HARRISONBURG, Va. – The William and Mary baseball team fell to Towson, 20-13, in game seven of the 2013 CAA Baseball Tournament at Veterans Memorial Park in Harrisonburg, Va., on Friday afternoon. In the high scoring affair that was, the Tribe owned a 4-2 advantage in the early stages but the Tigers plated multiple runs in a four inning span en route to advancing to the championship round. The setback drops the Green and Gold to 36-21 overall, as it will face the winner of tonight's contest between No. 1 seed UNCW and No. 5 seed Northeastern, tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. in an elimination match up. Towson upped its season ledger to 28-28 with the win.
Junior second baseman Ryan Lindemuth tied a career-high with six RBIs, which also included four hits and three runs scored. Freshman left fielder Jonathan Sarty finished the contest going 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while senior center fielder Ryan Brown drove in two runs on one hit. Sophomore first baseman Michael Katz scored four times and collected an RBI on one hit, while senior right fielder Derek Lowe finished the afternoon with a hit and one RBI. Senior designated hitter Jackson Shaver went 2-for-4 with a run batted in, while junior third baseman Willie Shaw connected on two hits and three runs scored. Sophomore LHP Jason Inghram (8-6) took the setback after seeing 3.2 innings of work. In a relief appearance, junior RHP John Sheehan allowed no runs on two hits in 1.2 innings of action.
The Tigers initiated the scoring on Friday afternoon with two runs in the bottom of the first. Pat Fitzgerald got things started with a double down the left field chalk and later scored from third on a W&M wild pitch. Dominic Frantantuono gave the Tiger's a 2-0 advantage after his single through the left side pushed across Peter Bowels from second base.
W&M responded with a run in the top half of the second. Sarty led the inning off with a single to center field and eventually advanced to third following a groundout and a single. The Round Hill, Va., native scored the Tribe's first run of the contest after Lowe's sacrifice fly out to right center field.
The Green and Gold took a 4-2 lead after scoring a pair of runs in the third inning. After Shaw led the frame off with a walk, Katz proceeded to advance the Yorba Linda, Calif., native all the way to third following a double down the left field line. With no outs and runners on second and third, Lindemuth sent the first pitch of the at bat over the left field wall as the Tribe opened up the two-run advantage. The home run was Lindemuth's third of the season, while the three RBIs pushed his season total to 40.
In the bottom half, Towson countered with six runs as it regained an 8-4 lead. Brendan Butler's three-run home run over the right center field fence highlighted the frame as Towson went back ahead by the count of 5-4. Brandon Gonnella extended the TU lead to 6-4 following an RBI single to left center field, while Hunter Bennett drove in Towson's seventh run of the contest on a single to left field. Fitzgerald capped the six-run frame with an RBI sacrifice fly out to right field as TU pushed its cushion to four runs.
The Tribe cut the deficit to 8-6 after posting two runs, all on two outs, in the top of the fourth. The Tigers retired the first two outs of the inning as Shaw ignited the spurt with a single to right field. After a Katz walk put runners on first and second, Lindemuth blasted a double off the right field wall, which plated W&M's fifth and six runs of the afternoon.
Towson answered with three runs in the bottom half as its lead reached 11-6. Butler's RBI triple off the right center field wall put Towson in front 9-6, while Parker followed with RBI sacrifice fly out down the right field line. With two outs, Fished gave TU the five-run lead after an RBI single into right field. The Tigers added to its advantage with two runs in the fifth as its cushion grew to 13-6.
W&M slugged its way back into the contest after registering a five-spot in the sixth. Shaw's leadoff double sparked the onslaught as Katz followed with a single to left field. Lindemuth plated Shaw from third after roasting a double down the right field chalk in which Katz ended up at third. Sarty followed and reached base on a throwing error by the TU shortstop in which Katz crossed home plate for W&M's eighth run of the contest. With one out and runners on the corners, Shaver's single to right field pushed across Lindemuth as the Tribe cut the deficit to 13-9. After loading the bases with a two-out walk, Brown ripped a line drive into right field, which brought around two runs as the Tribe cut the TU lead to 13-11.
As it had done all day, Towson countered with four runs in the bottom half as it opened up a six-run margin, 17-11.
In the top of the seventh, the W&M bats stayed hot as it pushed across two runs. Katz led the inning off with a solo home run over the left center field wall, which made the scored 17-12 in favor of Towson. The home run was Katz's fifth of the season and 15th for his career. The Green and Gold's second run of the frame culminated when Sarty's ground out to short was noise enough to plate Lindemuth from third, who reached base after belting a double down the left field line.
The Tigers put the contest out of reach after scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth, which made the final tally 20-13.
W&M returns to action in an elimination contest tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. The Tribe will face the winner of tonight's match up between No. 1 seed UNCW and No. 5 seed Northeastern. Fans can follow tomorrow's action online at TribeAthletics.com with live audio and stats. Additionally, fans can watch the action free of charge on CAASports.com as CAA.TV will broadcast the contest live. The winner of tomorrow's 1 p.m. affair will move on to face Towson in the championship round at 4:30 p.m.
