Williamsburg, Va. - The
William and Mary Tribe baseball team had its come-from-behind bid fall short on
Friday, falling to the James Madison Dukes, 5-4, at Plumeri Park. With the loss, the College falls to 2-9
overall and to 0-1 in the CAA, while the Dukes improve to 9-1 on the year and
to 1-0 in conference play.
Senior Derrick Osteen drove in a pair of runs and drew three
walks for the Tribe on the day, while sophomore Jackson Shaver also collected a
RBI. Freshman Ryan Lindemuth went
2-for-4 for the game with a walk and a run scored.
On the mound, senior Matt Davenport pitched 6.2 innings,
allowing three earned runs on eight hits.
Davenport also struck out four batters while walking five. Out of the bullpen, junior Jay McCarthy was
perfect, not allowing a hit or surrendering a walk in his 2.1 innings of work.
The Dukes would take an early lead over the Tribe in the top
of the first, scoring a pair of runs.
JMU's David Herbek plated a run with a groundout before the Dukes scored
an unearned run on a W&M error.
The Tribe responded in the bottom of the second, cutting the
JMU lead in half. In the bottom of the
second, the College loaded the bases thanks to a pair of walks and a bunt hit from
sophomore Derek Lowe. Shaver came to
plate, taking a 2-0 pitch to center, bringing home junior Chris Forsten from
third on the sacrifice fly. After two
full innings, James Madison led the Tribe, 2-1.
William and Mary would have its chances to score runs in the
middle innings, getting its leadoff batter on base in each of the first six
innings. But the College would not be
able to take full advantage, leaving 11 batters on base for the game.
After James Madison scored a pair of runs in the top of the
seventh, the Tribe again responded with some offense of its own in the bottom
of the frame. With one out, sophomore
Ryan Brown got on base with a bunt single down the first-base line. After a wild pitch, Osteen singled to right,
bringing home Brown from second, making the score 5-2 in favor of the Dukes
after seven innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, the College continued to cut in
to the JMU lead. Lindemuth led off the
frame with a double over the head of the left fielder. After a strike out, the bases were loaded
after both Ryan Williams and Kevin Nutter drew walks. With pinch hitter Kevin Alas at the plate,
Lindemuth would score on a wild pitch, bringing the score to 5-3.
After Alas struck out, Brown again load the bases for the
College by drawing his second walk on the day.
To the plate stepped Osteen, who battled through a long at-bat, earning
a RBI after drawing a base-on-balls. The
Tribe would not be able to put any more runs on the board in the inning,
however, and JMU entered the ninth with a 5-4 advantage.
In the top of the ninth, McCarthy set the Dukes down in
order, sending the game to the bottom of the frame with the score still 5-4 in
favor of JMU. After senior Jonathan Slattery popped out to second to start the inning, Lindemuth drew the College's
13th walk of the game to get the tying run on base.
Trying to get the tying run in scoring position for Forsten,
Lindemuth was called out trying to steal second base on a very close call. Three pitches later, Forsten would be called
out on a called third strike on the inside corner, giving the first game of the
three game series to James Madison, 5-4.
Due to expected rain in the Williamsburg area on Sunday, the
William and Mary Tribe and the James Madison Dukes will play a doubleheader on
Saturday, March 5. The first game of the
double-dip will now start at 1 p.m. at Plumeri Park, with the second game to
follow approximately 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first. Both games will be nine inning contests.
