WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary baseball team scored five runs in the first three innings of action and cruised to a 10-2 victory over in-state foe VMI Tuesday afternoon at Plumeri Park.  With the win, the College improves to 3-5 overall, while VMI drops 1-6 on the year.

Senior Matt Davenport (1-0) earned the victory as he pitched 7.0 innings and only allowed two earned runs, while striking out a season-high eight batters.  VMI pitcher Travis Thomas (0-1) took the loss.  Freshman J.T. Castner was solid in his collegiate debut.  The local Jamestown H.S. product pitched one inning of relief and allowed no runs and no hits.  Junior John Farrell saw an inning of action as the Andover, Mass., native pitched a perfect ninth to close out the W&M victory.

Senior Tadd Bower went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to lead W&M offensively, while fellow classmate catcher Chris Forsten tallied two RBIs in the afternoon affair.  Sophomore designated hitter Bobby Klein also came up with a solid performance as he went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Juniors Kevin Nutter and Ryan Williams along with sophomore Ryan Lindemuth each notched two hits apiece during the contest.

W&M got things going early with a run in the bottom of the first.  Nutter led the inning off with a double to left field and eventually scored the games first run after a Bower RBI single through the right side.  The Tribe extended its lead to 2-0 in the bottom half of the second.  Freshman Michael Katz led the inning off with a double to left center.  With one out and Katz on second, Klein plated Katz on a single to center field.

In the bottom of the third, W&M put a little distance between itself and the Keydets. With one out and nobody on, junior center fielder Ryan Brown doubled down the left field line.  After Lindemuth was hit by a pitch, Bower cleared the bases with a double to left center, making the score 4-0 in favor of the Tribe.  A Katz RBI sacrifice fly to right field plated Bower, which accounted for the Colleges' third run of the inning.  When the third was over, the Tribe owned a commanding 5-0 advantage.

The College scored three more runs in the bottom of the fifth.  Highlighting the three-run inning was a Forsten single to left field that drove home Bower and Lindemuth.  Klein plated the innings third run as he drove home Forsten with single down the left field line.  Through five innings the College had extended its stranglehold to 8-0. 

After W&M added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, which made the score 10-0, VMI got on the scoreboard with a pair of runs in the top of the seventh.  As Farrell recorded the final out in the top of the ninth, the Tribe brought to a close its most impressive outing of the season.

William and Mary returns to action this weekend as it plays hosts to NYIT in a four-game series. Game one in Williamsburg is scheduled to began Friday, March, 2, at 4 PM.