George Washington University Athletics
GW Baseball Opens Atlantic 10 Championship Against Richmond
5/19/2015 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Atlantic 10 Championship Central | Bracket
Wednesday - 10:00 a.m.
No. 6 GW vs. No. 3 Richmond: Tickets | | Watch Live on A-10 Digital Network
Probable Starters: RHP Bobby LeWarne (8-5, 4.76 ERA) vs. RHP Ryan Cook (7-2, 2.92 ERA)
GW Notes
WASHINGTON - The No. 6-seeded George Washington baseball team will open the 2015 Atlantic 10 Championship against No. 3-seeded Richmond on Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park.
GW (30-20, 13-10 A-10) eclipsed the 30-win threshold in a 6-5 non-conference victory over William & Mary on Thursday afternoon at Tucker Field. The win marked the first time since 2005 and just the 12th time in school history that the Colonials have achieved 30 victories.
The Colonials concluded the regular season as the second-ranked pitching staff in the Atlantic 10 with a staff ERA of 3.43. The pitching corps is backed up by the top defense in the conference. GW's team fielding percentage of .977 leads the A-10 and ranks 19th in Division I.
Junior Bobby LeWarne will start the opening game on Wednesday afternoon after leading the team with eight wins across 79.1 innings this season. He has struck out 62 batters, including seven starts with at least five punch outs.
LeWarne faced the Spiders last season in Richmond, taking the hard-luck loss after allowing three runs (two earned) over seven innings with one walk and two strikeouts.
GW boasts one of the top bullpens in the Atlantic 10 as the team owns a record of 25-1 when leading after seven innings, a mark that expands to 29-1 when winning after eight frames.
Sophomore Eddie Muhl picked up his NCAA leading and school record-breaking 17th save of the season in Thursday's regular-season finale. Muhl's 18 career saves place him first all-time in GW baseball history while his 17 saves are both a GW and Atlantic 10 single-season record. Muhl enters the tournament with a 2.13 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 24 appearances this season.
Senior Craig LeJeune has set up the majority of Muhl's saves after remarkably bouncing back from Tommy John surgery this season. Opponents are batting just .195 off of Lejeune, who holds a 2-0 record, 1.61 ERA and a 30-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 19 appearances.
Junior Luke Olson has also been a key arm in the middle innings, holding a 2-1 record and 2.82 ERA across 18 appearances.
On the offensive side, sophomore Joey Bartosic finished the regular season as GW's leader in batting average (.335), on-base percentage (.383), runs (36), hits (66), stolen bases (19) and multiple-hit games (21).
Sophomore Eli Kashi ranked second on the team with a .301 batting average in addition to 23 RBIs while sophomore Bobby Campbell paced the squad with 29 RBIs along with 11 doubles while batting .297.
Sophomore Andrew Selby is hitting .294 and provides the power for the Colonials with 14 doubles, seven triples, three home runs and 26 RBIs.
Freshman Robbie Metz, a dual threat who has been named the A-10 Rookie of the Week four times this season, is batting .295 with 18 stolen bases. He also is 3-3 with a 3.07 ERA across 58.2 innings as a pitcher.
Richmond (27-23, 15-9 A-10) clinched the No. 3 seed after beating Davidson, 18-4, in its regular-season finale. The Spiders boast the conference's top home run threat in Matt Dacey (17) and have connected on a conference-leading 55 long balls this season.
The Spiders are batting .289 as a team with a 4.71 staff ERA.
Ryan Cook will oppose LeWarne on the hill on Wednesday. Cook is 7-2 with a 2.92 ERA in 13 starts. He has struck out 73 batters and walked 23 in 80 innings of work.
