UNC Wilmington’s baseball team has big expectations for their season. The Seahawks have made the NCAA regionals the past two years, and this year they are hoping to advance to a Super Regional and, hopefully, to the College World Series in Omaha.

Baseball America picked UNCW as the team to beat in the CAA, and Aaron Fitt, a senior writer, picked UNCW as his sleeper team to make it to Omaha.

UNCW kicked off their season this past weekend with games against Virginia Military Institute, the University of Kentucky, and the no. 1 team in the country, the University of Virginia, per Baseball America.

The Seahawks went 1-2 with a win over VMI, and losses to Kentucky and Virginia, but there is no reason to panic.

Some brief observations from the weekend:

1. UNCW’s bullpen is loaded with talent. In the loss to Kentucky, the bullpen combined for 5.1 innings and allowed only two hits. That’s not really a surprise, or, at least, it shouldn’t be. The Seahawks returned 89.5% of their innings pitched from last year (including every pitcher who started a game), and they’ve brought in some talented freshman arms. Freshmen Teddy Cillis and Cory Grantz both made their debuts against Kentucky, and both pitched no-hit innings.

On the back end of the bullpen, the Seahawks also have Kelly Secrest, who led the CAA in saves last year. There is no reason why Secrest can’t repeat his success, and he looked sharp in his season debut last Sunday against UVA, throwing 1.1 innings and striking out three, while only allowing one hit.

2. The Seahawks could have been 3-0 after the weekend. UVA and Kentucky (who entered the preseason polls just outside of the top-25) are two of the best teams in the country, but UNCW had a chance to win both of those games. The 10-4 loss to Kentucky and the 7-2 loss to UVA don’t tell how close the games were.

On Saturday against Kentucky, junior right-hander Jordan Ramsey had seven unearned runs, a majority of which came in the top of the fifth inning when the Seahawks made costly errors. Kentucky was able to get out of jams in both the bottom of the sixth and the bottom of the seventh. The Seahawks left five runners on base over those two innings, effectively squashing UNCW late rally. On Sunday against UVA, wild pitches accounted for three of Virginia’s runs scored.

3. UNCW’s timing was off at the plate. The Seahawks had 16 hits over the weekend, but only one was an extra-base hit, coming on a two-run pinch-hit homerun from Joe Bertone. Again, nothing to be overly concerned about, and the struggle to get extra-base hits can be directly attributed to the young season.

Looking ahead to the rest of the season, UNCW will continue to play some quality teams.

Next up are Liberty University and Ohio University, who both travel to Brooks Field this weekend. UNCW will play Liberty on Friday at 2:00 p.m., Ohio on Saturday at 4:00 p.m., and on Sunday will play both Ohio (10:00 a.m.) and Liberty (2:00 p.m.).

Top caliber teams on the schedule:

NC State (Home March 26 and away April 23):

NC State sits high atop Baseball America’s poll at no. 6. They have the no. 1 pitching prospect in the country in Carlos Rodon and another high draft pick in shortstop Trea Turner. State swept the series last year, and it will be a great test for UNCW, especially looking forward to the Regionals and beyond.

UNC Chapel Hill (Away April 1):

Another in-state school and another ACC team. The Tar Heels are ranked no. 17 in the country. In case you’ve forgotten already, UNCW beat Chapel Hill last year 9-8. At the time, UNC was ranked no. 1 in the country and UNCW was ranked no. 21. Beating other North Carolina schools always feels good, but there is something indescribably great about beating UNC, especially away at Chapel Hill. The Seahawks certainly have a chance to beat UNC again this year.

ECU (Away March 25 and home April 15):

The Pirates have a great team this year, led by the no. 2 pitching prospect in the country, Jeff Hoffman. Entering the season ECU landed just outside the top-25, but don’t be surprised if the Pirates are ranked by the time they take on UNCW. The Seahawks swept the series last year, and will look to repeat that success this season.

Elon (Away February 25 and home April 22):

Elon and UNCW played four times last season, splitting the series at two games apiece. However, Elon won the two games that counted, beating the Seahawks twice over the course of three days in the Charlottesville Regional. There’s no doubt that the Seahawks remember Elon ending their season last year.

The first game against Elon is the last before heading West to California for the University of San Diego Tournament, which features USD, UC-Berkley, and Baylor.

Other non-conference opponents include VCU, Indiana State, West Virginia, Coastal Carolina, Pepperdine, UNCG, Campbell and The Citadel.

Brief look at the conference schedule:

William & Mary (Away, April 4 through April 6^th):

The Tribe was picked to finish third in the preseason CAA poll, and is coming off a remarkable 2013 season. Last year the Tribe won 39 games, a school record, and earned their first at-large bid to the NCAA Regionals. William & Mary had four players named to the preseason All-CAA first team, which ties the Tribe with UNCW for most in the league.

Towson (Home, April 18 through April 20):

Towson was picked to finish fourth in the preseason CAA poll, but that’s not why they make the brief list of conference opponent breakdowns. Towson makes the list because they had a remarkable run in the CAA Tournament last year to win the championship. They also knocked UNCW out of the CAA Tournament, and despite not being picked at the top this year they still deserve a mention for reeking havoc in 2013.

College of Charleston (Home, May 2 through May 4):

This is Charleston’s first year in the CAA, and they’ve already garnered the respect of the rest of the conference before the season has really gotten underway. Charleston was picked to finish second in the CAA. Because of the scheduling, the series against Charleston gives UNCW an opportunity to play great team near the end of the season and a chance to polish up before the CAA Tournament and the postseason.