CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The William and Mary baseball team dropped an 11-2 decision at No. 1 Virginia on Wednesday night in Charlottesville, Va. Junior Michael Katz led the Tribe going 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs. With the loss the Tribe falls to 22-14, while the Cavaliers improve 31-6.
Virginia started the scoring with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Branden Cogswell led off the inning with a double down the left field line, moving to third on a sacrifice bunt by Daniel Pinero. The next batter, Mike Papi, sent a sacrifice fly to center field, and Cogswell just beat out a throw to the plate, giving the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead.
The Cavaliers added another run with two outs in the bottom of the second inning. A two-out single from Nate Irving started the rally, who then moved to second on a wild pitch. Matt Thaiss followed with a single into left field, plating Irving and giving UVA a 2-0 lead.
UVA added five runs in the bottom of the third inning. Cogswell (single), Pinero (walk), and Papi (single) all reached, loading the bases. The next batter, Joe McCarthy singled to center field, but a Tribe error allowed everyone to score, including McCarthy. After an out, John La Prise singled, moving to third on single by Thaiss. Kenny Townes hit a two-out infield single, scoring La Prise and giving the Cavaliers a 7-0 lead.
The Cavaliers scored their eighth run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning. Pinero led of the frame with a walk, moving to second on a groundout by Papi. Pinero came around to score on a pair of wild pitches, giving the Cavaliers an 8-0 lead.
UVA struck for a run in the bottom of the fifth inning. La Prise and Irving each walked starting the frame. The next batter Thaiss doubled to right field scoring, La Prise. Townes followed with a fly out to right field, and junior Nick Thompson fired home to gun down Irving at home for the double play. After five complete innings, Virginia led 9-0.
William and Mary got on the scoreboard with a run in the top of the sixth inning. Thompson led off the frame with a double into the left center field gap. Katz followed with a double down the right field line, scoring Thompson. Senior Ryan Lindemuth reached on error, putting runners on the corners with nobody out. After an out, sophomore Charley Gould was hit by a pitch, loading the bases. However, UVA reliever Alec Bettinger got the final two outs of the inning stranding the bases loaded.
The Tribe added a run in the top of the seventh inning. With one out, sophomore Josh Smith reached on a walk. After an out, Katz doubled into right center field, scoring Smith all the way from first, cutting the Cavaliers lead to 9-2.
Virginia got a run back in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two outs, Townes reached on a walk, moving to second a single by Tony Butler. The next batter, Pinero singled into center, scoring Townes, giving the Cavaliers a 10-2 lead.
The Cavaliers added one more run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Robert Bennie led off the inning with a single, moving to second on a groundout. With two outs, Thomas Woodruff singled to center, giving Virginia an 11-2 advantage.
William and Mary starting pitcher freshman Daniel Powers was saddled with his first loss of the season. Virginia's starting pitcher Artie Lewicki earned his third win of the season, pitching five innings, allowing one hit, with eight strikeouts.
The Tribe returns to conference action this weekend with a trip to Northeastern. The series starts on Friday, April 18 at 3 p.m. The weekend continues on Saturday, April 19 at 1 p.m., before concluding on Sunday, April 20 at noon.
