2025 CAA Baseball Season Preview

Projected Standings (2024 Record)

1. Charleston (41-14; 21-5)
2. UNCW (40-21; 20-7)
3. Northeastern (38-17; 18-9)
4. Campbell (31-22; 12-15)
5. Delaware (31-26; 16-11)
6. Elon (21-32; 10-17)
7. Stony Brook (24-28; 12-15)
8. William and Mary (32-26; 13-14)
9. Hofstra (24-33; 13-14)
10. Monmouth (18-30; 11-16)
11. North Carolina A&T (25-28; 9-17)
12. Towson (15-39; 5-20)

Top Five Draft Prospects For 2025

1. Tanner Thach, 1B, UNCW
2. Cam Maldonado, OF, Northeastern
3. Justin Mitrovich, RHP, Elon
4. Connor Kane, RHP, UNCW
5. Trace Baker, RHP, UNCW

Team To Beat: Charleston

Charleston came tantalizingly close to a postseason berth last season when it was the only team in the nation with 40 or more total wins (41) and a top 50 RPI to get denied entry. This year, they again appear positioned to make the field with ample returning talent, especially on the pitching side. After easily pacing the CAA in ERA in 2024, the Cougars brought back weekend starters Jake Brink and Aidan Hunter, who pitched to a 3.69 ERA in a team-high 92.2 innings and 3.76 ERA in 76.2 innings, respectively. Charleston also returned left fielder Avery Neaves, who hit .338/.475/.715 with 25 doubles, 15 home runs, 44 RBIs and eight stolen bases in his first Division I season after transferring from Division III Lynchburg. Seniors Dariyan Pendergrass and Will Baumhofer are also back in the fold in the Cougars’ outfield after batting over .300 with double-digit stolen bases. The Cougars have won the CAA regular season title twice in the last three years but couldn’t cap it off with a conference tournament victory, which has kept them out of the NCAA postseason since 2015. They’ll have plenty of competition at the top of the conference from UNCW and Northeastern, but BA expects the Cougars to return to tournament action in 2025.

Player Of The Year: Tanner Thach, 1B, UNCW

\While BA likes the Cougars to win the CAA this year, there’s a very strong argument to be made for UNCW, which also has a haul of promising talent, headlined by slugging first baseman Tanner Thach, who was explosive in 2024 when he hit .324/.406/.700 with 27 home runs, 11 doubles and 75 RBI. The 2024 CAA co-player of the year last season, Thach enters 2025 as a Baseball America Second-Team All-American and already holds the Seahawks career home runs record (42). Thach is ranked No. 63 on BA’s Top 200 for the 2025 draft and could boost his stock with another big year.

Pitcher Of The Year: Jake Brink, RHP, Charleston

Charleston’s pitching was a significant driving force behind its success in 2024 and righty Jake Brink played a huge role, as he ranked second in the CAA in wins (eight), sixth in ERA (3.69), third in innings (92.2) and fourth in opponent batting average (.231). The junior from Whitestone, NY returns as the Cougars’ clear ace and should again give them a chance to rank highly in important statistical categories on the mound as a team. CAA coaches selected Brink to the preseason all-conference team along with his teammates, outfielder Avery Neaves and reliever Davis Aiken.

Freshman Of The Year: Landon Penfield, 3B, Charleston

It’s exceptionally difficult for true freshmen to find their ways into starting roles in the current era of college baseball, which is rich with upperclassmen. However, Charleston infielder Landon Penfield appears well-positioned to do just that. One of the top-ranked third basemen out of South Carolina in the most recent recruiting cycle, Penfield impressed onlookers throughout the fall and carried that momentum into the spring, which established him as a frontrunner for significant at-bats.

Notable Storylines

●  Dating back to 2016, the CAA has only three times earned more than one bid to the NCAA Tournament, a struggle that has produced fireworks in its conference tournament as teams battled for the lone spot. In the event the league is again limited to just the solo bid, it’s safe to expect similar excitement as Charleston, UNCW and Northeastern all appear capable of grabbing it. It’s also reasonable to wonder if the CAA could defy recent trends and secure multiple bids. BA believes it’s possible and penciled the conference in for two berths (Charleston and UNCW) in our initial Field of 64 projection. 

●  Tanner Thach has already made his way into the record books as he enters his third and very likely final season at the college level with the most home runs in a UNCW career and the most single-season homers in CAA history (27). It’s not out of the question that the slugger could finish as the all-time leader in career homers in the conference, too. With 42 already to his name, Thach needs to hit 29 home runs to surpass Winfred Johnson (70), who set the record in the late 1980s.