAA): The Phoenix had a 1-3 week, including a pair of CAA losses to Stony Brook. 

Justin Cassella had a big week at the plate, batting .467 (7-for-15) with five homers, seven RBIs and eight runs scored. He went deep in all four games, including a pair of long balls Sunday. 

Luke Stephenson went 3-for-5 with a career-high seven RBIs in Saturday’s 18-5 victory over SBU. He doubled twice and belted a three-run homer Saturday. He also had a home run Friday. 

Freshman Justin Mitrovich moved to 5-2 and was able to limit the Seawolves to two runs over 5.2 innings Saturday, while fanning seven. 

James Broderick had a pair of two-hit games in the SBU series.

HOFSTRA (17-22, 9-12 CAA): The Pride ran their winning streak to seven with victories over Iona (8-3) and Fairfield (11-10) but were swept in their CAA series at Northeastern. 

Michael Florides excelled offensively, batting .556 (10-for-18) with two doubles and three RBIs. He has a nine-game hitting streak. 

Steve Harrington has reached base in 32 consecutive games. 

Ryan Morash hit .400 for the week, while Kevin Bruggeman batted .350 and homered twice. 

Zach Bailey picked up a win in relief against Fairfield and batted .462 in three games. 

Steven Kaenzig tossed three scoreless innings in his start against Iona. 

Hofstra improved to 13-3 at home this season with the Iona and Fairfield victories.

MONMOUTH (14-22, 5-14 CAA): The Hawks captured their CAA series at Towson with a 21-10 victory Saturday and a 7-6 win in 10 innings Sunday. 

Harry Padden was 3-for-4 with five runs scored and a career-high seven RBIs against TU on Saturday, smacking a pair of three-run homers. The seven RBIs were the most by a Monmouth player since 2019, and the five runs scored were the most since 2012. 

Ben Winstead hit a game-winning solo homer in the 10th inning Sunday and was 4-for-6 with three RBIs on Saturday. 

Nick Czarnecki provided a game-tying pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning Sunday. 

Alex Barker earned the win Sunday after giving up only one hit over five shutout innings. He struck out nine.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T (17-19, 9-10 CAA): The Aggies recorded their first CAA series sweep, taking three games from William & Mary. 

A&T won 2-1 on Friday behind a complete-game three-hitter with 10 strikeouts from Coley Kilpatrick. It was the first CG from an A&T hurler since 2019. Tre Williams’ solo homer in the sixth inning Friday proved to be the difference. 

Michael Logan went 5-for-9 and scored four times in the W&M series. 

Anthony Hennings belted a game-winning homer in the eighth inning, as the Aggies won 8-7 on Saturday. Camden Jackson added a three-run triple in the game. 

Trent Simmons threw four shutout innings to earn the win Saturday. 

Cort Maynard was 3-for-5 and drove in four runs in a 7-3 win Sunday.

UNCW (24-14, 13-4 CAA): The Seahawks stayed atop the CAA standings after a three-game sweep of Delaware. 

UNCW gave up just eight runs in the series, with the bullpen allowing only two runs over 13 innings. 

Zane Taylor (4-2) held the Hens to one run on three hits over six innings in Saturday’s 2-1 victory. 

Trevor Marsh batted .417 with five RBIs for the week. 

Jac Croom hit .462 in UD series, while John Newton batted .417 and homered twice. 

Tanner Thach was 4-for-4 with his team-leading 11th homer in Friday’s 7-3 victory. He also leads UNCW with 47 RBIs. 

Brett Banks tossed 2.2 scoreless innings in three appearances last week and hasn’t given up a run in his last seven outings. He has four saves for the year.

NORTHEASTERN (32-7, 13-5 CAA): The Huskies had a 4-0 week, which started with a 12-3 win over No. 15 UConn and was capped by a series sweep of Hofstra. 

NU is 20-3 over its past 23 games, and its 32 wins are tied for the third-most in the nation. 

Mike Sirota batted .533 (8-for-15) for the week with four homers, eight RBIs, eight runs scored and four stolen bases. 

Cam Maldonado stayed hot, hitting .500 with four homers and nine RBIs last week. His nine HRs are the most in history for a Huskies’ freshman. 

Jake Gigliotti went 2-0 last week and is 7-0 this season. He gave up just two hits over six shutout innings and fanned eight in the finale against Hofstra. 

Aiven Cabral (5-3) threw seven scoreless frames Friday, dropping his ERA to a CAA-best 2.19.

STONY BROOK (15-22, 7-11 CAA): The Seawolves won their first CAA series, taking 2-of-3 at Elon. 

Evan Giordano batted .769 (10-for-13) with five doubles, a homer and five RBIs at Elon, recording at least three hits in all three games. He reached 200 career hits Saturday. 

Shane Paradine batted .667 (8-for-12) at Elon. He had multiple hits and two RBIs in all three games. 

Evan Fox provided five hits, five RBIs and four runs from the leadoff spot against EU. 

Freshman Eddie Smink held the Phoenix to one run over five innings and struck out six in Sunday’s 8-5 win. 

Quinlan Montgomery picked up his first save after holding EU to one run over the final three frames. 

Ben Fero earned his third win on Friday.

TOWSON (12-28, 3-15 CAA): The Tigers split four games last week, putting up 38 runs in wins over Richmond (20-10) and Monmouth (18-5), before dropping the final two games against the Hawks. 

Reyce Curnane had another big week at the plate, batting .526 (10-for-19) with three homers, nine runs scored and nine RBIs. He went deep twice and drove in five against UR. He was 4-for-5 and knocked in four in the opener against MU. He’s batting a team-best .364. 

Elijah Dickerson was 4-for-5 with four RBIs, and John Cristino and Bobby Spencer each homered and drove in three against UR. Cristino hit .500 for the week with eight RBIs. 

Casey Bishop was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a homer and five RBIs in the MU victory.

WILLIAM & MARY (24-17, 9-9 CAA): The Tribe went 0-4 on the road last week, falling at Duke, before suffering a pair of one-run losses in a series sweep at North Carolina A&T. 

Nate Knowles held A&T to one run over four innings and fanned five in a 2-1 setback Friday. 

Jerry Barnes II homered for W&M’s only run Friday and then went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIs in Saturday’s 8-7 setback. 

Joe Delossantos drove in three runs in the final two games of the A&T series. 

Owen Pierce limited the Aggies to one run on three hits over 4.1 innings on Sunday. 

Ben Williamson continues to lead the CAA with a .404 batting average and a .524 on base percentage.