Scalf gets 900

It wasn’t easy. But in the end, UNCW baseball helped coach Mark Scalf make history.

Friday’s doubleheader at Northeastern started with the Seahawks giving up the lead then rallying for a 7-6 win in 10 innings. The victory was Scalf’s 900th as the program’s head coach. He is the 79th coach in NCAA Division I baseball history to reach the mark.

“It means I’ve been fortunate enough to stay in a program with a lot of good players and a lot of really good assistant coaches and donors that support our program and an unbelievably supportive family,” Scalf said. “My wife and daughters, they’ve been there through all the wins and losses. They haven’t missed many games.”

In the midst of his 27th season at UNCW, Scalf becomes the 32nd coach to record all 900 of his career wins at one school. He played for the Seahawks from 1977-1980, then returned as an assistant coach in 1987. Scalf was promoted to head coach in 1992 after Bobby Guthrie resigned. Scalf is one of 20 active coaches with 900 or more career wins.

Sitting at 899 on Wednesday, the Seahawks (30-19 overall, 12-8 CAA) looked like they might provide their leader with the win against top 10 East Carolina at home. Instead, UNCW gave up a lead and couldn’t rally late in the 5-4 loss.

An eerily similar scenario was playing out Friday in Brookline, Mass., as the Seahawks took a 5-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh before yielding five runs and the lead.

The deficit didn’t last long, as Cole Weiss doubled home Greg Jones to tie the score in the top of the eighth. Weiss came up clutch again in the top of the 10th, laying down a squeeze bunt that scored Jones to put UNCW ahead. Closer Clark Cota came on to finish the game, giving the team a key CAA win and a piece of history.

The Seahawks closed out the afternoon by dropping the second game of the doubleheader 7-4 against the Huskies. After taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, Northeastern (31-17, 15-5) responded with two in the bottom of the first and four in the second.

Despite the loss, the win ensured UNCW will finish the season with 30 or more wins for the 11th straight year and 21st time overall under Scalf. The victory also locked up a spot in the CAA Tournament for the Seahawks, extending the program’s streak to 33 consecutive years, 27 of which have come with Scalf at the helm. UNCW is the only CAA program to qualify for every CAA Tournament since its inception in 1986.

“I’m assuming we’re in, but we certainly don’t want to just be in. We’d like to be playing well going in,” Scalf said.

-- Reporter Alex Riley can be reached at 910-343-2034 or Alex.Riley@StarNewsOnline.com.