Niner Nuggets- Week 9

Top Stories

Four Straight C-USA Series Wins  – We are halfway through the 8 weekend Conference USA schedule and the 49ers are 14-2 in conference with 4 consecutive series wins. The 49ers only 2 losses have come in extra innings and they have identical 7-1 records at home and on the road in conference. Along the way, the Niners won 11 straight to tie a school record.

Rankings, Rankings, & More Rankings – After a 3-1 week the Niners continued to receive national recognition in the polls. This week the Niners jumped up 2 spots to #19 in D1 Baseball’s Top 25. They are also ranked 29th by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, 21st in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and 24th in the NCBWA poll. The Niners have also been projected to earn a post season regional berth by both Baseball America and D1 Baseball.

Going Deep – The Niners hit 5 HRs this weekend back at the Hayes. That gives them 42 on the season and puts them tied for 10th All Time on the 49ers HR List. They are tied with the 1995, 2005, and 2010 teams. The 49ers All Time Record for HRs is 110 set by the 1986 team. The 49ers have 21 Games left in the regular season and are currently 26th in the NCAA in HRs.

Top Performers

• Outfielder Dominic Pilolli was named Conference USA Hitter of the Week after batting .600 on the week with 3 HR, 3 Doubles, a Triple, and 10 RBI. All three HRs this weekend came when the Niners were trailing, and two of them tied the game. Pilolli is the 2nd 49er to win the weekly honor this season. Dom was also named one of the Top Performers on Saturday by D1 Baseball.
• RHP Andrew Lindsey was named one of the Top Performers on Sunday by D1 Baseball. He threw 7 shutout innings of relief on Sunday scattering 6 hits and grabbing 6 Ks.
• Since returning to the line-up, Outfielder Todd Elwood has a hit in 9 of the 10 games he’s played, driven in 10 Runs and scored 14 for the Niners. He’s batting .500 (17-34) since returning and added two Doubles this past weekend. He’s also been holding things down in center field. defensively.
• RHP Bryce McGowan had another big Friday night start, allowing only 2 ER on 5 hits over 5 IP. He added 9 Ks and leads the team with 69 Ks (2nd in C-USA).
• David McCabe returned to the line-up full time this weekend as the 49ers DH. He was 4-12 on the weekend with a Homer (9), a Double and 2 RBI.
• LHP Christian Lothes made 3 appearances each of the 3 days of the weekend and struck out 6 while only allowing 1 Run. He leads the Niners with a 2.86 ERA.
• Third Baseman Austin Knight added two more doubles to give him 20 on the season. He leads the country in Doubles and is rumored to be eyeing Bo Robinson’s school record of 32 Doubles in a season. Overall the 49ers currently lead the Country with 83 Doubles.
• First Baseman LuJames Groover III had the go ahead HR for the Niners in Game 3 of the series and had 5 hits and 5 RBI on the weekend.

Tracking the Enemy

Here’s a look at how Charlotte’s (25-10, 18 RPI) Non-Conference opponents fared this past week:

This Week in C-USA

C-USA presently sits at 6th in the RPI ratings. The overall out of conference record is 123-98. We are half-way through the conference season and it is time to start looking ahead at the Tournament in Ruston. The Top 8 teams will make the tourney.

Up Next

Charlotte is approaching their 2nd 5-game week of the season this week. The Niners are travelling to Boone on Tuesday for a non-conference game at Appalachian State. This will be the first non-conference game for the Niners since beating App State 15-5 at Opening Night for Atrium Health Ballpark in Kannapolis last month. The game is at 5:00 and and will be shown on ESPN+. Fans can also listen to the call of the game with Sean for free via CUSA.TV. Ticket information for the game can be found here.

The Niners then return to the Hayes for a much anticipated Top 25 Conference USA match-up with #20 ranked Old Dominion. This will be the first of two 4-game series as the Niners will travel to Norfolk next weekend to take on the Monarchs again. Yes, that will be eight straight conference games vs ODU. The four game series begins Friday at 6:00, continues with a double-header (7 innings) on Saturday starting at 2:00, and concludes with a 2:00 start on Sunday. All games of the series will be on CUSA.TV.

For a ‘bird’s eye view’ of the match-up this coming weekend, let’s take a look at where these teams sit in these Conference USA stats:

Here are the C-USA match-ups this weekend:

• ODU @ CLT
• FAU @ FIU
• Rice @ UTSA
• Marshall @ LaTech
• WKU @ USM
• UAB @ MTSU