WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William and Mary baseball team fell in the series finale 8-2 against Northeastern on Sunday afternoon at Plumeri Park. With the decision, the Tribe falls to 20-27, 10-14 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while the Huskies improve to 23-26, 13-8 in league action.
Prior to the game, W&M honored its four seniors, playing in their last home game as members of the Tribe. Seniors Jason Inghram, Bryson Kauhaahaa, Willie Shaw, and Devin White were all honored in the pregame celebration.
Sophomore Tim Hoehn and freshman Luca Farina led the team each going 2-for-3. Hoehn added a double and a triple, while Shaw extended his hitting streak to 13-games with a two-hit game.
Northeastern jumped on the board with a pair of two-run hits in the first. Cam Hanley doubled into the left field corner to plate two Huskies, before Nolan Lang provided a two-out, two-RBI single to center, pushing the NU lead to 4-0 after one.
The Huskies tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the second and a single tally in the third. Max Burt increased NU's lead to 8-0 with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning.
W&M put runners in scoring position with less than two outs in both the third and fourth innings, before scratching across a run in the fifth. Farina picked up his second hit of the day with a line drive off the pitcher's glove. After a walk to freshman Cullen Large moved Farina over to third, thanks to a pair of wild pitches, he came home on a grounder to third from freshman Ryan Hall.
Hoehn led off the sixth inning with a double down the left field line and the skies opened, leading to a 54-minute rain delay. Following the delay, NU cut down Hoehn at the plate on a sophomore Ryder Miconi fly ball to end the frame.
Hoehn tallied an extra base hit for his second straight at-bat, tripling to the right-center field gap in the eighth. He came around to score on the very next pitch as NU's Issac Lippert threw a wild one, cutting the Husky lead to 8-2.
W&M threated in the ninth, but couldn't rally. Hall singled off the shortstops glove, before Shaw doubled into the left-field corner to give W&M a pair of runners in scoring position. Lippert closed the door for NU to earn his fourth save of the year.
Junior Mitchell Aker received the start, but lasted only 1.2 innings, giving up six runs, including four earned. He was saddled with the loss, falling to 1-3 on the year. Sophomore Daniel Powers tossed 3.2 innings, allowing two runs and striking out two. Sophomore right-hander John Yoest turned in an impressive 2.2 inning, striking out a career-high seven batters and not allowing a hit. Senior Bryson Kauhaahaa pitched a spotless ninth inning.
James Murly earned the win for Northeastern, pitching into the sixth inning, before exiting after the rain delay. He struck five and only allowed one run on five hits for his third win of the year. Lippert pitched the final four innings for NU and allowed just one run.
The Tribe closes out the regular season when it travels to George Washington for a three-game, non-conference set next weekend. W&M treks to D.C., for a Thursday night doubleheader, beginning at 4 p.m. The series finale is set for noon on Friday, May 15. The CAA Championship is set for May 20-23 in Charleston, S.C.
