Williamsburg, Va. -
The
William and Mary Tribe baseball team defeated the George Mason Patriots, 8-5,
at beautiful night at Plumeri Park on Friday.
With the victory, the Tribe improves its record to 8-13 overall and to
3-4 in the CAA, while the Patriots fall to 9-9-1 on the season and to 0-4 in
conference play.
Offensively, the Tribe was led by junior Tadd Bower
and
freshman Ryan Lindemuth
. Bower hit a
three-run home run in the fifth inning, while Lindemuth went 3-for-5 with a
RBI. Sophomore Ryan Williams
went
2-for-3 on the evening with two RBIs, a walk, a stolen base, and a run scored
while senior Jonathan Slattery
had a pair of hits to go with a RBI and a run
scored. Senior Derrick Osteen
had a RBI
single and also scored two runs for the College in the win.
On the mound, junior Matt Davenport
won his second game of
the season for the Tribe, going six innings.
Davenport allowed five runs on four hits, striking out six. The junior also walked five and hit four more
batters. Sophomore Brett Koehler
came
out of the bullpen to secure his third save for the Tribe, securing the final
nine outs.
The Patriots got their offense going early on a warm night
in Williamsburg Friday, scoring a run in the first and two in the second to
take a 3-0 lead over the College after two innings.
After three scoreless frames, the Tribe's offense would get
on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Slattery started the inning with a
hard-hit single to shortstop and then moved in to scoring position on a nice
sacrifice bunt off the bat of sophomore Ryan Williams
. One batter later, Lindemuth plated Slattery
with his second hit of the game, knocking a single in to center field. After four full, the Patriots led the Tribe,
3-1.
In the bottom of the fifth, the Tribe's offense would
explode for five runs, taking the lead over the Patriots. With one out in the frame, junior Chris
Forsten was on second base for Osteen, who promptly plated Forsten with a slap
hit through the right side. After a
Stephen Arcure
single and a fly out, runners were on the corners for
Williams. Swinging at the first pitch,
Williams singled through the right side, bringing home Osteen to tie the game
at 3-3.
Next up for the College was Bower, and with two men on,
Bower took a 1-0 offering deep over the right-field fence at Plumeri Park for
his first home run of the season.
Bower's three-run shot gave the College a 6-3 lead after five innings. In the fifth, the Green and Gold batted
around, collecting seven hits and scoring five runs.
In the top of the sixth, the Patriots answered the Tribe
with two runs, cutting the College's lead back to one run, 6-5. In the bottom of the frame, the Green and
Gold got the lead back to two runs on a RBI single off the bat of
Slattery. After six innings, the Tribe
led the Patriots, 7-5.
In the top of the seventh, Davenport left the ballgame with
runners on first and second with no outs.
Koehler would pick him up, however, striking out the next two batters. The threat came to an end when GMU's Shane
Davis was called out on a close call at third on an attempted stolen base. After seven, the Tribe led the Patriots, 7-5.
In the bottom of the eighth, the College added an insurance
run to add to its lead. With one away,
Arcure drew a five-pitch walk and then moved to second on a wild pitch. On the very next offering, Williams knocked a
single through the left side of the infield, scoring Arcure from second. Heading in to the top of the ninth, the Tribe
led Mason, 8-5.
In the top of the ninth, Koehler put an exclamation point on
his great outing, going 1-2-3 in the frame.
For the game, Koehler pitched a perfect three innings, not allowing a
hit or a walk, striking out four. With
the save, Koehler now leads the Tribe in the category with three on the season.
The William and Mary Tribe baseball team will continue its
three-game series with the George Mason Patriots on Saturday, March 19. First pitch at Plumeri Park is scheduled for
4 p.m.
