NEWS

 

It’s time for Atlantic 10 Conference baseball! 

Davidson will open the 24-game league schedule on Thursday when it begins a three-game home series against Saint Joseph’s.

First pitch is set for 5:30 p.m. at Wilson Field, with early afternoon games to follow on Friday and Saturday.

‘CATS IN THE CONFERENCE
• In A-10 play, the Wildcats will play eight three-game series.
• Along with Saint Joe’s, that also includes home series against Richmond, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure. The Wildcats will visit VCU, Saint Louis, Dayton and George Mason.
• Davidson finished atop the league standings in 2022 and finished second last season.
• The last two A-10 Players of the Year have come from Davidson. Catcher Michael Carico won the league’s top honor in 2022, and outfielder Ryan Wilson earned it last season. Carico (Chicago Cubs) and Wilson (San Diego Padres) were selected in the fifth and ninth rounds, respectively, of the 2023 Major League Baseball Draft.
• The Wildcats reached the A-10 Tournament for the seventh time last season.
• Since joining the league in 2015, Davidson has missed the A-10 Tournament only once (2021), not counting the pandemic-abbreviated 2020 season when no tournament was held.  

LATEST ON THE ‘CATS
• Davidson is 11-13 and coming off a 7-3 loss to High Point on Tuesday night.
• The Wildcats are in a stretch of playing seven home games in eight days.
• Prior to Tuesday’s loss, the Wildcats had won four in a row, including a weekend sweep of Siena and a midweek win over Charlotte.
• Davidson ranks second among A-10 offenses with a .412 on-base percentage.
• Wildcat pitchers are third with 9.0 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Corner infielders Eli Putnam and Michael O’Shaughnessy lead Wildcat hitters with five home runs apiece.
• Putnam is hitting a team-best .356 with a .621 slugging percentage, a 1.083 OPS, eight doubles and 25 RBIs.
• O’Shaughnessy is hitting .307 with a .955 OPS and a team-leading 26 RBIs.
• Catcher Jacob Friend leads the A-10 with a .562 on-base percentage and has drawn 22 walks.
• Catcher Noah Jouras ranks second with three triples and is hitting .372 in an expanded role. 
• Pitcher Wilson Perkins is third in the A-10 in walks per nine innings (1.44) and strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.80).  

SCOUTING SAINT JOSEPH’S
• The Hawks enter 9-13 after most recently losing 13-7 at Lafayette Tuesday.
• Saint Joseph’s won the A-10 regular season title last year, the program’s first.
• Infielder Ryan Weingartner leads the Hawks with a .340 average, a 1.058 OPS, six home runs and 25 RBIs. He ranks second in the A-10 with 63 total bases and nine doubles.
• Outfielder Conlan Wall is hitting .329 with a team-leading eight stolen bases. Wall leads the league with 27 walks and is second in on-base percentage (.538).
• On the mound, the Hawks lead the A-10 with 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and are second with a 1.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Right-hander Will McCausland is atop the A-10 with 42 strikeouts and is second with a 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Right-hander Domenic Picone, reigning A-10 Pitcher of the Week, is the league leader with 13.13 strikeouts per nine innings, followed by McCausland (11.94).
• The Hawks are coached by Fritz Hamburg, who was A-10 Coach of the Year last season.

SERIES HISTORY
• Davidson leads the all-time series 11-3.
• The teams last played in May of 2022, when the Wildcats swept a three-game road series.
• The Wildcats have won four straight games over the Hawks.

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
• Thursday: RHP Wilson Perkins (4.02 ERA, 3-2, 31.1 IP) vs. RHP Will McCausland (3.98 ERA, 1-2, 31.2 IP)
• Friday: LHP Cooper Cavanaugh (5.67 ERA, 0-3, 27.0 IP) vs. LHP Ryan DeSanto (4.44 ERA, 1-0, 24.1 IP)
• Saturday: LHP Ryan Feczko (6.04 ERA, 2-3, 22.1 IP) vs. RHP Domenic Picone (4.50 ERA, 2-1, 24.0 IP)