TOWSON, Md. – The William & Mary baseball team blasted a season-high three home runs to blow past CAA rival Towson, 12-3, and push its winning streak to five straight during the series opener on Friday afternoon.
 
With the win, The Tribe advances to 24-20 overall and 8-5 in conference action, while the Tigers slide to 15-24, 3-10 in league play. W&M is riding its longest win streak of 2017.
 
The Tribe had four players finish the afternoon with multiple hits. Senior Ryder Miconi and sophomore Hunter Smith combined for the trio of home runs to pace a 14-hit attack. Miconi homered twice for the first time ever to go 3-for-4 at the dish with four RBI. Smith added the third dinger as he went 2-for-4 and drove in a pair of runs.
 
Junior Cullen Large also tallied three hits to go along with two scored runs. Freshman Brandon Raquet posted two hits and double, while junior Ryan Hall belted a triple and plated two runs. Rookie Matthew Trehub brought home a couple of runs as well.

The Tribe grabbed a quick lead in the top of the first inning. With one out, Large singled up the middle, before Hall was hit by a pitch. On the next at bat, Miconi singled to right field and Large was able to make it home due to a fielding error by the right fielder. Smith followed up with a sacrifice fly to right field, giving W&M an early 2-0 advantage.
 
The Tigers evened up the contest in the bottom of the third. Mark Grunberg and Richie Palacios drew back-to-back walks, before Grunberg advanced 90 feet away from home plate on a wild pitch. Colin Gimblet then hit a two-RBI single up the middle for the 2-all tie.
 
The Green and Gold launched its first homer in the top of the sixth to reclaim the lead. Raquet led off the inning with a single through the right side. After two outs, Miconi smoked a two-run bomb to right field for a W&M 4-2 margin.
 
The Tribe broke the game wide open with a five-run rally in the eighth inning. Raquet hit a leadoff double to right center, and Large singled to right field to start the rally. On the next at bat, Hall tallied his first triple of the year to plate Raquet and Large. After Miconi reached on a walk and moved to second behind a wild pitch, senior Charles Ameer laid down a bunt single to juice the bases.
 
The next batter, redshirt sophomore Kyle Wrighte fouled out to Colin Dyer at first base, but Dyer committed a throwing error that allowed Hall to cross home plate. Trehub then capped the rally with a two-RBI single to center field, providing W&M a commanding 9-2 lead.
 
W&M notched back-to-back jacks to pile up more runs in the top of the ninth. With two outs, Miconi laced his second two-run dinger of the game to center field. Smith followed up with a solo shot to center field for a 12-2 game.

In the bottom of the ninth, Towson closed out the game with one more run scored. Bo Plagge prevented the double-digit loss behind a leadoff solo bomb to left center. However, redshirt freshman Chris Farrell went on to retire to side on back-to-back ground outs and a fly out to center field.
 
Starter Nick Raquet captured his second win of the season after spinning a productive 5.2 innings. He fanned eight batter and limited Towson to just two runs (both earned) on three hits.
 
Kevin Ross was charged with the loss as he struck out five and surrendered seven runs (six earned) on nine hits in seven innings of work.
 
The three-game series picks back up tomorrow at 2 p.m