The Charleston Cougars were picked to win the CAA this year, and rightfully so. 6-8 Sophomore righty Bailey Ober was coming off a 10-3 campaign and a 1.52 ERA as a Freshman and had been named the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by the NCBWA. And given he was perhaps not even the team's best pitcher, the Cougars were poised to repeat as champs.

That all changed when Ober required Tommy John surgery and went down for the entire '15 campaign as a result.

Junior righty Taylor Clarke (4-1, 2.27 ERA, 55 K's, 8 BB's) has performed brilliantly as the team's ace, helping to soften the blow. He won the season opener against 10th-ranked South Carolina and also out-dueled a ranked Indiana's Friday starter later in the month.

But in games when Clarke hasn't started, the Cougars are a pedestrian 9-5. Once you get past Clarke, their Saturday and Sunday starters are very beatable. Offensively, the team has clubbed 24 homeruns compared to just 5 for their opponents to help hide their pitching flaws.

The Cougars are still highly dangerous with Clarke and their offense, but are they better than the Seahawks? UNCW is 15-6, 22nd in the RPI, and has gone 4-4 against top 50 RPI opponents. 5 of their 6 losses were against ranked opponents. The starting pitching has been anything but dependable, but the bullpen features studs like Jordan Ramsey (26 K's, 1 BB, 1.72 ERA in 11 appearances), Whitman Barnes (3-0, 1.15 ERA, 17 K's, 10 appearances), and Will Shepley (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 12 K's, 5 BB's, 11 appearances).

Offensively the Seahawks have 5 starters hitting over .300. Terrence Connelly is among the top 50 nationally in on-base % (.523) and is among the top 100 in batting average (.406). Gavin Stupiensky is slugging .595 with 5 HR and 24 RBI. Speed has also killed for the Hawks, as Steven Linkous is among the top 100 in stolen bases, with 9. Zach Shields is not far behind, with 6.

The Seahawks and Cougars aren't scheduled to face each other until May 8-10 and a lot can change until then. But right now the Seahawks have to get the edge at the moment as league favorites.

Great breakdown. Like I've said in the other thread, if our starting pitching can make the connection with our relievers and offense this team has the ability to go deep!

Stupiensky and Barnes earned CAA Player-of-the-Week and Rookie-of-the-Week honors, respectively.


http://uncwsports.com/news/2015/3/23/BB_0323151853.aspx

Barnes, Stupienski Headline CAA Baseball Honors This Week



WILMINGTON, North Carolina – A pair of week-long dominant performances by Gavin Stupienski and Whitman Barnes earned the duo Colonial Athletic Association Player and Rookie-of-the-Week honors, respectively.

The duo helped the Seahawks to a 4-1 week, including a sweep of Northeastern in the league-opening series for both teams. UNCW finished a two-game sweep of Columbia, the defending Ivy League Champions, to open the week.

Stupienski, who shared the award with Carl Wise of the College of Charleston, powered the high-octane UNCW offense, hitting .391 (9-23), slugging .870 and posting a .417 on base average. He scored four runs and knocked in 10 on the strength of five extra base hits, two being doubles and three going for home runs. Stupienski hit safely in all five games and opened the week with three hits, including a double and homer, and driving in four runs in a win over the two-time defending Ivy League champion, Columbia. Against Northeastern he went 5-for-14. Drove in two runs in the series opener and then homered twice and picked up three RBI's in the series finale, a 15-1 rout. Stupienski is in the midst of a career-best 16-game on base streak and leads the lineup with a career-long seven-game hitting streak.

Barnes continues to be one of the bullpen mainstays this season, picking up two wins in relief last week as UNCW went 4-1. Barnes combined two appearances for 8.1 shutout innings, three hits, one walk and nine strikeouts. Opponents hit just .111 against the southpaw. In Monday's win over Columbia, Barnes struck out three and retired all 13 batters he faced for the win. He bounced back on Friday to toss four more innings of shutout baseball while holding Northeastern to three hits and a walk. He finished with a career-high six strikeouts for his second win of the week and third of the season. Over his last six outings, he's allowed just one run, unearned, over 14 innings.

Stupienski becomes the third Seahawk to earn CAA weekly honors, joining Robie Thorburn (2/24) and Corey Dick (3/10). Barnes, meanwhile, is the second UNCW rookie to earn the honor. Austin Magestro was named CAA Rookie-of-the-Week on Feb. 24.

The Seahawks close out their 13-game homestand on Tuesday with a 6 p.m. start against East Carolina. UNCW then returns to conference play when they visit Towson for a three-game set beginning on Mar. 27.

(03-23-2015 08:07 AM)Seahawk Nation 08 Wrote:  The Charleston Cougars were picked to win the CAA this year, and rightfully so. 6-8 Sophomore righty Bailey Ober was coming off a 10-3 campaign and a 1.52 ERA as a Freshman and had been named the National Freshman Pitcher of the Year by the NCBWA. And given he was perhaps not even the team's best pitcher, the Cougars were poised to repeat as champs.

That all changed when Ober required Tommy John surgery and went down for the entire '15 campaign as a result.

Junior righty Taylor Clarke (4-1, 2.27 ERA, 55 K's, 8 BB's) has performed brilliantly as the team's ace, helping to soften the blow. He won the season opener against 10th-ranked South Carolina and also out-dueled a ranked Indiana's Friday starter later in the month.

But in games when Clarke hasn't started, the Cougars are a pedestrian 9-5. Once you get past Clarke, their Saturday and Sunday starters are very beatable. Offensively, the team has clubbed 24 homeruns compared to just 5 for their opponents to help hide their pitching flaws.



The Cougars are still highly dangerous with Clarke and their offense, but are they better than the Seahawks? UNCW is 15-6, 22nd in the RPI, and has gone 4-4 against top 50 RPI opponents. 5 of their 6 losses were against ranked opponents. The starting pitching has been anything but dependable, but the bullpen features studs like Jordan Ramsey (26 K's, 1 BB, 1.72 ERA in 11 appearances), Whitman Barnes (3-0, 1.15 ERA, 17 K's, 10 appearances), and Will Shepley (2-0, 2.31 ERA, 12 K's, 5 BB's, 11 appearances).

Offensively the Seahawks have 5 starters hitting over .300. Terrence Connelly is among the top 50 nationally in on-base % (.523) and is among the top 100 in batting average (.406). Gavin Stupiensky is slugging .595 with 5 HR and 24 RBI. Speed has also killed for the Hawks, as Steven Linkous is among the top 100 in stolen bases, with 9. Zach Shields is not far behind, with 6.


The Seahawks and Cougars aren't scheduled to face each other until May 8-10 and a lot can change until then. But right now the Seahawks have to get the edge at the moment as league favorites.



You should win the CAA from what I have observed so far. Besides losing Ober we kicked another weekend starter from last year off the team for skiping classes and mandatory study halls. The way we win most games this year is out scoring the opposition and that does not work well against teams with good pitching. Good luck with the season except when you play us

I may still have to give the nod to C of C. Our matchup is in Charleston, plus they host the tourney. It's not easy to go in there and win. But I am excited about them being in the CAA. I see a great rivalry building.

(03-26-2015 06:42 AM)SEA33HAWK Wrote:  I may still have to give the nod to C of C. Our matchup is in Charleston, plus they host the tourney. It's not easy to go in there and win. But I am excited about them being in the CAA. I see a great rivalry building.

Well Charleston DID come into Brooks Field and won the tournament last year, so perhaps we can return the favor by winning it in their house this season?

A big factor will be if we've already essentially locked up an at-large bid before the tournament. I could be way off here but we don't tend to win the tournament when that is the case. Maybe it's a coincidence or our mentality is different knowing we're going to the Regionals regardless whereas other teams in the field know they have to win to get in.

Bump.

Not so fast say the Cougars. Charleston is now 9-0 in CAA play. While those 9 wins have all come against the three worst teams in the league (Towson, JMU, Hofstra), we have a lot of ground to make up before we can return to "favorites" status.