BLACKSBURG, Va. – Despite winning the hitting battle 8-to-4, the William & Mary baseball team fell to Virginia Tech on the road, 3-2, during their second meeting of the season on Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Tribe is 11-8 and the Hokies move to 14-9.
 
Senior Charles Ameer paced the Tribe's offense with a 2-for-4 effort and a double. Classmate Ryder Miconi registered his third home run of the season, while redshirt sophomore Kyle Wrighte notched a triple and scored a run.
 
The Tribe threatened to score the first run in the bottom of the second inning with two outs and runners on the corners. Freshman Matthew Trehub was the first runner to reach after he was hit by a pitch. Classmate Patrick Ryan singled up the middle to advance Trehub to third base, but Wrighte lined out to left field to cut the two-out rally short.
 
Nonetheless, W&M broke the scoreless tie in the third inning as Miconi smoked a solo shot to right field, putting W&M ahead 1-0.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Green & Gold stranded two runners in scoring position to protect its one-run advantage. Following a one-out double and a single, redshirt sophomore Nick Raquet retired the next batter on a ground out and then recorded a strikeout to escape the jam.
 
The Tribe pushed across another run in the fifth inning to pad its slim margin. Wrighte laced a leadoff triple to left field, before junior Ryan Hall brought him home on a sacrifice fly to center field, giving the Tribe a 2-0 lead.
 
However, the Hokies responded with a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh to erase the deficit. Back-to-back walks started the rally, before Rahiem Cooper hit a three-run homer to lift VT to a 3-2 advantage.
 
In a final attempt to answer, senior Matthew Tilley led off the ninth inning with a single up the middle. Ameer then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Tilley to second base. Regardless, Aaron McGarity struck out the next two batters to clinch the win.
 
Redshirt Senior Aaron Fernandez (0-1) was credited the loss as he went 3.2 innings, fanning a season-high five batters and allowing three runs on three hits. Kit Scheetz (3-0) earned the win after posting four strikeouts and just one hit in 2.2 innings of work.
 
The Tribe are back in action tomorrow, this time at home against another Commonwealth rival in VMI, at 6 p.m.