UNCG Baseball to Face Wofford in SoCon Tournament Quarterfinals
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team, who earned the top seed for The Southern Conference (SoCon) Tournament, will face the No. 5 seed Wofford Terriers on Friday, May 24 at 9 a.m. at Fluor Field in Greenville, South Carolina.
UNCG (33-19, 16-5 SoCon) earned the top seed by winning the SoCon regular season title last weekend after Samford was unable to sweep Wofford in a three-game series.
The Spartans are entering the tournament as the top seed for the first time since 2018. The last time the Spartans won the tournament was in 2022, which marked their second SoCon Tournament title.
The attached photo is of the UNCG baseball team (Credit: Carlos Morales)
Wofford (37-17, 12-8 SoCon) advanced to face the Spartans in the quarterfinals after beating eighth seed The Citadel, 8-3, in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday before besting Western Carolina, 12-1, in the third game of the tournament on Thursday.
Game Information
Opponent: No. 5 Wofford
When: Friday, May 24 | 9:00 a.m.
Where: Fluor Field | Greenville, S.C.
Live Stats | ESPN+ | Tournament Info | Tickets
LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SPARTANS
The Spartans hosted a non-conference weekend series against USC Upstate to close out the regular season and won the first two games, 14-8 and 9-1 on Thursday and Friday, before falling in Saturday’s finale, 7-0.
Luke Holland swung the hottest bat for UNCG as he led the team with two home runs, eight RBI, five runs scored and 14 total bases for a team-best slugging percentage of 1.273 during the series.
With seven hits in 14 at bats, Aidan Brewer paced the Spartans in last weekend’s series with a .500 batting average. He also led UNCG in stolen bases after finishing the weekend 3-for-3.
On the mound, sophomore right-handed pitcher Julien Peissel earned his second SoCon Player of the Week honor this season. Friday’s game against USC Upstate saw Peissel deal six complete innings with five strikeouts and just one run surrendered.
In relief, Brandon Hudson, Jay Miller, Sam Murchison and Danny Thompson Jr. each dealt one or more scoreless frames over the weekend.
POSTSEASON HONORS
The Spartans were recognized on 20 different occasions in the SoCon baseball postseason awards, which was announced on Tuesday.
Caleb Cozart and Interim Head Coach Cody Ellis highlighted the list of teams for UNCG, with Cozart earning SoCon Coaches’ Player of the Year and Ellis winning SoCon Coach of the Year.
Cozart was also named to the Coaches’ and SoCon Sports Media Association (SCSMA) first team as a designated hitter in addition to being honored on both second teams as a first baseman.
Grant Aycock was named All-SoCon Media first team as a relief pitcher.
As a starting pitcher, Rob Ready was honored on the All-SoCon Coaches’ first team and All-SoCon Media second team.
Hunter Shuey was named to Coaches’ and Media first teams as a starting pitcher as well as both second teams as a relief pitcher.
Brewer collected honors on both second teams as a shortstop.
Peissel was named to the second team for both the Coaches’ and the Media as a starting pitcher.
Mitchell Smith received All-SoCon Coaches’ second team honors at catcher.
Noah Chapman was honored on the All-SoCon freshman team as a relief pitcher.
SCOUTING THE SPARTANS
UNCG finished the regular season with an overall record of 33-19 and finished at the top of the SoCon with a 16-5 conference record.
The Spartans appeared at No. 23 in last week’s 11Point7 College Baseball Mid-Major Power Rankings.
After plating 14 runs on Thursday, May 16 vs. Samford, the Spartans have now scored 10 or more runs 18 times this season. When doing so, UNCG is undefeated this season with an 18-0 record.
In April, UNCG totaled 154 runs while only allowing 86.
In 10 games so far throughout May, the Spartans have outscored their opponents 74-55.
As a team, UNCG is ranked top-30 nationally in four categories, including 12th in triples (20) and triples per game (0.38) as well as 20th in stolen bases (104) and stolen bases per game (2.00).
Caleb Cozart ranks among the best hitters in the country in several categories, including home runs (22, 19th in NCAA), HR per game (0.43, 19th in NCAA), RBI (72, 14th in NCAA), RBI per game (1.41, 12th in NCAA) and slugging percentage (.762, 34th in NCAA).
Cozart’s 72 RBI this season has him one shy of tying UNCG’s single-season record of 73 set by Kennedy Jones during the 2022 season.
Peissel earned SoCon Pitcher of the Week for a second time this past week. He previously earned it after starting on the mound in UNCG’s win over No. 1 Wake Forest (Feb. 20). Peissel is leading the team with 57 strikeouts.
Cozart was named the SoCon Player of the Week for the second time this season on April 29 after batting 6-for-9 (.667) in four games and hitting three home runs on, which included the first one that broke UNCG’s single-season record for homers on April 24 vs. High Point. He was previously named the SoCon and Perfect Game Player of the Week after hitting four home runs in the season-opening series against Fairfield (Feb. 16-18).
Aidan Brewer was named to the 2024 Brooks Wallace Award Watch List on April 29, a list of the country’s top 100 all-around shortstops.
Ready was named the SoCon Pitcher of the Week after the team’s SoCon opening series win against Mercer (March 22-24) when he threw for a complete game with a career-high nine strikeouts in game two against the Bears.
UNCG was tabbed to finish sixth in the 2024 SoCon Preseason Coaches’ Poll after finishing the 2023 season with a 25-34 overall record and a 9-12 mark in SoCon play.
Ready was named to the Preseason All-SoCon Second Team.
UNCG concluded last season in the semifinal round of the SoCon Tournament, falling to No. 1 Samford, 9-5.
The Spartans have 22 newcomers for the 2024 season: 10 transfers and 12 freshmen.
Eighteen Spartans have returned from last season for UNCG.
SCOUTING THE TERRIERS
Wofford owns a 37-17 record and finished fifth in the SoCon with a conference record of 12-8.
Wofford tops the country in triples (30) while ranking second in batting average (.343), OBP (.449) and scoring (10.4).
With 30 triples this season, the Terriers have set a new program record for triples in a season. Marshall Toole’s nine three-baggers are a new program record for a season.
The Terriers are outscoring their opponents 539-306 this season with those 539 runs marking a new program record.
Daniel Jackson was named the SoCon Freshman of the Year, only the third such honoree in the program’s history.
Wofford’s 136 stolen bases are currently seventh in the nation.
Toole’s 38 steals are fourth in the nation, he is one shy of Wofford’s single-season record.
Jack Renwick has broken Wofford’s career program records for stolen bases (93) and runs scored (190).
The Terriers have four of the top-10 batting averages in the SoCon with Toole (.389) topping the league.
With 105 punchouts, Zac Cowan is just the 10th Terrier ever with 100 or more in a season. He leads the league and ranks 16th nationally.
With 136 steals this season, Wofford has now stolen 100 or more bases in 11-straight full seasons dating back to 2013, the longest active streak in Division I.
Wofford was picked to finish third in the 2024 SoCon Baseball Preseason Coaches’ Poll, with one vote for first place.
SERIES HISTORY VS. THE TERRIERS
In three games against Wofford this season, the Spartans took one game from the Terriers in the series on the road, April 5-7. After winning game one of the series, 12-4, Wofford prevailed in games two and three, 8-3 and 8-7.
In 89 games all-time against Wofford, UNCG owns a 54-35 upper hand. In nine postseason meetings, the Spartans have a 6-3 edge over the Terriers. UNCG took two games from Wofford, 10-2 and 12-2, on Championship Sunday back in 2022 to win their second SoCon Tournament title.
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UP NEXT
Depending on the outcome of Friday morning’s game, the Spartans will either play in game seven Friday at 7 p.m. or in the semifinals at noon on Saturday. Opponents are TBD by other outcomes throughout the tournament.
For more information on the SoCon Tournament, click HERE.
Courtesy of Connor Wachtel
Strategic Communications Coordinator
UNC Greensboro