GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG Baseball will participate in the Coastal Carolina Invitational this weekend. The Spartans will play two games against the Illinois Fighting Illini as well as two games with the host CCU Chanticleers. UNCG has two games scheduled for Friday, the first against Illinois at 12:00 p.m., followed by a 4:00 p.m. game with CCU. Saturday, UNCG will play a single game against Illinois, and the Spartans will wrap up play at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday against Coastal Carolina.
UNCG has never played Illinois in baseball, and has only played one game against Coastal Carolina, dropping the game in 2014.
UNCG enters the game having dropped its last game with the UNCW Seahawks. The Spartans banged out 10 hits, including a two-run home run but were unable to overcome some early game miscues and ultimately fell 8-4 to the Seahawks at Brooks Field. UNCW is currently receiving votes in sever NCAA polls.
Overall UNCG 8-4 on the season. The Spartans had won six of seven games before dropping their last two contests to Army and UNCW. UNCG defeated High Point in two of three games on opening weekend before winning three-straight over Elon and sweeping Binghamton. After a midweek loss to NC State, UNCG took two of three games from Army before suffering the two-game skid.
UNCG currently boasts the highest team batting average in NCAA Division I. The Spartans have a .360 average, as four players are currently hitting over .400, with all starters hitting above the .300 plateau. L.J. Kalawaia (Wailuku, Hawai'i/Ohlone College), Dillon Stewart (Dunn, N.C./Brunswick CC) and Collin Woody (Tampa, Fla./College of Central Florida) are every day starters over the .400 mark. Stewart has a team-best .527 on-base percentage, followed closely by Kalawaia at .519. Stewart and Woody, along with Michael Goss (Cartersville, Ga./Chattanooga St. CC) and Jake Kusz (Durham, N.C./Riverside) are tied for the team lead with 12 RBI a piece. Stewart leads the team with three home runs, 16 runs scored and five stolen bases. In limited time, Cesar Trejo (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) has accrued a .429 average with a pair of doubles, a home run and three RBI.
On the mound, the Spartans will send Jake Lewis (Wendell, N.C./Corinth Holders), Hunter Smith (Whiteville, N.C./Whiteville), Bryce Hensley (Asheville, N.C./Catawba Valley CC) and Matt Frisbee (Candler, N.C./Enka) to the hill. Lewis will start the opener with Illinois on Friday at 12:00 p.m. Smith will get the ball later in the evening, when UNCG takes on Coastal Carolina at 4:00 p.m. Hensley will start on Saturday against the Fighting Illini, with Frisbee wrapping up the weekend against Coastal Carolina at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Andrew Wantz (Holly Springs, N.C./Holly Springs) leads the Spartans in the most appearances out of the bullpen. The sophomore right-hander has worked in seven games, with 16.2 innings pitched. Wantz leads the team with 23 strikeouts, which is 42nd in the NCAA in that category. Chad Sykes (Creedmoor, N.C./Voyager Academy has made five appearances out of the bullpen, picking up one save in 6.1 innings pitched.
Illinois enters the weekend with a 6-3 record. The Fighting Illini started the season dropping the first two games to then No. 19 Tulane. Illinois then took two of three at Florida Gulf Coast before sweeping the Stetson Invitational, over Central Michigan, Villanova, and Stetson. Illinois is fresh off record setting 50-10-1 2015 season in 2015. The Fighting Illini earned a no. 6 national seed in the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Super Regionals where they were eliminated by national runner-up Vanderbilt.
Illinois is set to send a pair of right-handers to face the Spartans this weekend. Cody Sedlock will start the first game of the weekend, and later UNCG will face Cole Bellair. Sedlock currently sports a 2-0 record in his three starts, logging a team-high 19.0 innings and leading Illinois with 20 strike outs. UNCG will next face Bellair who has yet to start a game this season. Bellair has appeared in five games and has yet to allow a run. In 6.1 innings of work, he has struck out four hitters and has held opponents to a .143 average against. Nick Blackburn has manned the closers role for Illinois. Blackburn has appeared in five games and has earned four saves in 5.0 innings. Blackburn has a 9.00 ERA, giving up one run per appearance, while striking out nine hitters. The Illinois pitching staff as a whole has earned a 2.62 ERA, good for 28th in the nation.
Offensively, the Illini are led by catcher Jason Goldstein. Goldstein is hitting a .421 average while starting in all nine games. He leads the team with 16 hits, and seven RBI. Anthony Drago, Matthew James, and Pat McInerney have all hit one home run and have started at least seven games. Illinois has hit four home runs as a team. Drago currently has a .333 average, with a team-high four doubles while also driving in four runs. James has hit for a .240 average and has scored two runs. McInerney has earned a .226 average with four runs scored and five RBI. Adam Walton leads the team with seven runs scored and has hit for a .306 average through nine games.
Coastal Carolina enters the weekend after splitting a pair of games with the Wake Forest Demon Deacons. Coastal fell 11-0 in the first game of the series before taking game two, 7-6. CCU has played only one of its 13 games away from Conway, S.C. as they have hosted a tournament in each of the first three weekends of the season. The Chanticleers are currently receiving votes in some polls, as they have dropped out of the Top 25 polls with d1baseball.com and the National College Baseball Writers of America poll. Key CCU wins on the season have been over defending national champion Virginia, Duke, Ohio State and Ole Miss. The back-to-back games with Wake Forest was the first time all season that the Chanticleers faced the same opponent in consecutive days.
The Chanticleers are expected to throw a pair of right-handers against the UNCG lineup. Tyler Poole will get the ball on Friday, with Jason Bilous wrapping up the weekend in Sunday's game. Poole has started three games, going 2-1 in the process. Poole has earned a 2.25 ERA, in a team-high 16.0 innings pitched and has struck out 15 hitters in that time. Poole hasn't had a tremendous of help behind him so far, allowing 10 runs, only four of which are earned. The six-run discrepancy is the highest of any CCU pitcher. Poole has moved all around the rotation through the first three weeks, starting on opening night, moving to the Sunday role and working once in the Saturday matchup. Bilous will be making his third start on Sunday. Bilous has worked in 10.0 innings, earning a 6.75 ERA after allowing five earned runs through 6.2 innings pitched. Bilous has an 0-1 record and has struck out 11 hitters. Bobby Holmes has earned the only save of the season for the Chanticleers. Overall, Holmes has worked in 10.0 innings, and has allowed 10 earned runs on 15 hits. He also is second fourth on the team with 12 strike outs.
Billy Cooke has been the leader of the Chanticleer offense. Cooke has started 11 of the 13 games, and has hit for a .378 average through 37 at-bats. Cooke has also driven in five runs and scored seven on a pair of doubles. G.K. Young is the RBI leader for CCU. Young has hit for a .370 average in 13 starts, while driving in 17 RBI on three home runs, a triple and a pair of doubles, while tying the team-lead with 11 runs scored. Zach Remillard has shown some impressive power throughout the young season. Remillard has a .353 average and leads the Chanticleers with five home runs on the year. He has also driven in 13 runs, with a triple, a double and has scored 11 runs. Michael Paez and Anthony Marks have each scored 10 runs and have started 13 games.
UNCG will play four games over the weekend, two against each opponent.
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