http://uncwsports.com/news/2017/1/17/dia...l-com.aspx





Diamond Hawks Ranked 24th By D1Baseball.com


WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Coming off another NCAA tournament appearance and returning seven position starters from one of the nation's top offenses, UNCW is ranked 24th in D1Baseball's preseason top-25 rankings released on Tuesday.

Heading up that high-octane lineup are junior All-Americas Nick Feight and Brian Mims along with All-East Region outfielder senior Robbie Thorburn. The Seahawks finished third nationally in runs per game, averaging 8.4 runs per game, and total home runs with 87.

Feight tied school records with 24 doubles and 21 home runs while hitting a career-high .349 with a nation-leading 91 runs batted in. Mims, meanwhile, is the top returning hitter for UNCW with a .371 average and added 14 home runs and 71 runs scored. Looking to set the table for Feight and Mims is Thorburn, who finished with a career-best .364 average while scoring 58 runs and stealing 20 bases, also a career-high.

The Seahawks posted a 41-19 record, including a 16-6 mark in the Colonial Athletic Association to win the regular season title. UNCW earned an at-large bid to the Columbia Regional where it reached the finals of the regional before bowing to host South Carolina.

Among the team ranked in D1Baseball's poll are 2017 opponents Coastal Carolina, the reigning national champions, North Carolina State, North Carolina, East Carolina and Maryland. TCU enters the season ranked first followed by Florida, Florida State, South Carolina and LSU.

UNCW opens the 2017 season on Feb. 17 with a 4 p.m. start against George Mason. The Seahawks will also play Appalachian State and VMU during that opening weekend. Season and individual-game tickets are available online at UNCWsports.com/BuyTickets.


Complete Poll: https://d1baseball.com/news/2017-d1baseb...on-top-25/

We're picked to win the league unanimously by the CAA coaches, and Feight is picked preseason POY:


http://uncwsports.com/news/2017/1/25/bas...-poll.aspx



Diamond Hawks Unanimous Pick In CAA Preseason Poll


WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Led by seven returning position starters, including junior All-Americas Nick Feight and Brian Mims, UNCW was picked by the league's coaches to win the Colonial Athletic Association title this spring.

"We return a lot of experience from last year's team and we're eager to get back on the field and compete," said UNCW Head Coach Mark Scalf, who begins his 26th season with the program this spring.

Feight was selected as the preseason Player-of-the-Year after earning the honor last spring on his way to receiving six All-America honors. The junior drove in a school-record and nation-leading 91 runs as a sophomore and finished second in home runs, with 21, and total bases (175). He also placed fourth nationally with a .726 slugging average.

Mims posted a banner season of his own, earning four All-America honors, including two first-team designations. As a sophomore, Mims finished third nationally with 71 runs scored and seventh in hits (96). He joined Feight at Team USA's National Team workouts last summer.

In addition to Feight and Mims, seniors Daniel Stack and Robbie Thorburn and sophomore Alex Royalty were also named to the preseason All-CAA team. Stack was a first-team All-CAA honoree at third base last spring when he hit a career-high .284 with 10 home runs and 39 runs batted in, also career highs. Thorburn was a second-team outfield selection, finishing with career-highs in batting average (.364) and stolen bases (20). Royalty posted an 8-2 record as UNCW's Saturday starter and earned a spot on the CAA's All-Freshmen team.

Graduate Student Terence Connelly, an infielder who red-shirted in 2016, senior outfielder Casey Golden and junior righthander Austin Magestro were tabbed honorable mention.

The Seahawks received all eight possible first-place votes while William & Mary, which won the CAA championship tournament and played in the Charlottesville Regional, received the other first-place vote. College of Charleston was picked third followed by Delaware, Elon and James Madison to round out the top six in the poll.

UNCW opens the season on Feb. 17 against George Mason on the first day of the Hughes Bros. Challenge. Season tickets and individual game tickets are on sale at UNCWsports.com/BuyTickets.

Gonna be nice to have Connelly back.

(01-25-2017 09:13 PM)CoastGuardHawk06 Wrote:  Gonna be nice to have Connelly back.

Huge. As we know, he can play any position on the infield.

The Enforcer.

A great utility player. A real "bulldog" of a player.

Sent from my SM-G900V using CSNbbs mobile app

Really good, smart hitter too. Definitely not afraid to "wear it" and take first on a hit-by-pitch, either. Going to miss him when he graduates.

Former UNCW pitcher, Seth Frankoff, among non roster invitees to Chicago Cubs spring training.

Kinda cool.

Good lord how old is that dude? He must be pushing 25 at least.

Feight and Mims were named Preseason All-Americans by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA).


http://uncwsports.com/news/2017/1/31/bas...ncbwa.aspx




Mims, Feight Named Preseason All-Americas By NCBWA

WILMINGTON, North Carolina – Preseason accolades continue to roll in as UNCW juniors Nick Feight and Brian Mims were named first-team preseason All-Americas by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.

UNCW was one of four programs to land two players on the first team, joining Florida State, Clemson, South Carolina and Louisville.

Feight, who was a second-team All-America selection by the NCBWA last spring, enters his junior season as the Colonial Athletic Association's preseason Player-of-the-Year. He led the nation with a school-record 91 runs batted in in 2016 while tying program records with 24 doubles and 21 home runs.

Mims, meanwhile, was a first-team honoree in 2016 after helping the Seahawks to the finals of the Columbia Regional. He is UNCW's top-returning hitter after posting a .371 batting average and ranking seventh nationally with 96 hits. Mims belted 17 doubles and 14 home runs while finishing third nationally with 71 runs scored.

The Seahawks open the season on Feb. 17, hosting George Mason on the first day of the Hughes Bros. Challenge. Season tickets and individual game tickets can be purchased online at UNCWsports.com/BuyTickets.

We were ranked # 30 by NCBWA as well in their preseason Top 30: http://uncwsports.com/news/2017/1/31/unc...-poll.aspx

Feight and Mims named preseason All-Americans by D1Baseball.com: http://uncwsports.com/news/2017/2/6/d1ba...ricas.aspx