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Wrestling Rain Delay Cropped Image

Baseball Joe Browning

Wrestling Skit Draws Big Numbers for Seahawks

WILMINGTON, North Carolina - Rain delay theatrics are a time-honored tradition for baseball players at every level, so it's no surprise that the UNCW team attracted national attention over the weekend when video of its wrestling parody went viral during the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional.

While waiting out a late-afternoon rain shower at LSU's purple-and-gold clad Alex Box Stadium, the Seahawks borrowed a page – or script – from WWE's Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson to entertain local and visiting fans gathered for the UNCW-Tulane matchup.

Junior outfielders Joe Bertone and Steven Linkous were the stars of the show, staging a WWE-style main event in front of the Seahawk dugout. With Linkous playing the straight man and Bertone transforming into "The Rock," the pair mesmerized the crowd and a national television audience with a variety of choreographed moves before Bertone ended up, of course, with a pin in foul territory near the third base dugout.

When the 45-second battle was over, the sketch aired on ESPN's "Bases Loaded" and garnered nearly 200,000 views and 750 likes of UNCW's Facebook page as well as almost 500 shares and numerous mentions in the print and electronic space, including Fox Sports, SportingNews.com, ForTheWin.net, BleacherReport.com, Deadspin.com, SEC Network, TheFumble.com, BarStoolsports.com and NESN.com.

The video was a big hit, in particular, on Facebook. It surpassed the Caitlyn Jenner story in the social media application, trending ahead of several major news stories for three days.

The wrestling caper wasn't the only win for the Seahawks. Following a lengthy rain delay, the team went on to defeat the Green Wave, 8-2, and advance to the regional final vs. host LSU.
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Players Mentioned

Joe Bertone

#8 Joe Bertone

OF
6' 1"
Junior
L/R
Steven Linkous

#7 Steven Linkous

OF/IF
6' 0"
Junior
L/R

Players Mentioned

Joe Bertone

#8 Joe Bertone

6' 1"
Junior
L/R
OF
Steven Linkous

#7 Steven Linkous

6' 0"
Junior
L/R
OF/IF