'Cats Open A-10 Tourney Tuesday Against Rhode Island

After going 15-8 in Atlantic 10 Conference play, the Davidson Wildcats enter this week's A-10 Tournament as the No. 2 seed and will face No. 7 Rhode Island at 3 p.m. Tuesday at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.

The event, hosted by VCU, includes seven teams in a double elimination format. All games will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Davidson (29-22 overall) is seeking its second A-10 championship (2017).

'CATS VS. THE FIELD
• Davidson played four of the six other tournament teams during the regular season and went 7-5 against them.
• The Wildcats went 2-1 against No. 3 Dayton and No. 7 Rhode Island, 3-0 against No. 4 Saint Louis and 0-3 against No. 5 Richmond.
• Davidson did not play No. 1 Saint Joseph's or No. 6 George Mason in the 24-game league season.
• In all, Davidson won six A-10 series (also against Fordham, UMass and VCU) and split two games with George Washington.

A-10 TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• The A-10 Tournament bid is the Wildcats' seventh since joining the league in 2015.
• With no tournament held in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Wildcats have only missed the postseason once (2021) as an A-10 member.
• This is the second time the Wildcats have entered as the No. 2 seed. In 2019, the second-seeded Wildcats went 3-2 in the event and reached the semifinals.
• Davidson is 15-11 all-time in A-10 Tournament play.
• Last year, the Wildcats won the regular season for the first time and went 1-2, reaching the semifinals.
• In 2017, the sixth-seeded Wildcats rallied in the final weekend just to qualify for the tournament, then went 5-1 and beat top-seeded VCU twice in the final to win it. That team went on to win the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional and play Texas A&M in the Super Regionals. Head coach Rucker Taylor was the Wildcats' associate head coach at that time.

WIN MARKS
• With one more win, the Wildcats would reach the 30-win mark for the fourth time in program history.
• Their 29 wins rank third-best for a Davidson regular season, following only the 42 wins of 2022 and the 32 of 2018.
• The 29-win campaign is the program-record 10th straight winning season and is already the fourth-best overall win total (including postseasons) in Davidson history, tied with the 2014 and 2019 final records.
• Davidson won 43 games last season, 35 in 2017 and 33 in 2018.
• The 15 regular-season A-10 wins are second-most for a Davidson team, following only last year's 20-4 regular season championship campaign.

WILLLSONNN!!
• Junior outfielder Ryan Wilson, an all-around offensive threat, has set the standard this year.
• A Second Team A-10 pick last year, Wilson leads the A-10 with 17 home runs, 68 runs scored, a .523 on-base percentage, a .743 slugging percentage, a 1.266 OPS and 28 hit-by-pitches.
• He leads Davidson with 22 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games.
• He ranks second nationally in HBPs is already Davidson's career recordholder (62).
• Wilson is third in the A-10 with a .377 average and 136 total bases and is tied for sixth with 53 RBIs.
• Wilson reached base — by hit, walk or HBP — in every game of the regular season (51).
• He enters the A-10 Tournament within reach of the program's reached-base streak, set at 54 by Will Robertson in 2017.

MIKE IS BACK
• 2022 A-10 Player of the Year Michael Carico has missed significant time his season, after earning multiple All-American honors and the nation's only Rawlings Gold Glove catcher's mitt last season.
• A pro draft prospect, Carico injured his left hand while catching on March 3 at Coastal Carolina and missed two months.
• He returned on May 4 against VCU and in nine games since returning has hit .353 with three home runs, seven RBIs and a 1.228 OPS.

ON THE MOUND
• Senior right-handers Will Schomberg and Bennett Flynn are among the league's best.
• Schomberg has served as the Friday starter, while Flynn has been called upon to start and relieve.
• They rank 3-4 in the A-10 in ERA, with Flynn (3.61) just ahead of Schomberg (3.73).
• A First Team A-10 pick last year, Flynn (4-1, 4 saves) is first in the league with 13.41 strikeouts per nine innings and second with 6.36 hits allowed per nine and a .196 opponents' batting average. He's fifth with 78 strikeouts. He was named A-10 Pitcher of the Week on May 15.
• Schomberg (7-2) ranks fourth with a .212 opponents' batting average, 7.18 hits allowed per nine and a 1.21 WHIP.

OTHERS TO WATCH
• Sophomore second baseman Jack Cotrone has had a breakthrough year. He's third in the league with 13 home runs, tied for sixth with a 1.055 OPS and tied for eighth with a .615 slugging percentage. He's hitting .317.
• Sophomore catcher/DH Jacob Friend has caught fire late in the season, hitting .548 (17-for-31) over the last nine games. He hit eight of his 10 home runs in a seven-game stretch in May and was named A-10 Player of the Week on May 15. He is fifth in the league in on-base percentage (.470), eighth in walks (37) and 10th with a 1.036 OPS.
• Freshman first baseman Michael O'Shaughnessy has earned two A-10 Rookie of the Week honors (April 3, May 15). He's hitting .307 with 10 home runs and is among the league leaders in on-base percentage (.458) and HBPs (16).
• Along with Wilson, junior third baseman Nick Calero and senior outfielder Henry Koehler have started all 51 games. Calero is hitting .294 from the leadoff spot and is among the league leaders with 40 walks. Koehler is hitting .292 and is tied with Wilson for the team lead with eight stolen bases.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results