WILMINGTON, N.C. – After waiting out multiple rain delays, the William & Mary baseball team overcame a rocky start to rally past Elon for a 5-2 victory in the opening round of the CAA Tournament on Thursday afternoon at Brooks Field.
With the win, the Tribe improves to 32-23, while the Phoenix falls to 24-31.
W&M received huge contributions from its freshmen. All-CAA second and rookie team pick
Brandon Raquet was big-time in his postseason debut, finishing 3-for-5 with three RBI, a double and a triple. Freshman
Matthew Trehub posted two hits and drove in a run, while CAA all-rookie selection
Patrick Ryan notched a pair of hits. Sophomore
Owen Socher tallied another multi-hit effort behind a 2-for-5 outing.
Senior starter
Daniel Powers picked up his sixth win of the season. The four-year veteran logged seven innings with five strikeouts and allowed just two runs (both earned) on five hits. Junior
Charlie Fletcher tossed a shutout inning with a strikeout, and senior
Nick Brown collected his eighth save of 2017 as he limited Elon to just one hit and fanned a pair.
Elon platted a two-out run for an early advantage in the top of the first. Ryne Ogren hit a one-out single, before Hayden Platt drew a two-out walk. Will Nance followed up with a RBI double down the left line, providing the Phoenix a 1-0 lead.
The Tribe placed a pair of runners in scoring position in the bottom of the first, but couldn't capitalize. Raquet led off the frame with a double down the left line. The next batter, Socher singled to right field, advancing Raquet to third base. A wild pitch bumped Socher to second, but a strikeout and fly out into an eight-two double play cut the rally short.
The Phoenix recorded another one-run inning in the top of the second. Ty Adcock smoked a leadoff single to third base, before Cam Devanney forced a walk. Joe Satterfield then sent a RBI single up the middle for an Elon 2-0 margin.
However, Powers settled down and retired the Elon side in order during the rest of his start. He struck out swinging three combined batters in the third and fourth inning, and got a six-four-three double play from his defense to close out the top of the fifth.
The W&M offense finally cashed in with a trio of runs in the bottom of the fifth, claiming the lead. Ryan hit a leadoff single up the middle and redshirt sophomore
Kyle Wrighte drew a walk, setting the table. Trehub laid down a sac bunt to advance the runners, before Raquet registered a two-RBI double down the first base line. Raquet advanced to third after a single from Socher and scored on a throwing error by the catcher, giving W&M a 3-2 edge.
Powers maintained his mojo with a couple more three up, three down innings in the sixth and seventh. A line out to second, strikeout and fly out to left field closed the top of the sixth. In the top of the seventh, Powers got it down on a pair of grounders and a fly out, before his day was done.
The Green and Gold added some insurance behind a two-out two-run rally in bottom of the eighth. Wrighte took a two-out walk and made it all the to third on a failed pickoff attempt. The next batter, Trehub brought Wrighte home courtesy of a single through the left side. Raquet then continued his monster day with a RBI triple to right field, lifting W&M to a 5-2 lead.
As usual, Brown stepped on the mound to seal the deal for the Tribe in the top of the ninth. He started on the right track by striking out the first two batters. Brown surrendered a single on the next at bat, but recorded the final out on a pop up.
CAA Rookie of the Year Kyle Brnovich was charged with the loss. He recorded seven strikeouts and surrendered three runs (two earned) on nine hits in 6.2 innings of work. Brnovich also threw a season-high four wild pitches in the contest.
The Tribe advances to the winner bracket where No. 2 seed UNCW awaits. First pitch is set for tonight at 10:00 PM. Make sure to watch it live on CAA.TV.
