RICHMOND, VA. - Tribe third baseman
Ben Williamson has been named the CAA Player of the Year as announced by the conference Tuesday afternoon. Williamson is the first Tribe player to receive the honor since Michael Katz in 2014 and just the fourth player in program history to take home the league's top honor. The senior's historic season came on the heels of a 2022 campaign that saw him named CAA Defensive Player of the Year. Ben also landed on the All-CAA First Team with
Carter Lovasz.
Tank Yaghoubi earned All-Rookie honors, while
Rojo Prarie and
Nate Knowles were named honorable mention.
Williamson was phenomenal all season long to earn his third consecutive All-CAA honor. The third baseman led the league with a .398 batting average and a .514 on base percentage. The senior was sixth in slugging, second in OPS, fifth in runs scored, and tenth in RBI and homers. Williamson added 14 steals on just 15 attempts, and had 26 multi-hit games vs. just 22 strikeouts on the season. Heading into the postseason, Williamson's 82 hits are the most by a Tribe player since 2014, as are his 57 runs scored.
Ben did it with power as well as average, belting out a career-high 12 homers and knocking in a team-high 49 RBI. He slugged .690 with 11 doubles and five triples for 148 total bases. Disciplined in his approach, Williamson was also among the league leaders with 39 walks. Always smooth with the glove, the Virginia native made highlight play after highlight play at the hot corner.
For the second consecutive season, Lovasz was one of the league's most dominant arms out of the pen. The sophomore pitched 53.2 innings, posting a 3.02 ERA and was tied for third in the CAA with seven saves to go with a 5-1 record. Lovasz struck out 53, while allowing just 15 walks on the season, and kept the bases clean with a 1.10 WHIP. Lovasz became just the second player in Tribe history to record five or more saves in consecutive seasons, and already ranks third in William & Mary history in career saves. The righty has a sub-3.00 ERA through two seasons in Williamsburg to go with a sub-.200 batting average against in 107.1 innings. Lovasz was the first Tribe pitcher to land on the first-team since 2014.
Yaghoubi joined teammates Williamson, Lovasz, and
Zach Tsakounis as members of the Tribe to be named to the All-Rookie team. Tank was on fire, hitting .377 and accumulating an on base percentage of .466 during his freshman campaign, both numbers leading all CAA first-year players. The outfielder had 14 games with multiple hits and seven games scoring more than one run. Yaghoubi stole six bags, and knocked in 20, while racking up 55 hits and 35 runs scored. Just as valuable in the field, Yaghoubi was error-less in 70 outfield chances with two assists.
Knowles paced all Tribe pitchers, tossing 62.2 innings and ranked first on the team and fourth in the league with 70 strikeouts. The sophomore allowed the fourth fewest runs, third fewest hits, and was third in the CAA in batting average against with a .209 mark. Knowles was tied for the team lead with five wins in the regular season, posting a 3.30 ERA and allowing just 12 extra base hits over his 62.2 innings.
Prarie was masterful in his final season wearing the Green and Gold, posting a 1.14 ERA, and leading the team with a 1.04 WHIP. The graduate student tossed 39.1 innings on 15 outings out of the pen. Rojo struck out 43 and allowed just 29 hits, seven for extra bases, as opponents hit just .201 off the righty. Prarie finished second to Lovasz on the team with five saves and a 3-0 record.
