HIGH POINT, N.C. ­­– The William & Mary baseball team improved its winning streak to five in a row after escaping High Point with an 8-6 triumph on Sunday afternoon. The Tribe (8-1) recorded 10-plus hits in four of its last five games to complete a three-game sweep against the Panthers (4-5).
 
Senior Kyle Wrighte factored in on the first three runs to provide the Tribe a tight lead after five innings. In the top of the third, two hit batters set Wrighte up for an RBI single through the left side. He then scored on a fielder's choice from classmate Zach Pearson to put W&M on top 2-1.
 
The Panthers evened the score with a two-out run in the bottom of the fourth. However, the Tribe swiftly regained the advantage in the fifth. After the first out, Wrighte rocketed a solo shot to left field for a 3-2 margin.
 
The Green and Gold then took a big lead with a four-run rally in the top of the seventh. After rookie Phil Conti reached on a wild pitch, junior Brandon Raquet scored him via RBI triple down the right line. Senior Jason Waldman followed up with a RBI double, before junior Matthew Trehub sent an RBI single up the middle. Sophomore Matt McDermott would push across the fourth run of the frame behind a single down the right line.
 
Despite taking the big lead, things got dramatic in the bottom of the ninth. The Panthers refused to give up after scoring four runs with only one out left. HPU hit a double and single and took advantage of two fielding errors to slice it to a two-run affair. However, junior Jamie Sara came out of the bullpen to halt the rally with a strikeout swinging.
 
Sophomore Jacob Haney (1-0) hurled five innings and yielded just two runs on four hits to pick up the win. He also fanned three batters. Sara received the save for pitching the last out of the afternoon.
 
Joe Johnson was taxed with the loss after conceding three runs on six hits in 4.2 innings of work.
 
Tribe Standouts
Wrighte enjoyed a banner effort as he reached in every plate appearance. Wrighte went 4-for-4 with a home run, walk and two RBI. Raquet collected two hits, including a triple, and drove in a run. Trehub and senior Owen Socher notched two hits apiece. Junior David Angstadt and Waldman both doubled, and McDermott pushed across two runs for the Tribe.
 
Notes
The Tribe recorded its second three-game sweep of the season … W&M has homered at least once in four of nine games … Wrighte homered for the second time in 2019 – the previous home run occurred on Feb. 15 … Wrighte also set a new career-high of four hits, which ties eighth in program history … Junior David Angstadt tallied his first extra-base hit (double) of the season. Socher and Waldman made their first start of the year … The last time the Tribe started a season 8-1 was in 2004. It is W&M's best start on the road (4-0) … The Green and Gold tied second for most batters reaching on a hit by pitch (6).
 
Up Next
The Tribe concludes a six-game road swing with back-to-back mid-week games. W&M takes a short trip to Hampton Roads rival Norfolk State on Tuesday, March 5^th at 3 pm, before remaining in-state for a visit to Radford the following day at the same time.