NEWARK, Del. - - A brief midseason slump has the Wilmington University baseball team down to No. 20 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Top 25 Poll, but senior Dave Hatt has remained hot, being added to the midseason watch list for the Tino Martinez Award.
The Wildcats (27-12 overall) have dropped three straight going into their nonconference matchup with PSAC foe Kutztown on Thursday and look to get back on track prior to their Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference doubleheader against Nyack on Saturday.
The writers association kept the Wildcats in the national poll, sliding them down to No. 20 with 82 points. They are behind Ashland (Ohio) with 88 points and in front of West Florida with 73 points.
Wilmington also slid form the top spot in the NCBWA East Region poll, dropping a spot to again be behind Southern New Hampshire. The Wildcats still garnered three first place votes and 80 points while the Penmen (25-10 overall) earned the other six first place votes and 87 points. Dominican received eight points and is the only other CACC program named in the East Region poll, staying outside the top 10.
Southern New Hampshire rocketed up to No. 12 in the national poll while Millersville jumped into the 17th position. After dropping out of the Top 25 from the 17th position, Kutztown received 23 points to finish second outside the Top 25 while Franklin Pierce (tied for 19th last week) earned six points.
Hatt was one of 60 student-athletes to be added to the Tino Martinez Award Watch List, with the award being named at the end of the season as the best NCAA Division II player in the country.
The Toronto, Canada native is 5-0 with a team low 1.99 earned run average in 11 starts on the year. Hatt made three starts in which he only pitched one inning in the middle of the week, acting as his bullpen session. Without those three starts, Hatt is 5-0 with a 1.78 ERA in eight starts and 55.2 innings. He's recorded 36 strikeouts and only 15 walks while giving up 11 earned runs. Opponents are only hitting .219 off the righty-hander. He gave up two runs in his one inning start against NCAA Division I Delaware on March 19.