CHARLESTON, S.C. – The first-ever meeting between the William and Mary baseball team and College of Charleston will be a tough one to live up to. The game was the second-longest in NCAA history (23 innings), while it was played in just a hair over six hours. The Cougars walked off with a 3-2 victory on a Morgan Phillips single in the bottom of the 23rd. With the loss the Tribe falls to 31-19, 14-4 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Cougars improve to 37-16, 14-5 in league action.
Juniors Nick Thompson and Michael Katz led the Tribe picking up three hits apiece in the game. Senior Kevin Nutter and sophomore Ryan Hissey had the team's RBIs.
For the 23rd time this season, the Tribe plated a run in the first inning. With one out, Thompson double down the left field line, starting the rally. After an out, Hissey roped a single into right field, giving the Tribe a 1-0 advantage.
Charleston tied the game with a run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Alex Pastorius started the inning with a bunt single, moving to third on a double by Carl Wise. The next batter, Brandon Glazer grounded out to short, but it was enough to score Pastorius, tying the game 1-1.
The Cougars had a big threat in the bottom 11th inning, but the Tribe was able to get out of it. Austin Bello singled starting the rally, moving to second on Champ Rowland sacrifice bunt. A walk put runners on first and second. The next batter, Brandon Murray singled into right field, but sophomore Josh Smith threw a bullet to the plate, cutting off the would be winning run. Charleston loaded the bases, but sophomore Joseph Gaouette was able to strike out a batter for the final out of the inning.
Charleston put another runner in scoring position the bottom of the 18th inning. Murray doubled down the right field line starting a two-out rally. An intentionally walk to Wise put runners on first and second. A wild pitch moved up everybody up 90 feet. However, freshman Nick Brown was able to get a strikeout, ending the threat.
The Tribe regained the lead with a run in the top of the 20th inning. Freshman Porter Reinhart led off the inning with a single into right, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Tim Hoehn. Reinhart took third on a wild pitch. Nutter then singled into right field, plating Reinhart and giving the Tribe a 2-1 lead.
Charleston responded with the tying in the run in the bottom of the 20th inning. Rowland led off the inning with a single into left field, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Butler. The next batter, Murray singled into right tying the score 2-2. An intentional walk put runners on first and second, but senior Kevin Casey was able to end the rally.
The Cougars won the game with a run in the 23rd inning. Erven Rooper started the rally by earning a walk, moving to third on a double by Pappas. Phillips then singled into a right field, winning the game.
Junior starting pitcher Jason Inghram turned in his 11th quality start of the season for the Tribe, but didn't factor into the decision. He was perfect through the first 5.1 innings, before finishing with a line of 8.1 innings allowing one run on four hits, with a season-high 10 strikeouts. Gaouette was equally impressive in relief. He went a career-high 6.2 innings allowing just six hits. He tied a career-high with nine strikeouts as well. Brown also tossed four innings of scoreless relief. He allowed three hits, while striking out four. The loss was pinned on Casey, who pitched three innings, allowing two runs on five hits.
Charleston's Eric Bauer pitched 10 innings of relief. He allowed one run on five hits, while striking out five. He earned his fifth win of the season for the Cougars. Taylor Clarke made the start for Charleston, giving up a run on six hits in seven innings, with nine strikeouts.
Nutter and Charleston's Brandon Glazer and Pappas each tied NCAA records with 10 at-bats in the game. The teams combined for 41 strikeouts, which ranks fourth all-time in NCAA history. Meanwhile the Tribe pitching staff combined for 24, which is a school record.
Due to the length of the game, the two schools will now play a doubleheader tomorrow, May 17. The teams will play a nine-inning game and seven-inning game, starting at 1 p.m.
