Baseball 03.07.20 Darrell-Dingus Ely

Baseball Welcomes Nationally Ranked Newberry for Home Opener

Wise Facts

The UVA Wise offense has carried the load thus far. The Cavaliers are scoring over six runs per game and have five regulars in the lineup hitting over .300.
Senior right-hander Greg Duncan is nearing history. The hurler enters the series just eight strikeouts shy of becoming the third pitcher in school history with 200 career K's. Duncan is also on the verge of throwing the most innings in school history his 215 innings pitched are 4 2/3 innings shy of the 219 2/3 innings pitched by current record holder Ian Patters who pitched for the Cavs from 1991-95.
Senior shortstop Jordon Turner is a patient man who seems to enjoy bruises. Turner is two walks shy of the school record for walks (73) while also being two hit by pitches shy of the school hit by pitch record (33).
Several hitters are in the midst of a hot streak for UVA Wise. Bret Roberts is on a seven-game hitting streak while seniors Tyler Blaum and Gabe Wurtz both have an OPS north of 1.000. Blaum's .417 batting average ranks third in the conference.

About Newberry

Defending regular season league champion Newberry is a throwback club. The Wolves have already swiped 58 bases and laid down 20 sacrifice bunts this season. The 58 stolen bases leads the league and ranks 11th nationally.
On the mound, the Newberry pitching staff brings a 3.43 team ERA to the series. Tomas Sorcia is 3-1 with a 1.76 ERA over 30 2/3 innings of work while having fanned a league leading 42 hitters in the process.

Inside SAC Action

Catawba (6th) and Newberry (16th) continue to be ranked nationally. Catawba's Lee Poteat took home Southeast Region Player of the Week honors last week.
Speaking of Catawba, the Indians are on a 15-game winning streak. Overall, eight SAC schools are above .500.
Through two weekends, every SAC school has at least one league win.
The league has been full of offense in the early going, SAC schools are averaging 6.6 runs per game in conference games thus far.