WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team overcame an early four-run deficit in rolling past Commonwealth rival Norfolk State, 10-4, on Tuesday evening. The Tribe (15-23) saw three different players collect multiple hits for the dominant win over the Spartans (12-21).
The Tribe went down by four runs in the top of the second, but swiftly wiped away the advantage with a six-run frame in the bottom half. Junior
Zach Pearson landed a leadoff single in right center and senior
Craig McLane walked, before both moved up on a balk.
Sophomore
Patrick Ryan pushed across the first run on a center field sac fly and classmate
Brandon Raquet followed up with a big-time triple down the right line. Raquet would score on a wild pitch, before junior
Hunter Smith launched a three-RBI bomb to right center two walks later, giving W&M a 6-4 lead.
The Green and Gold pulled away with four combined runs in the fifth and seventh stanza. Raquet delivered another clutch hit with a two-out RBI double to right center in the bottom of the fifth. During the seventh, McLane added more production after slicing an RBI single through the right side and scoring on a wild pitch. Raquet then capped his exceptional outing with a RBI single to right field for the 10
th run of the night.
Rookie
Jacob Haney retired the Spartans in order across the last three frames, prohibiting any chance of a NSU rally attempt.
Tribe Standouts
Raquet was a home run short of hitting for the cycle and drove in three runs to spotlight the offense. Smith also notched three RBI behind his seventh home run of 2018. Pearson and classmate
Colin Lipke contributed two hits apiece.
McLane finished 1-for-2 with a RBI, walk and two runs scored, while Hall doubled for the 14
th time this year. Graduate transfer
Andrew Burnick, junior
Nick Butts, senior
Robert White and Haney combined for seven strikeouts and just one hit in seven shutout innings.
Inside the Numbers
- The Tribe performed well in two-out situations after batting .308 (4-for-13) and manufacturing four runs.
- The W&M pitching staff held NSU to a .188 (6-for-32) batting average.
- The Spartans went down in order in all but two innings.
- Butts (3-1) gained the win as he logged two innings with a strikeout and one hit.
- Quenten Thomas (0-2) was taxed with the loss, yielding six runs (all earned) on four hits in the first two innings.
- Haney earned his first save after hurling three innings out of the bullpen and punching in five strikeouts.
Notes
Hall now ties fourth in school history with 55 career doubles…W&M rallied from its largest deficit of the year and improved to 7-3 in night games…Raquet posted season-highs in hits and RBI…The Tribe has tripled six times this year…Smith exceeded his most home runs in a season and now boasts 14 for his career… Rookie
Justin Pearson earned his second consecutive start…A Tribe player has homered in back-to-back games…Lipke extended his on-base streak to 10 straight games…The Tribe advanced its all-time series lead against NSU to 32-12.
Up Next
The Tribe is back on the road with a Colonial Athletic Association series at Northeastern this weekend. The three-games set gets underway on Friday, April 20 at 2:30 pm, continues on Saturday, April 21 at 1 pm and wraps up on Sunday, April 22 at 1 pm.
