George Washington University Athletics
GW Baseball Hosts Richmond in Final Home Series
5/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Fri., 5 p.m.: RHP Bobby LeWarne (6-4, 3.32 ERA) vs. RHP Keenan Bartlett (3-4, 4.59 ERA) - | RaiseHigh Live
Sat., 11:30 a.m.: RHP Jacob Williams (4-4, 3.90 ERA) vs. RHP Zach Grossfield (4-5, 4.11 ERA) - | RaiseHigh Live
Sun., 3 p.m.: TBA vs. RHP Dan Martinson (6-1, 4.26 ERA) - | RaiseHigh Live
LEADING OFF: The George Washington baseball team will conclude its home schedule this weekend as it faces Richmond in a crucial three-game series at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park. The series gets underway on Friday at 5:00 p.m.
GW is currently tied with Davidson for seventh place in the conference standings with a 9-9 record entering the weekend. The top seven teams will make the tournament field.
Rhode Island sits in first place at 13-5, followed by VCU (15-6), Fordham (12-6), Saint Joseph's (11-7), Saint Louis (10-8) and Richmond (11-10). St. Bonaventure (8-10) and Massachusetts (7-11) are on the outside looking in while Dayton, George Mason and La Salle sit at the bottom of the standings at 5-13.
The matchups throughout the conference this weekend are: Saint Louis at Saint Bonaventure, Davidson at Dayton, Massachusetts at Rhode Island, Fordham at Saint Joseph's and George Mason at La Salle. VCU has a bye week from conference opposition.
SENIOR SALUTE: This weekend marks the final home games for GW's Class of 2016. Randy Dalrymple, Bobby LeWarne, Luke Olson, Matthieu Robert, Gabe Scott, Jacob Williams and Andy Young will all attend commencement on the National Mall on Sunday morning ahead of the series finale at 3:00 p.m.
The senior class has played a major role in the resurgence of the GW Baseball program, helping the Colonials to 98 wins over the past four seasons and 49 Atlantic 10 conference victories. The class has also helped GW to a pair of appearances in the Atlantic 10 Championship, including three postseason wins.
BARTOSIC'S HOT BAT: Junior Joey Bartosic extended his current hit streak to 13 games after hitting safely in all three games of last weekend's series at Fordham. He has raised his season average to .357, which ranks second on the team and seventh in the Atlantic 10. He leads the A-10 in total hits (70), ranks second in stolen bases (18) and third in runs scored (41). He also leads the team with 23 multiple-hit games, achieving that feat in each of his past four games. During his 13-game streak, the Oakton, Virginia, native is batting .456 (26-of-57) with 12 runs, four doubles, nine RBIs and eight stolen bases.
DOUBLE UP: Junior Kevin Mahala continues to pace the Atlantic 10, and rank 29th in the nation, with 18 doubles this season. As a team, GW ranks third in the conference with 79 doubles, averaging 1.65 two-baggers per game.
LAST TIME VS. RICHMOND: GW and Richmond split a pair of games at last year's Atlantic 10 Championship, with the Colonials providing a knockout blow in an elimination game on day three of the tournament.
Senior Bobby LeWarne, Friday's scheduled starter, allowed four runs on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts in the opening game of the tournament, but Richmond prevailed in the game, 4-1.
After the Colonials beat Fordham, 11-5, later that evening - the team got revenge in an 11-5 win to eliminate the Spiders from the tournament. Brandon Chapman and Eli Kashi each drove in two runs while junior Bobby Campbell picked up three hits and one RBI in the win.
SCOUTING THE SPIDERS: This weekend marks the final conference series of the season for the Spiders (26-21), who will have a bye in the final week of the regular season.
Richmond is the top-hitting team in the conference with a team batting average of .309. The Spiders also pace the A-10 in slugging percentage (.453), on-base percentage (.394), runs (308), hits (504), RBI (288) and rank third with 32 home runs.
Kurtis Brown is the top offensive threat with a .367 batting average in addition to 17 doubles, three home runs and 33 RBIs. Michael Morman leads the team 42 RBIs in addition to four home runs while Doug Kraeger leads the team with six long balls.
