WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary baseball team fended off a gritty Quinnipiac squad, 9-5, Wednesday
night at Plumeri Park. The Tribe scored
a total of three runs in the seventh and eighth innings as it pulled away from
the visiting Bobcats. With the win, W&M improves to 12-7 on the year, while
Quinnipiac drops to 1-8 overall.
At the plate, junior center fielder Ryan Brown went 3-for-5
with two RBIs to lead the Tribe offensively.
Sophomore designated hitter Ryan Lindemuth finished the affair with two
RBIs and his third home run of the season. Freshman Michael Katz also tallied
two RBIs in his 1-for-3 performance.
Rounding out the College's offensive output were seniors Chris Forsten
and Chris Yates, who each recorded an RBI.
For the game, W&M pounded out 13 hits.
Sophomore RHP Matt Houston (1-0) entered the contest in the
sixth inning and earned his first collegiate victory, allowing one earned run
and two hits in 1.1 innings of work. In
his two innings of action, starting pitcher Jason Inghram allowed two unearned
runs before being relieved by fellow classmate J.T. Castner. Castner pitched three innings of relief and allowed
two unearned runs. Senior RHP John
Farrell fanned five Bobcats in his 2.2 innings of work and allowed no runs on
just two hits to earn his third save of the season. As a unit, the College only
surrendered one earned run to the Bobcats.
The Tribe got on the scoreboard first with a trio of runs in
the opening frame. Lindemuth's single to
right field drove in Nutter for W&M's first run of the contest. Katz plated the frame's second run with a
sacrifice fly to center field, which put across Brown. Forsten gave the College a 3-0 lead as he
laced a double to right-center field fence, which drove home Lundemuth.
W&M tacked on another run in the bottom half of the
second. Yates led the frame off with a
double down the left field line. After
two consecutive put outs, Brown plated Yates with a single to left field, and
after two innings of play, the Tribe owned a 4-0 lead.
Quinnipiac responded with four runs of its own, which tied
the contest up at 4-4 in the top half of the third. After plating three runs on W&M fielding
errors, the innings' fourth run culminated when left fielder Jesse Ullrich
drove home first baseman Gabe Guerino on a double to left field.
After seeing its four-run lead disappear, the College
retaliated with some authority in the sixth.
With two outs and nobody on, Lindemuth belted a 2-1 offering from
Quinnipiac hurler Kevin O'Connell over the left center field wall to give the
Tribe a 5-4 advantage. Senior left
fielder Tadd Bower kept the inning alive with a single to center field. He then advanced to second after an O'Connell
balk. With Bower in scoring position,
Katz hit a rocket to the shortstop that was too hot to handle and in the
process Bower scored from second for the College's second run of the frame.
With William and Mary leading, 6-4, both squads scored a run
in the seventh. Quinnipiac shortstop
Scott Donaghue led the frame off with a double down the left field line and
eventually scored on a Guerino single to right field. Now only up 6-5, W&M plated a run in the
bottom half when Brown singled to drive home freshman right fielder Josh Smith.
Leading 7-5, the College tacked on two important insurance
runs in the bottom of the eighth. With one out and the bases loaded, Yates was
hit by the pitch, which brought home Katz for the College's eighth run of the
night. Smith then plated W&M's ninth
run of the affair with a sacrifice fly to center field, resulting in Forsten
tagging up from the third. In the ninth, Farrell held court as he struck out
the side as he put the finishing touches on a 9-5 victory.
The Tribe returns to action Friday, March 16, as it travels
to James Madison for a three-game league tilt with the Dukes. The first pitch from Harrisonburg on Friday
is slated for 7 p.m. Fans can follow the
action online at TribeAthletics.com with live stats.
