COLONIAL HIEGHTS, Va. – The William and Mary Tribe baseball team fell to in-state rival Richmond 4-2 in a mid-week contest played at Shepherd Stadium in Colonial Heights, Va. on Tuesday afternoon. With the decision, the Tribe falls to 10-10, while Richmond, improves to 10-8.
Senior Willie Shaw led the Tribe in the game going 2-for-3 on the afternoon, he was the lone Tribe player with a multi-hit day. Sophomore Tim Hoehn and senior Devin White each collected RBIs for the Tribe in the setback.
Richmond plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run homer. Kyle Adams reached on an infield single starting the rally. After an out, Brandon Johnson blasted a two-run homer over the left center field wall, giving the Spiders a 2-0 advantage.
W&M scored its first run of the game, and cut the lead in half in the top of the fourth inning. Junior Charley Gould led off the frame with a double down the left field line, which was followed by back-to-back walks to Shaw and Devin White. The following batter, Hoehn hit a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Gould. The run made the score 2-1 Spiders.
The Spiders added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning. With two-outs, Michael Morman drew a walk. The next batter, Matt Dacey doubled down the left field line, scoring Morman all the way from first.
W&M pulled the score within one for the second time with a tally in the top of the eighth inning. With an out, Devin White blasted a towering shot over the left field wall. Devin White's first long ball of the season cut the Spider lead to 3-2.
Richmond came right back and added a run in the bottom of the frame. Adams led off the inning with a walk, and his pinch runner Kennan Bartlett moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from Jansen Fraser. With two outs, Daniel Brumbaugh smacked a double to centerfield, scoring Bartlett and moving the score to 4-2 Richmond.
Junior Aaron Fernandez turned in his second quality start of the season, but was saddled with his second loss. He went 6.2 innings, allowing three runs, on six hits. He turned in a career-high nine strikeouts in the performance.
Richmond's Brendan McGuire earned the win, tossing four innings of relief. He scattered five hits and a run, while striking out one.
The Tribe returns home for a three-game Colonial Athletic Association series against league newcomer Elon. The series, which will be played at Plumeri Park starts on Friday, March 27 at 7 p.m. with games on Saturday, March 28 at 4 p.m., and Sunday March 29 at 1 p.m.
