Towson, Md. - The William and Mary Tribe baseball team fell on the road Friday afternoon, dropping a hard-fought game to the Towson Tigers, 5-4.  With the loss, the Tribe falls to 24-29 on the season and to 14-14 in CAA play.  With the win, the Tigers improve to 26-26-1 on the year and to 15-13 in conference action.

Offensively the Tribe was led by senior Jonathan Slattery , who went 3-for-4 with a home run and a season-high three RBIs.  Ryan Lindemuth also drove in a run for the College.

Out of the bullpen, sophomore Brett Goodloe had a great outing, pitching 4.2 shutout innings.  Goodloe struck out five batters while walking just one and allowing two hits.  Senior Reid Killen was also solid, throwing a scoreless seventh, while sophomore John Farrell pitched a shutout eighth inning.

The Tribe wasted little time jumping on the Tigers on Friday afternoon, scoring a pair of runs in the top of the first.  After a leadoff walk to sophomore Ryan Brown , senior Derrick Osteen blooped a double down the left-field line on a 3-2 pitch.  With Brown running on the play, the sophomore was waved home after the Towson right fielder bobbled the ball, only to recover in time to throw out Brown at the plate by a step.

Not deterred after the close play at home, W&M continued to threaten in the frame.  After a groundout moved Osteen to third, Slattery plated his classmate with a sharply hit single up the middle, giving the Tribe a 1-0 lead.  After junior Stephen Arcure was hit by a pitch and an infield single from sophomore Ryan Williams , the bases were loaded for Lindemuth.  On a 2-1 pitch, Lindemuth took the pitch right off his left hip, plating a run on the RBI hit-by-pitch.  After the top half of the first, the College led the Tigers, 2-0.

The Tribe's lead would be short lived, however, as the Tigers responded in the bottom of the first with a four run, two-out rally.  Towson tacked on another run in the bottom of the second to take a 5-2 lead over the Tribe after two complete innings.

In the top of the fifth, the Tribe staged its own two-out rally to cut the Towson lead to a single run.  With two down, junior Tadd Bower singled to left center.  Bower has been fantastic for the College in conference play, collecting at least one hit on 25 of the team's 28 CAA games so far this season.  With Bower on first, Slattery stepped to the plate looking to deliver.  On a 0-2 pitch, the senior came through, blasting a home run over the 312-foot sign in left field for his fourth longball of the season.  After four and a half innings, Towson led the Tribe, 5-4.

The Tribe appeared to tie the game in the top of the seventh inning, but a controversial call at the plate kept the Towson lead intact.  With two outs and a runner on second, Slattery recorded his third hit of the game, singling through the left side.  Osteen headed to the plate and appeared to avoid the sweeping tag of the Tigers catcher, but was called out by home plate umpire Robert Turner.  With the Tribe rally thwarted, the score remained 5-4 in favor of Towson.

The Tribe would not be able to get the tying run across in either the eighth or the ninth inning, dropping game one of the three-game series to Towson, 5-4.

The William and Mary Tribe baseball team will continue its three-game series with the Towson Tigers on Saturday, May 21, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.