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

CAA Baseball Player of the Week

Steve Harrington, Hofstra – Jr., OF/1B – Clark, New Jersey/Arthur L. Johnson

Harrington batted .500 (8-for-16) with four doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs in Hofstra’s 3-1 week. 

The junior belted a grand slam in a win over LIU, was 3-for-5 and drove in three in a victory over Manhattan and was 4-for-4 with two doubles, a homer and four RBIs, as the Pride rallied to beat UNCW, 9-8, on Friday. 

Harrington has reached base in 35 consecutive games.

CAA Baseball Pitcher of the Week

Ben Fero, Stony Brook – Gr., RHP – Trumbull, Connecticut/Trumbull

Fero tossed the first complete game of his career, limiting North Carolina A&T to three hits and one run over nine innings in a 5-1 victory on Friday. 

The grad student struck out nine and retired 10 of the final 11 batters he faced to even his record at 4-4. 

Fero gave up just one extra base hit in the contest and kept the Aggies off the board over the final six frames.

CAA Baseball Rookie of the Week

Brock Wills, UNCW – Fr., 2B – Holly Springs, North Carolina/Holly Springs

Wills batted .538 (7-for-13) with four doubles and five runs scored from the leadoff spot in UNCW’s three games last week. 

The freshman tallied back-to-back 3-for-5 performances and scored four times, as the Seahawks split a doubleheader at Hofstra on Friday. 

He’s batting .298 with 36 runs scored for the season.

Freshman Brock Wills hit .527 and scored five runs last week to earn his second @caasports Rookie of the Week award. Story: https://t.co/uJjDEnId33 pic.twitter.com/r1CV4HsJp7

— UNCW Baseball (@UNCWBaseball) May 2, 2023

CONFERENCE NOTES

NORTHEASTERN RANKED NO. 25 BY D1 BASEBALL: Northeastern is nationally ranked for the first time in school history this week, listed at No. 25 by D1 Baseball and No. 30 by the NCBWA. 

The Huskies improved to 35-7 with a weekend sweep of Towson. Northeastern has won eight in a row and 23 of its last 26. 

Northeastern’s 35 overall victories are tied for second nationally, trailing only Wake Forest (37). 

The eight-game winning streak is tied with West Virginia and Princeton for the longest active streak in Division I.

FIVE CAA TEAMS IN TOP 81 OF RPI: Five CAA teams are ranked among the top 81 of the latest NCAA RPI through games of April 30. 

Northeastern leads the way at No. 39, followed by Elon at No. 53, Charleston at No. 73, UNCW at No. 74 and William & Mary at No. 81. 

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 81 squads. The CAA is ranked No. 8 among the 30 Division I conferences.

ELON CONTINUES CAA’S STREAK OF NATIONALLY RANKED WINS: Elon beat No. 9 Campbell, 6-5, last Wednesday, continuing the CAA’s success against nationally ranked teams. 

CAA squads have recorded 11 wins over ranked opponents in the past seven weeks, with UNCW (four), Elon (three), Northeastern (two), Hofstra and William & Mary picking them up. 

Elon visits No. 13 Campbell on Wednesday for a rematch.

UNCW HOSTS NORTHEASTERN IN KEY CAA SERIES: The top teams in the CAA baseball standings meet in Wilmington, Nort Carolina, this weekend, as first-place Northeastern visits second-place UNCW for a three-game series. 

The Huskies (16-5) hold a one-game advantage over the Seahawks (14-5) with three weeks left in the regular season.

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

Northeastern is No. 4 (3.56), William & Mary is No. 11 (3.86), Charleston is No. 22 (4.15) and Elon is No. 26 (4.19).

⚾️ CAA Baseball is having itself a spring and national poll voters have taken notice.@GoNUbaseball is ranked by @d1baseball and @NCBWA this week. 👏 pic.twitter.com/uqxZFmXCtD

— Colonial Athletic Association (@CAASports) May 1, 2023

TEAM NOTES

CHARLESTON (27-16, 13-8 CAA): The Cougars split four games last week, beating Georgia Southern (8-5), but dropping 2-of-3 to Elon. 

Charleston posted a 12-0 win over EU on Saturday, as Trey Pooser (6-1) and Alex Lyon (4 saves) combined on the shutout. 

Cole Mathis was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs in the victory and batted .400 for the week. 

Mathis and Trotter Harlan each hit two-run homers in the win at GSU. 

Luke Wood went 2-for-4 with a double, homer and three RBIs in a 10-9 loss to EU on Sunday. 

William Privette made the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch List. He’s 2-2 with six saves and a 2.12 ERA this season. 

Ty Good held EU to one run over six innings on Friday.

DELAWARE (21-23, 10-11 CAA): The Blue Hens went 1-3 last week, falling to Saint Joseph’s (5-2) and suffering a pair of Saturday setbacks at William & Mary. 

JJ Freeman had a big week at the plate, batting .556 (10-for-18) with three doubles, four runs and two RBIs. 

UD beat the Tribe, 6-3, in Friday’s opener, as Andrew Amato went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. 

Eli Atiya picked up his third save, giving up just one unearned run over the final four innings. 

Starter Bryce Greenly evened his record at 3-3 by allowing two runs in five innings. 

Joey Loynd batted .400 (6-for-15) with a homer and five RBIs in the W&M series. He’s had multiple hits in seven of his last nine games and is batting a team-best .368.

ELON (27-16, 15-8 CAA): It was an impressive week for the Phoenix, who beat No. 9 Campbell, 6-5, and then took 2-of-3 in a big CAA series at Charleston. 

Elon came from behind in all three wins. 

Tanner Holliman hit a game-tying two-run homer in the eighth inning against Campbell, Ryan Sprock delivered a pinch-hit, two-run single in the ninth inning of the opener against CofC and Luke Stephenson smacked a two-run double in the eighth that broke an 8-8 tie on Sunday. 

Stephenson batted .583 in the CofC series with multiple hits in each contest. 

Justin Cassella hit a pair of two-run homers in Sunday’s win. 

Shea Sprague held the Cougars to two runs over seven innings Friday. 

Liam Dabagian (5-1) got both wins from the pen at CofC with 4.2 innings of work.

HOFSTRA (20-23, 10-13 CAA): The Pride had a 3-1 week, defeating LIU (8-1) and Manhattan (8-6), before splitting a doubleheader with UNCW. 

Hofstra rallied for four in the ninth inning to edge the Seahawks 9-8 in the opener, as Santino Rosso hit a game-winning two-run double. 

Rosso had multiple hits in three games and drove in six for the week. 

Steve Harrington batted .500 (8-for-16) for the week with four doubles, two homers and 11 RBIs. He’s reached base in 35 straight games. 

Jake DesLauriers threw three scoreless innings against UNCW to earn his first career win. 

Hofstra stole a season-high six bases against LIU and was 9-for-12 for the week. 

Dylan Palmer swiped four to raise his season SB total to 17.

MONMOUTH (14-22, 5-14 CAA): The Hawks were idle last week after their three-game weekend series with Hartford was rained out. 

Monmouth has a four-game homestand this week, facing Fairleigh Dickinson prior to a weekend CAA series against Hofstra. 

Phil Stahl tops MU and ranks fifth in the CAA with a .373 batting average. He’s also driven in a team-best 36 runs. 

Austin Denlinger (.329) and Eric Sabato (.302) also are hitting over .300.

NORTH CAROLINA A&T (17-23, 9-13 CAA): The Aggies fell in all four games last week, losing to Queens (12-2), before being swept in their CAA series at Stony Brook. 

A&T’s offense was held to seven runs in the four games. 

Camden Jackson batted a team-best .400 (6-for-15) with at least one hit in each contest. 

Canyon Brown homered against Queens and drove in a run on Sunday at SBU. 

Xavier Meachem turned in a solid start at SBU, giving up only two runs over six innings.

UNCW (25-16, 14-5 CAA): The Seahawks went 1-2 on the road, losing at No. 25 North Carolina (18-2), before splitting a doubleheader at Hofstra. 

Connor Kane (3-1) allowed one run on two hits in five innings of relief as UNCW beat the Pride, 6-3, in the nightcap. 

Brock Wills went 3-for-5 in both games of the twinbill against Hofstra with three doubles and four runs scored. 

Jac Croom had four hits and drove in three in the two Hofstra games and is batting a team-best .384 for the year. 

John Newton smacked his ninth homer, and Alex DeMartino hit his seventh in Game 1. 

Tanner Thach set a UNCW freshman record with a team-high 51 RBIs. He also tops UNCW with 11 homers.

NORTHEASTERN (35-7, 16-5 CAA): The Huskies moved into first place in the CAA after a three-game sweep of Towson that pushed their winning streak to eight. 

Mike Sirota homered three times and drove in seven against the Tigers. He’s batting .342 with 12 HRs for the year. 

Cam Maldonado stayed hot, hitting .417 (5-for-12) against TU with his 10th homer and four runs scored. He also stole three more bases to up his total to 21. 

Closer Griffin Young earned two saves after giving up one earned run over three innings and has a league-best eight for the season. 

Seventh-inning homers by Harrison Feinberg and Gregory Bozzo helped NU rally past Towson, 5-4, to secure the series sweep.  

STONY BROOK (19-22, 10-11 CAA): The Seawolves had a 4-0 week, edging Iona (11-10), before sweeping their series with North Carolina A&T. 

SBU has won five of its last six CAA games to pull a tie for sixth place. 

The Seawolves only allowed five runs in the A&T series. 

Ben Fero fired a complete-game three-hitter with nine strikeouts in a 5-1 win in the opener, and Josh O’Neill followed with another complete game, giving up five hits in a 5-3 victory. 

Eddie Smink earned his first collegiate win on Sunday, holding the Aggies to one run in six innings, before Nick DeGennaro held A&T without a hit in the final three frames. Brett Paulsen batted .500 (9-for-18) with three doubles and five RBIs. He had multiple hits in each game.

TOWSON (13-32, 3-18 CAA): The Tigers had a 1-4 week, rolling over Lehigh (10-2), before losing to No. 13 Virginia (13-4) and dropping two one-run games in a sweep at Northeastern. 

Jordan Peyton hit a three-run homer against Lehigh and added another three-run shot in Game 2 at NU. 

Bryce Frederick was 3-for-3 and scored four times against Lehigh and was 5-for-10 with five RBIs in the first two games at NU. 

Reyce Curnane was 3-for-4 with a double, homer and two RBIs at UVA. 

Bobby Spencer limited NU to one run in four innings of relief and struck out four. 

James Moses had five hits from the leadoff spot in the NU series.

WILLIAM & MARY (27-18, 11-10 CAA): The Tribe went 3-1 last week, including a big douleheader sweep of Delaware on Saturday. 

W&M rallied in both wins over UD, including a walk-off 8-7 victory in the finale. 

Nate Goranson homered twice and drove in eight in the twinbill and batted .400 with three doubles and nine RBIs for the week. 

Ben Williamson batted .500 (7-for-14) for the week with six runs scored and raised his league-leading batting average to .412. 

Nick Lottchea threw three shutout innings and fanned four to get the win in the series finale. 

Carter Lovasz picked up his sixth save with three scoreless frames against GW.