Meet the Seahawks… A team in the thick of a CAA title hunt
Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: UNCW
Mascot: Ocean Squawkers | School Location: Wilmington, NC | Conference: CAA
2024 Record: 28-16 (14-4, T-1st) | 2024 RPI Rank: 48
2023 Record: 34-23 (20-8, 1st*) | 2023 RPI Rank: 43
2022 Record: 31-24 (15-9, T-2nd) | 2022 RPI Rank: 90
*2023 Colonial Athletic Conference Tournament Champions
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Doak Field at Dail Park (Raleigh, NC)
Game Time(s): Tue, Apr 30 @ 5:00pm
TV: ACCNX
Live Stats: Sidearm Stats
Tell me about this team
These two played just three weeks ago (here’s the preview from that one) with UNCW holding off a 9th inning rally by the Wolfpack to pull out a 5-4 win down in Wilmington. The Seahawks have gone 8-3 since, including 7-2 in CAA play. NC State is 7-4 since that meeting, including a pair of impressive ACC series wins at Clemson and home against UNC.
For UNCW, the most important part of the last three weeks was a series win at Northeastern. The CAA regular season title race is a three team heat between UNCW, Charleston, and Northeastern. The Seahawks now own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Huskies and also have a one-game lead on them in the conference standings. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, they lost their series against to Charleston, so they’ll need the Cougars to drop an extra game down the stretch if they’re to capture the conference regular season title for the second straight year and third time in four years under Randy Hood.
This is an important week coming up. UNCW isn’t going to be an at-large team for an NCAA Regional, so the CAA Tournament is how they’ll punch their ticket. Getting top billing in that tournament – which they’ll be hosting, no less – sure would help. The top two seeds get first-round byes in the CAA.
This coming weekend, the Seahawks head to Campbell for their toughest remaining conference series (no slight intended to a solid Delaware squad). Come out of that series still in a tie for first, and the attention will be paid the following weekend to the Charleston-Northeastern series. It’s a fun finishing kick for the newly named Coastal Athletic Conference.
Pitching Matchup
Tuesday: LHP Ryan Marohn (FR) — RHP Ryan Calvert (SR)
Key Players:
Offense
1B Tanner Thach (SO) – .313/.394/.705, 10.3 BB%, 20.1 K%, 4-6 SB. Still a very big and still a very good baseball player. Up to 21 HR and 56 RBI on the year now. In the five games immediately following the first game against State, he went 11-for-25 with 5 HR, 9 R, and 11 RBI.
CF Trevor Marsh (rSR) – .341/.411/.574, 9.6 BB%, 18.3 K%, 3-3 SB. Dude has been on a tear the last three weeks, trading a slight dip in walk rate and increase in strikeout rate for a 24 point increase in batting average, 15 point increase in OBP, and a 70 point increase in SLG. Worth it. Has multiple hits in five of his last eight games.
3B Jac Croom (rSR) – .304/.412/.512, 12.2 BB%, 16.6 K%, 7-10 SB. Since a three-game hitless streak broke his 13-game hitting streak, Croom has gone 5-for-9 with a pair of homers over the last two games. He’s matched his career high with 7 HR on the season.
Pitching
RHP Ryan Calvert (SR) – 0-0, 4.30 ERA, 23.0 IP, 9.3 BB%, 31.8 K%. Has really reinvented himself as a strikeout pitcher. Pitched against NC State last time around (2.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K).
LHP Luke Craig (rJR) – 3-0, 3 SV, 2.75 ERA, 39.1 IP, 9.4 BB%, 30.6 K%. The top reliever on the team is also a major strikeout guy. Like Calvert, he also pitched against the Pack last time these two teams squared off (1.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K).
RHP Connor Kane (SO) – 1-2, 3 SV, 2.81 ERA, 25.2 IP, 11.1 BB%, 22.2 K%. Hasn’t missed bats quite as well of late as previously, but still having a fantastic year. Stop me if you’ve heard this before, but he pitched against State last time, too (0.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 0 K).
RHP Connor Marshburn (FR) – 3-0, 1 SV, 6.98 ERA, 19.1 IP, 18.1 BB%, 25.7 K%. The big freshman from Cary had a rough midseason slump, but his last two outings have been much more encouraging (2.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 5 K), even if the control issues are still there.
Quick! Fun Facts!
UNCW has made 11 NCAA Regional appearances over the last 20 postseasons with former coach Mark Scalf leading the Seahawks to 10 of those appearances.
The Seahawks have never advanced to a Super Regional, although they have come close several times. They reached the Regional final six times, but haven’t been able to snatch the proverbial bread.
- 2003 Baton Rouge Regional final (lost in 11 innings to LSU)
- 2004 Kinston Regional final (lost to ECU)
- 2008 Cary Regional final (lost to UNC)
- 2015 Baton Rouge Regional (lost to LSU)
- 2016 Columbia Regional (lost to South Carolina)
- 2018 Greenville Regional (lost to South Carolina)
The Key To A Win For State
The offense needs to prove it can pick up the slack with Josh Hogue now out for the year. Losing one of your top four hitters is a tough blow to be dealt, especially so late in the year.
Prediction
It’s hard to predict a win for State given how bad they’ve been in midweek games (2-5); however, the Pack are 21-6 at home on the year, so that’s in their favor. I think State uses some “win one for the Gipper” motivation in going out and playing their hearts out for Hogue.
Outcome: NC State pulls out a tight, hard fought, back-and-forth affair, getting revenge on the Seahawks with their own one-run victory.