Towson, Md. - The William and Mary Tribe baseball team brought the 2011 season to an end on a high note, defeating the Towson Tigers on the road, 8-3.  With the win, the Tribe ends the season in fifth place in the CAA with a record of 16-14 and a mark of 26-29 overall.  Towson ends the year with a record of 26-28-1 on the year and in seventh place in the CAA with a conference mark of 15-15.

In his their last games playing for the Green and Gold, seniors Jonathan Slattery and Derrick Osteen paced the Tribe's offense.  Slattery went 2-for-6 with four RBIs, while Osteen went 3-for-5 with two runs scored.  Junior Tadd Bower had two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored, while Chris Forsten hit a solo home run in the fourth inning.

Sophomore Ryan Brown ended the year with a three-hit game, while junior Stephen Arcure also had a pair of hits in the win.

Making his third conference start for the College, sophomore Matt Wainman pitched well, throwing a strong 6.1 innings.  Wainman improved his record to 5-3 on the season with the win, striking out five batters while allowing three earned runs.

After threatening to score in the first inning, the Tribe got on the scoreboard first in the top of the third inning.  After a leadoff bunt single from Brown, Osteen reached after drawing a four-pitch walk.  Another walk to Bower loaded the bases for Slattery.  On a 0-2 offering, Slattery singled sharply up the middle, plating a pair of runs to give the College a 2-0 lead.  After a bunt single from Ryan Williams loaded the bases, the Tribe pushed another run across on a Sean Aiken double-play groundout, giving the Green and Gold a 3-0 advantage.

In the top of the fourth, the Tribe added an insurance run thanks to a home run off the bat of junior Chris Forsten .  On a 1-1 offering, Forsten hit a towering fly ball down the left-field line that just sailed foul for strike two.  On the very next pitch, Forsten made sure to keep it in fair territory, blasting the ball over the fence in left field for his first home run of the season.  After three and a half innings, the College led the Tigers, 4-0.

The Tribe continued to add runs to its lead in the top of the sixth.  With one out, Bower came to the plate with runners on first and third after singles from junior Stephen Arcure and Brown.  On the second pitch of the at-bat, Bower lined his sixth double of the year down the right field line, driving in one.  Slattery followed with a two-run, line drive single to left-center field that gave the senior four RBIs on the day and 40 for the season.  After the Tribe's half of the sixth, the College held a 7-0 lead over Towson.

In the seventh, William and Mary put up another run on the scoreboard.  With the bases loaded after two walks and a single from Osteen, Bower hit a ball of the cap of his bat towards the Towson shortstop.  The ball was hit with spin and slow enough that TU's Nick Natoli attempted to barehand the ball but was unable to corral it, plating a run on Bower's infield single.  After six and a half, the College had opened up an 8-0 lead.

Towson got on the board for the first time in the bottom of the seventh, plating three on a home run off the bat of Chris Wychock.  The damage could have been worse, but senior Reid Killen induced a double play with the bases loaded to end the frame.  After seven complete, the Tribe led the Tigers, 8-3.

The Tribe's bullpen continued to pitch well in the last two innings, as sophomores John Farrell and Brett Koehler combined to throw two shutout innings for the Tribe, securing the 8-3 season-ending victory.

The 2011 season was successful on many fronts for the Tribe.  The College set a school record with seven CAA conference series wins, breaking the old mark of six set back in 2008.  The Tribe played very well away from Plumeri Park this year, with its 12 road wins being the most for the College since the 2004 season.  Of W&M's seven CAA series wins, four of those came on the road at Old Dominion, at Delaware, at Northeastern, and at Towson.

The College also set numerous Leoni-era records, dating back to the 2006 season when Tribe head coach Frank Leoni took over the program.  The 16 CAA wins ties for the most in the Leoni era, matched only by the 16 conference wins back in 2008.

The Tribe pitching staff also set two Leoni-era marks - for hits allowed and strikeouts in a season.  The College's pitching staff allowed just 494 hits in 2011, five fewer than both the 2006 and 2009 teams gave up.  W&M also struck out 438 batters, 24 more than the Leoni-era record they set in 2010.

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