MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – The William & Mary baseball team fell to the College of Charleston, 5-1, in its first 2018 Colonial Athletic Association game on Friday evening. The Cougars (17-6, 1-0 CAA) broke away from the Tribe (8-14, 0-1 CAA) with a late two-RBI homer in the eighth.
After threatening in the first two innings, the Cougars broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. CofC loaded the bases for the second time and scored on a wild pitch and ground out, taking a 2-0 lead.
The Tribe finally broke through in the top of the sixth after getting retired in order across the first five innings. Rookie
Matt McDermott broke up Evan Sisk's perfect game by leading off with a single through the left side. He then made it to third base on two wild pitches, before junior
Owen Socher brought him home behind a grounder to second base.
Nonetheless, CofC answered swiftly with a two-out run in the bottom half of the sixth. K.J. Bryant drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt. After the second out, Dupree Hart hit a RBI single through the left side.
The Cougars went on to use the long ball to add insurance in the eighth inning. Bryant hit a one-out single, swiped second base and advanced to third on a grounder. Ari Sechopoulos then produced a two-run homer to left field for the 5-1 final.
Tribe Standouts
Junior
Colin Lipke, senior
Luca Farina and McDermott had a hit apiece. Sophomore
Chris Farrell tossed two frames of two-hit ball, while senior
Charlie Fletcher logged a three up, three down inning in the seventh.
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe remained within reach majority of the contest by leaving nine CofC runners on base.
- Both teams combined for just four hits with two outs.
- Charleston finished 4-for-17 (.235) with runners on base, while W&M went 1-for-8 (.125).
- Evan Sisk (5-1) gained the win after hurling seven impressive innings with two strikeouts, one run (earned) and three hits.
- Sophomore
Jamie Sara (2-3) received the loss as he struck out three, but yielded three runs (all earned) and three hits.
Notes
Fletcher is 10 appearances away from setting a new program record with now 87 in his career… Farrell earned his first career weekend start…W&M allowed its first home run in six games...CofC now holds a 12-6 all-time leads against the Tribe.
Up Next
The Tribe will conclude its first CAA series with a doubleheader against Charleston tomorrow at 2 pm.
