WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William and Mary baseball team blasted three home runs on its way to an 8-2 victory over in-state rival VMI on Tuesday night in Lexington, Va. With the win, the Tribe improves to 19-19, while VMI drops to 12-22 on the season.
Junior Charley Gould, sophomore Tim Hoehn, and freshman Cullen Large all homered in the game. Gould moved his hitting streak to 14-games with a three hit performance. Hoehn and senior Devin White also had multi-hit games.
The Tribe jumped out to an early lead after a second inning run. Hoehn led off the frame with a home run over the left field wall. Hoehn's second blast of the season gave the Tribe a 1-0 lead.
The Green and Gold continued to build its lead as they tacked on two more runs in the top of the third inning. Large started the rally by reaching on an error, before moving to second on a stolen base. After an out, Gould singled through the left side of the infield. Hoehn followed with his second RBI of the night as reached on a fielder's choice, in which no outs were recorded. With two down, junior Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center field, giving W&M a 3-0 lead.
W&M added a run for a third straight inning with a run in the fourth. With two outs, Large extended his hitting streak to seven, with a homer to right field, giving W&M a 4-0 lead.
The Tribe's fifth run of the night came in the top of the sixth. Smith led off the inning with a walk, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by freshman Ryan Hall. The next batter, Shaw singled to left, which gave the College a 5-0 lead.
Two more runs came home in the top of the seventh inning. Gould sparked the rally with his 11th homer run of the season over the center field wall. The rally continued as Hoehn doubled down the left field line. He later came around to score on an error, giving W&M a 7-0 lead.
VMI scored a pair of runs in the home half of the seventh inning. Matt Winn started the rally with a homer to right center field. Tyler Tharp continued with a single, moving to second on a wild pitch. A two-out single by Brandon Angus cut the Keydets deficit to 7-2.
The Tribe responded and got one of the runs back in the top of the eighth inning. Large reached on a one-out error to provide a base runner for the middle of the lineup. With two-outs, Gould continued his hot streak with a double, giving W&M an 8-2 advantage.
Junior Mitchell Aker strung together his second straight quality start. Aker started the first 4.2 innings hitless, before finishing after 6.2 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits, while striking out six batters. Freshman Robert White and sophomore Daniel Powers finished the final 2.1 innings of scoreless baseball. White struck out three, while Powers fanned two.
The Green and Gold play its final Colonial Athletic Association road weekend as they conclude a four-game road trip at Delaware. Game one of the three-game set is on Friday, April 24 at 3 p.m.
