Thursday, March 23, 2023

UNCG Spartans



The Cats and Spartans open Southern Conference baseball play this weekend in Greensboro.

Who: UNCG Spartans
When: March 24-26, 2023 (Friday, Saturday, Sunday)
Time: 6:00 pm, 2 pm, & 1 pm
Where: UNCG Baseball Field, Greensboro, NC
TV/video: ESPN+
Live Stats: UNCG Live Stats
Location: Greensboro, NC
Colors: Gold (yellow), White, & Blue

Head Coach: UNC Greensboro announced in August of 2019 that Billy Godwin has been hired as baseball head coach. Godwin had spent the previous five years with the New York Yankees, overseeing all amateur scouting in North Carolina and South Carolina. Godwin is 105-95 in his three seasons at UNCG.

This season's record: 10-10 overall, 8-10 home, 2-0 away, 0-0 neutral, 0-0 Southern

The Series: The Cats are 36-45 overall since the series began in 1992. Western's conference record with UNCG is 31-39 overall, and the Cats are 22-23 in games played in Greensboro. Western is 3-7 in the last ten games played and the Cats are riding a 4-game losing skid to UNCG as they enter this series.

In the SoCon preseason polls, the Spartans were picked to finish 3rd by the coaches and 4th by the media. The UNCG players were picked for preseason honors, Mitchell Smith, Jr. (3d base) and Kennedy Jones (outfield) were 1st team picks, while catcher Dallas Callahan made 2d team honors.

UNCG will face crosstown rival North Carolina A&T for the second time this season Wednesday as it seeks to avenge a 9-4 loss from March 14. The Spartans were swept over the weekend by West Virginia. At 10-10 the Spartans are sitting in 7th place in the conference standings, and the Spartans are on a 4-game skid.  

Batting .281 collectively as a team, the Spartans are averaging 6.7 runs per game on an average of 9.9 hits per game, likewise with 60 extra-base hits including 39 doubles, four triples, and 17 homers. Four Spartan regulars are batting above the .300 threshold, led by sophomore Kennedy Jones (.345) who was selected to the USA Baseball Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List. Jones and junior third baseman Mitchell Smith (.325 ) were both preseason first-team All-SoCon selections, with catcher Dallas Callahan landing on the second team.

Game 1 – Friday, March 24 | 6:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+ 
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – Jr. LHP Kyle Riesselmann (1-1, 4.43 ERA; 22.1 IP, 24K, 5BB)
UNCG – Sr. RHP Jake Wolf (1-1, 2.87 ERA; 31.1 IP, 18K, 11BB)

Game 2
– Saturday, March 25 | 2:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – R-So. LHP Dylan Wheeler (2-0, 0.82 ERA; 11.0 IP, 13K, 6BB)
UNCG – Fr. RHP Jay Miller (1-3, 4.11 ERA; 30.2 IP, 14K, 12BB)

Game 3 – Sunday, March 26 | 1:00 pm | Coverage: ESPN+
Projected Pitching Match-up:
WCU – TBD
UNCG – TBD






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