Despite the amount of strong contenders in the Coastal Athletic Association this baseball season, don’t be fooled.

Until further notice, the Seahawks are the ones being chased.

Even with Northeastern being the league’s preseason favorite and Campbell barging in from the Big South Conference to make things interesting, remember that UNC Wilmington was the program that won not just the CAA regular-season title but the conference tourney crown, too.

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The Seahawks simply got it done in the big moments, and they earned their spot back in the Regional round. With the rest of the CAA beefing up around them, however, will UNCW be able to keep the good vibes going in 2024?

Here’s a look ahead at all you need to know about UNC Wilmington baseball now that the 2024 college baseball season is underway.

How Did UNCW Baseball Do in 2023?

Regular season conference champion, conference tournament champion, NCAA Tournament team. For a mid-major college baseball program, seasons rarely get much better than the one UNCW had in 2023. 

Winners of the Coastal Athletic Association regular-season crown on the final day before the postseason after furious battles toward the end with Elon and Northeastern, the Seahawks captured the CAA title for the 10th time and went on to take home the conference tournament crown, too. UNCW beat Northeastern twice to win the tourney for the seventh time. 

Who Coaches UNCW Baseball?

Randy Hood did his time and cut his teeth as an assistant at UNCW for years, and in 2023, for the first time since he was hired as the Seahawks’ head coach, he proved that he could sustain the success and uphold the standard set at the school by the legendary coach that came before him. 

Hood joined Mark Scalf’s staff for the 2002 season as an assistant and helped contribute to UNCW’s 10 NCAA Tournament appearances under the former coach’s direction before he retired after the 2019 season as both the school and CAA’s all-time wins leader. Named Scalf’s successor shortly after, Hood has won at least 31 games in every (completed) season but had his best run of success yet at the helm a season ago, getting the Seahawks back to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in his tenure after leading them to the CAA double.

Has UNCW Baseball Ever Won the College World Series?

No, UNCW baseball has never won the College World Series. The Seahawks are frequent qualifiers for the NCAA Tournament, having made the Regional round 11 times since 2003, but they have never advanced to a Super Regional in their program’s history.

Notable Returning Players

Jac Croom, INF

A year-in, year-out fixture of the Seahawks’ lineup who entered the 2024 season having started 168 of a possible 175 college games in his career, Croom held it down at third base a year ago and had an emergent season in the meantime, batting a team-best and career-high .361 with seven home runs, 12 doubles, and 34 RBIs as UNCW’s best option at the plate. 

He’s a veteran presence who will be key in trying to get the Seahawks back to the heights they reached in 2023 once again, and his performances in the big games—like a 3 for 4, two-RBI day in the CAA Tournament-clinching victory over Northeastern—were crucial to UNCW’s success. 

RJ Sales, RHP

Are the Seahawks glad to have their ace back or what? A First Team All-CAA selection as a freshman in 2022, Sales was immediately thrown into the fire as a rookie and thrived, starting 15 games and going 6-1 with a 4-0 record in CAA play that season. 

The Collegiate Baseball News Freshman All-American looked to be set for a sophomore surge, but an injury derailed those hopes and forced Sales to miss the entire 2023 season and redshirt as a result, seeing him miss out on directly participating in UNCW’s banner year a season ago. 

Locked and loaded this time around, however, Sales got back in the flow of things with a short stint in collegiate summer ball and immediately delivered as the Seahawks’ opening day starter to start the season, tossing 5⅔ innings against Kent State and limiting the Golden Flashes to just one run on one hit with eight strikeouts to earn himself the first CAA Pitcher of the Week honor given out of the year.

Notable Newcomers

Martin Zelenka, C/1B

It’s not often that a player who has suited up for his country’s national team appears in the college game, but the Czech Republic-born Zelenka has done exactly that, playing for his home nation at the European Baseball Championships in the past. Now, the junior college transfer and one-time Charlotte commit has finally arrived at the D-I level as a multi-tooled 6-foot-3, 245-pound tower with plenty of potential power. 

He was third in all of NJCAA Division II last season with 15 home runs to his name, pairing it with a .375 average and 50 RBIs across just 35 games played with Pitt Community College in Winterville, North Carolina, about a two-hour drive north of Wilmington. He already has his first career homer at UNCW, going yard as a pinch hitter in the Seahawks’ loss to Coastal Carolina.

Kevin Jones, INF

Another offseason JUCO transfer, Jones was a shortstop for Lenoir Community College—like Zelenka, a junior college program also located in-state and close by—and spent last season batting .335 there with 44 runs and 17 stolen bases in 49 games en route to being an All-Region infielder. 

He’s been entrusted with the starting spot at shortstop in the Seahawks’ lineup already, and Jones delivered on that trust with a three-hit day with a run in UNCW’s series finale against Kent State despite batting toward the bottom of the order. 

Early indications seem to indicate that Jones could play more of a complementary role to the Seahawks’ star returners like Croom, Trevor Marsh, Tanner Thach, and others, but after the graduation of former First Team All-CAA nod and three-year starting shortstop Taber Mongero, Jones’ role will be very important nonetheless.

UNCW Baseball Schedule 2024

All times Eastern

2024 UNCW Baseball Roster

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