CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Despite being held without a hit, the William & Mary baseball team went 11 innings with No. 18 Virginia in a 4-3 setback on Wednesday afternoon at Davenport Field. W&M (1-8) took advantage of three UVA (6-3) errors for a go-ahead run in the top of the 11
th, but couldn't escape a base loaded jam in the bottom half.
The Tribe faced an early 2-0 deficit following a pair of one-run innings by the Cavaliers in the first and third. However, the W&M pitching staff yielded just four hits in the next six innings to keep it a close affair.
The Green and Gold evened the contest after pushing across a run in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth, junior
Colin Lipke led off with a walk, before advancing to third behind a sac bunt and wild pitch. Lipke crossed home plate on a RBI grounder from sophomore
Patrick Ryan.
More sacrifice hitting from the Tribe scored the next run as well. In leading off, junior
Zach Pearson was hit by a pitch, and senior
Craig McLane bunted him to second. Another wild pitch placed Pearson on third, before he came home behind a sacrifice fly by sophomore
Matthew Trehub.
Sophomore
Wade Strain stepped on the mound in the seventh and kept the Wahoos off the scoreboard after logging three hitless innings. As previously mentioned, the Tribe took the lead with an unearned run in the 11
th, but UVA answered with two unearned runs of its own to earn the walk-off win.
Bennett Sousa (1-1) received the win after tossing the last 2.2 innings with three strikeouts and a run (unearned). Senior
Robert White was charged with the loss, posting a hit and two runs (both unearned) in 1/3 of an inning.
Tribe Standouts
The W&M pitching staff strung together an impressive effort in a bizarre and dramatic contest. Junior
Nick Butts went three innings without an unearned run despite conceding three hits, while fanning three batters. Senior
Michael Toner allowed just one hit in his scoreless inning, and classmate
Charlie Fletcher added another goose egg to the scoreboard. Strain walked three batters, but went hitless with a strikeout in his three innings of work.
Notes
Fletcher now ties third all-time in school history with 81 career appearances…The contest marked the fourth time the Tribe fell to a nationally-ranked in a one-run decision…Both senior
Ryan Hall and freshman
Matt McDermott extended their on-base streak to six straight games…W&M drew a season-best seven walks…Ryan drove in a run in two of his last three outings.
Up Next
The Tribe returns to Plumeri Park to host High Point in its second straight home weekend series. The three-game set begins on Friday, March 2 at 6 pm, continues on Saturday, March 3 at 4 pm and closes on Sunday, March 4 at 1 pm.
