WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team scored six runs in the first three innings for an 8-2 series opening win against CAA rival Elon on Friday evening at Plumeri Park.

With the the win, the Tribe improves to 17-13 overall and 3-4 in league play, while the Phoenix falls to 15-15, 5-2 in conference action.

W&M had four players record multiple hits. Rookie Brandon Raquet paced the team's 11-hit attack with three of his own. Senior Ryder Miconi, freshman Matthew Trehub and sophomore Zach Pearson tallied two hits each.

Trehub and Pearson both drove in a pair of runs and hit a double. Junior Cullen Large posted a double and a RBI, while senior Charles Ameer and sophomore Hunter Smith both plated a run.

Senior Daniel Powers tossed a solid performance on the mound. He went eight innings with seven strikeouts and allowed just two runs on five hits. Classmate Nick Brown registered two strikeouts after coming in for relief in the final inning.

The Tribe jumped on the scoreboard with a run scored in the bottom of the first inning. With one out, Raquet singled to shortstop and Large drew a walk to set the table. A wild pitch advanced both Raquet and Large, before Smith forced another walk to load the bases. Ameer then slashed an RBI single through right side, giving W&M an early 1-0 advantage.

The Green & Gold sparked a big five-run rally in the bottom of the third to extend its margin. Leadoff hitter Ryan Hall reached first on a third baseman throwing error. Raquet singled up the middle, before Large brought Hall home on a double down the right line.

The next batter Smith, grounded out to third, but it was enough to plate Raquet. Ameer was then hit by a pitch, before Miconi kept the rally going with a RBI single through the left side. Trehub pushed across two more runs behind a double down the right field line, putting the Tribe ahead 6-0.

Elon scored its only pair of runs in the top of the fourth. After the first out, Kyle Jackson hit a single to left field and James Venuto followed up with double to center field, setting the table.  Will Nance then pushed a deep sac fly to left field, bringing home Jackson. Hayden Platt hit a RBI double on the next at bat for a 6-2 score.

However, Powers retired the Elon batters in order through the next four innings. He recorded five of his seven strikeouts during that stretch.

The Tribe tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth. Miconi hit a one-out single through the left side and advanced to third after a two-out single by Trehub. Pearson then doubled to left center to plate both Miconi and Trehub, stretching the Tribe lead to 8-2.

Brown relieved Powers in the top of the ninth and closed the contest on back-to-back strikeouts and then a popup after allowing a leadoff double.

Powers was credited with his third win of the season. Ryan Conroy was attributed with the loss after posting three strikeouts and allowing four earned runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings of work.

The three-game set continues tomorrow with first pitch scheduled for 4 p.m.