WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – The William & Mary baseball team dropped a 9-1 decision, before rallying to a 6-4 victory to split a doubleheader against Big 12 foe West Virginia on Saturday. The Tribe (13-3) salvaged the split by overcoming a three-run deficit in game two versus the Mountaineer (11-7).
Game One: WVU 9, W&M 1
Both starting pitchers dominated in the early going, as each team remained hitless through three innings and scoreless through four innings. The Mountaineers pulled away in the fifth with five runs, thanks to a leadoff home run, a double, and four singles.
WVU put the game out of reach in the following frame adding three insurance runs on four more hits. Junior
Wade Strain (2-1) takes his first loss of the year for the Tribe, while Alek Manoah (3-1) earned the win the Mountaineers.
Game Two: W&M 6, WVU 4
WVU jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead in the top of the first, but senior
Bodie Sheehan settled down to record four subsequent scoreless innings before giving up a two-RBI home run in the sixth. His final line was 6.0 innings, eight hits, and four earned runs.
The star of the day was senior
Hunter Smith, who hit two long home runs, a solo shot in the fourth and a two-run bomb in the sixth, as well as a two-RBI double off the top of the wall in the seventh. Smith finished with five of six Tribe RBI.
Freshman
Jack Cone added insurance on an infield single in the eighth, plating senior
Zach Pearson to make the score 6-4.
Three Tribe pitchers – sophomore
Randy Prosperi, junior
Jamie Sara, and junior
Chris Farrell – combined for three shutout innings to close the game. Prosperi (2-0) earned the win and Farrell earned his third save of the year for W&M. Beau Lowery (0-2) took the loss for the Mountaineers.
Tribe Standouts
Smith headlined the afternoon with a 3-for-6 performance, including two home runs, a double and four RBI. Pearson matched Smith's three hits and added a double. Cone totaled two hits and two RBI, while freshman
Matt Thomas reached safely three times via a base hit and three walks.
Notes
The Tribe captured its second Power Five win of the season … It the first time W&M defeated West Virginia since1968 … Sheehan made his 49
th career start to tie
Will Malerich '97 for third in program history … Smith produced the second two-home run game of his career – the first occurred earlier this season against Sacred Heart (2/24) … Smith stretched his on-base streak to 16 games in a row … Cone is riding a seven-game hitting streak and has recorded at least one RBI in five-straight games.
Up Next
The three-game series concludes with a single game tomorrow at 1 pm.
