Williamsburg, Va. -
The
William and Mary Tribe baseball team came up just a little short of a fantastic
comeback on Sunday afternoon, falling to the VCU Rams, 8-6. With the loss, the College falls to 21-21 on
the season and to 11-10 in CAA play.
With the victory, VCU improves to 16-22 on the year and to 8-10 in
conference action.
The Tribe was led on the day by sophomore Ryan Williams
, who
did just about everything for the Tribe.
At the plate, Williams hit two home runs, his team leading sixth and
seventh of the season, driving in three runs.
On the mound, Williams pitched three scoreless innings, allowing just
one hit while striking out one.
Senior Jonathan Slattery
hit his second homer of the season,
while junior Stephen Arcure
had a pair of hits and scored twice. Driving in runs for the Tribe were junior
Tadd Bower
and sophomore Derek Lowe
.
Sophomore Brett Koehler
was again solid out of the bullpen
for the Tribe, pitching the final two innings.
Koehler didn't allow a run, surrendering just one hit.
The VCU Rams wasted little time getting on the scoreboard on
Sunday afternoon, scoring four runs in the first inning. VCU then doubled its lead in the top of the
third, pushing four more runs across to take an 8-0 lead after three frames.
After not scoring in the first three innings, the Tribe put
three runs on the board in the fourth to cut the lead to five. With one out, Slattery started the scoring
with a monster home run to left field with the ball soaring over the Plumeri
Park scoreboard. After an Arcure single,
Williams then played long ball, sending the first pitch he saw over the fence
in left-center field. With their two
homers in the frame, Slattery and Williams are the first Tribe teammates to hit
two out in the same inning since junior Chris Forsten
and Slattery accomplished
the feat at Duke last season on April 6.
In the bottom of the fifth, the College cut the lead to four
on a RBI groundout from Bower, plating sophomore Ryan Brown
who reached on a
single and moved to third on a Ryan Lindemuth
double. After five full, the Tribe trailed the Rams,
8-4.
With one out in the sixth, the Tribe added another run on
Williams' second homer of the day. This
time Williams took a 2-2 pitch deep to left field. With the VCU fielder retreating back to the
fence, the ball ricocheted off the top of the fence and out for a solo
blast. Sunday's two-homer game was the
second of the season for Williams, who also hit two out against then-ranked No.
5 Oklahoma on February 19. After six
complete, the score was 8-5 in favor of VCU.
In the bottom of the eighth, the College cut the lead to two
on a RBI single off the bat of Lowe, who plated Arcure from second base on the
soft liner to left field. Headed to the
ninth, the score was 8-6 for VCU.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Tribe was able to get a
runner on, but the game would come to an end on a very close play at
first. Slattery smashed a one-hopper to
the VCU third baseman and the ball would rocket off him right to the
shortstop. The Rams' shortstops' throw
and Slattery appeared to get to the bag at the same time, but Slattery was
called out to end the game.
Despite the loss on Sunday, the Tribe earned the series win
over the Rams and now hold the playoff tiebreaker over VCU. On the season, the Tribe has now won five of
its seven CAA series.
The William and Mary Tribe baseball team will next be in
action on Wednesday, April 27 when the College will play host to the George
Washington Colonials. First pitch at
Plumeri Park is scheduled for 7 p.m.
