NEWS

 

In a stretch of playing three of four series on the road, the Davidson baseball team will be home this weekend when it hosts Richmond in a three-game Atlantic 10 Conference series.

The Wildcats and Spiders will begin their matchup Friday with a 5:30 p.m. first pitch at Wilson Field.

It’s the teams’ fourth of eight conference series in the 24-game A-10 schedule.  

LATEST ON THE ‘CATS
• The Wildcats are 14-21 overall and 2-7 in A-10 play following an 8-7 non-conference loss at Winthrop Tuesday, the team’s seventh in a row.
• In league play, the Wildcats won two of three against Saint Joseph’s, then were swept at VCU and Saint Louis.
• Davidson’s offense leads the A-10 with 207 walks, ranks third with a .403 on-base percentage and fourth with 39 home runs.
• The Wildcats’ pitching staff ranks fourth with 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings.
• Catcher/designated hitter Jacob Friend is finding ways to get on base. He leads the A-10 with 37 walks (12th nationally) and in on-base percentage (15th).
• Friend is hitting .306 with a 1.128 OPS, seven home runs and 20 RBIs.
• Infielder Eli Putnam is hitting a team-best .331 with a 1.040 OPS and a team-high nine home runs, including two at Winthrop Tuesday night. He’s driven in 37 runs, second-most on the team.
• Infielder Michael O’Shaughnessy is the team leader with 38 RBIs (5th in the A-10), while hitting .312 with a 1.013 OPS and eight home runs.
• Shortstop Nick Calero ranks second in the A-10 with four sacrifice flies, and catcher/DH Noah Jouras is second with three triples.
• On the mound, Wilson Perkins is fourth in the league with 2.02 walks per nine innings and fifth with a 4.36 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
• Cooper Cavanaugh ranks second in the A-10 with 7.38 hits allowed per nine and in opponents’ batting average (.217).

SCOUTING THE SPIDERS
• Richmond is 16-21 and 6-3 in the A-10.
• The Spiders are currently tied for second in the league with VCU and Dayton, one game back of league leader Saint Louis.
• In A-10 play, the Spiders won two of three against George Mason, lost two of three at Fordham and swept George Washington.
• Richmond ranks third in the A-10 with 41 home runs.
• Spiders pitcher Kyle Roche leads the A-10 with 55.1 innings pitched, a 20.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio and 0.33 walks per nine innings. He also ranks second in WHIP (1.08) and third in ERA (2.77).
• Pitcher Harrison Clifton leads the league with 21 appearances, and Cole Hentschel has a league-best five saves.
• Infielder Aidan O’Keefe is hitting a team-best .337 to go with a .917 OPS, three home runs and 15 RBIs.
• Outfielder DJ Pacheco is hitting .319 with a team-best 1.005 OPS, six home runs and 21 driven in.
• In fewer at-bats, outfielder Aaron Whitley is hitting .411 with a 1.264 OPS and a team-leading seven home runs.
• Outfielder Phil Bernstein’s team-best 12 doubles is tied for fourth in the A-10.

DAVIDSON ALUM IN THE DUGOUT
• The Spiders are coached by 1990 Davidson graduate Mik Aoki, who is in his first year with the Spiders after coaching stops at Columbia, Boston College, Notre Dame and Morehead State.
• An infielder/catcher, Aoki still ranks among Davidson’s career leaders in batting average (.335, 9th) and slugging percentage (.547, 9th).
• He’s also in the program record book for hitting two grand slams in 1988 and 20 doubles in 1990.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Davidson and Richmond series is one of the Wildcats’ oldest and dates to 1907.
• The Spiders lead the series 34-25 and have won the last four meetings, including all three in last year’s series in Richmond.
• In 2022, the Wildcats swept the Spiders in Davidson before falling to them in the A-10 Tournament.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
• Friday: RHP Wilson Perkins (3-3, 6.06 ERA, 49.0 IP) vs. RHP Logan Ymker (1-0, 4.50 ERA, 32.0 IP)
• Saturday: LHP Cooper Cavanaugh (1-4, 5.06 ERA, 42.2 IP) vs. RHP Esteban Rodriguez (3-1, 5.23 ERA, 43.0 IP)
• Sunday: TBD vs. RHP Kyle Roche (2-5, 2.77 ERA, 55.1 IP)