The Seahawk

Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Chris Carlton

Media Credit: Chris Carlton

Media Credit: Autumn Beam

Used to seeing a big number to the right side of their name, the UNCW baseball team tried something new Tuesday night. They took the field for the first time for a number to the left -- a national ranking, for the first time in program history. The Seahawks proved they were worthy, with a 5-1 victory over Wake Forest at Brooks Field.

The Seahawks cracked the national polls for the first time on Monday, coming in at No. 19 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and No. 20 in the "Baseball America" poll.

The win was the 21st victory in a row for the Seahawks, currently the longest streak in the nation.

"I don't know what it is, but there's something special on this team. We just have a lot of guys going after it all the time," said center fielder Jason Appel. "It's cool right now; 21 in a row, it's tough to do."

Freshman catcher Cody Stanley went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and a pair of RBI to lead the Sehawks at the plate.

Jesse Haney got the start for the Seahawks, going 4 1/3 innings and allowing just three hits while striking out three. A midweek starter, Haney has drawn a couple of tough assignments lately in taking the mound against nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina twice and ACC club Wake Forest.

"He's given us four plus innings each week. That's something that you've got to have if you're going to continue to play well and win games against quality opponents," UNCW coach Mark Scalf said.

Reliever Kyle Lewis picked up the win for the Seahawks.

It was more than just another midweek victory for the Seahawks, as it may have been a bit of vindication.

"It kind of silences the doubters a little bit. I know we had some weaker teams on our schedule, but we've taken care of teams that can come out here and play us hard," Appel said. "I think we should start getting a little more respect, we've just got to keep it up."

Despite all the positives, Scalf did insist that the team still had plenty to learn.

"There's a number of areas where we can get better," he said. "We had a chance to really blow the game open in the eighth, and I thought Alex [Hill] and Danny [Hargrave] both weren't as aggressive as they needed to be 0-0.

"You're going to get a pitch to hit ... We weren't prepared when we got in the box, they turned both of those at-bats into situations where they had to hit some off-speed stuff."

He also reiterated that there was no pressure building with the streak.

"I really don't think there's any pressure, a lot of that has to do with the fact that they're taking it a day at a time," he said. "Today was a new day, and now it's over. We've got our next challenge in Boston against Northeastern on Friday afternoon."

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