HARRISONBURG, Va. – Junior Brandon Raquet provided the power and the pitching staff made it stand up as William & Mary upended James Madison, 2-1, in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association Championship on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Raquet continued his torrid pace of late with a two-run fourth-inning home run to give the Tribe (32-20) all the scoring it would need. Junior right-hander Wade Strain was strong into the seventh inning before giving way to the bullpen duo of sophomore Justin Pearson and redshirt junior Chris Farrell. In total, the Tribe trio pitched around 10 JMU hits and stranded 11 Dukes runners.
 
Strain, who improved to 6-4 on the year with his second win over JMU, allowed just one run over 6.1 innings, while Pearson followed with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief. Farrell stranded runners on third base in both the eighth and ninth innings to record his sixth save of the season. He struck out one and allowed a hit with a walk over the final 1.1 innings.
 
JMU (31-25) struck first with a single run in the fourth inning without a hit. The first two runners of the inning reached on a hit by pitch and walk. After a sacrifice advanced the runners 90 feet, Conor Hartigan gave the Dukes a 1-0 lead with a sac fly to left field to bring home Kyle Novak.
 
The Tribe answered right back in the home half of the fourth. After an Owen Socher infield single to lead off the frame, Raquet drove a 3-2 Kevin Kelly pitch over the left-center field wall to give the Green and Gold the lead for good, 2-1. It marked Raquet's seventh HR of the season and his fourth in the last eight games.
 
The Dukes threaten in both the eighth and ninth innings, but each team Farrell shut the door. He caught Travis Reifsnider looking for his only K of the contest with runners on second and third to end the eighth. In the ninth, he coaxed groundouts to short and second to end the game after JMU sacrificed a lead-off walk to second.
 
W&M Starters - #9 Socher RF, #1 Raquet LF, #18 Z. Pearson 3B, #21 Smith DH, #15 Trehub C, #26 McDermott 2B, #24 Cone CF, #8 Wrighte SS, #7 Lipke 1B, #11 Strain P
 
JMU Starters - #20 Dahney 3B, #24 Semones SS, #30 Novak DH, #33 Harju 1B, #7 Dipasupil 2B, #28 Hartigan RF, #8 Hayes C, #42 Sigler LF, #1 Griffin CF, #34 Kelly P
 
How It Happened
- JMU put the first runner in scoring position in the third inning, but Strain stranded him. Callaway Sigler led off the frame with a single to left field and move up to second on a sacrifice bunt. Strain got Trevon Dahney to pop out to second and Fox Semones to ground into a fielder's choice to end the frame.
- The Dukes jumped on the scoreboard first without the benefit of a hit in the fourth. Kyle Novak was hit by a pitch to start the frame before Brady Harju drew a four-pitch walk. Both players advanced 90-feet on a Matt Dipasupil sac bunt. Conor Hartigan lifted a fly ball to left field to bring home Novak for the first run of the game and stake the Dukes to a 1-0 lead.
- After Owen Socher led off the home half of the fourth with an infield single, Raquet put the Tribe on top. The All-CAA performer worked the count full and then unloaded on an offering over the outer half launching it over the left-center field wall for a two-run home run.
- Dipasupil and Hartigan led off the sixth inning with back-to-back singles for the Dukes. The Tribe got out the inning on the back of strong defense and pitching. Junior catcher Matthew Trehub made a great defensive play on a Kyle Hayes sacrifice bunt attempt, cutting down the lead runner at third. Strain struck out Sigler looking and then forced DaVonn Griffin to fly out to center to end the frame.
- After the Tribe turned its first double play of the game to record the opening two outs of the seventh, JMU threatened with a pair of baserunners. Hayes was hit by a pitch and then the Dukes used the hit and run to perfection as Michael Morgan punched one through the right side to put runners on the corners. Morgan stole second to give the Dukes two in scoring position, but Farrell punched out pinch hitter Travis Reifsnider looking for the final out of the inning.
- In the ninth, Farrell pitched around a lead-off walk to earn his sixth save of the season. Dabney led off with a walk. He moved up to second on a Semones sacrifice bunt and to third on the second out of the inning, a ground out to shortstop. Farrell enticed JMU's home run leader Brady Harju to ground out to second base to end the game.
 
Notes
W&M improved to 8-7 overall and 3-2 in opening games under head coach Brian Murphy at the CAA Tournament … Junior Brandon Raquet hit his seventh home run of the season and 14th of his career … It marked Raquet's fourth home run in the last eight games … Raquet upped his RBI total to 10 in the last four games and 30 for the year … The home run improved his hitting streak to eight games, and he is 15-of-31 (.484) at the plate during that stretch … Junior Matthew Trehub extended his hit streak to four games with a second-inning single … Senior Owen Socher recorded his 10th multi-hit game of the season with infield singles in the fourth and sixth innings … Junior Wade Strain made his sixth quality start of the season allowing just one earned run on eight hits over 6.1 innings with two strikeouts and just one walk … He improved to 6-4 on the year and defeated JMU for the second time this season … Redshirt junior Chris Farrell earned his sixth save of the season and second in as many games for W&M … His six saves are tied for 11th on W&M's single-season list.
 
Up Next
The Tribe continues in the winners' bracket and will close out the second day of the CAA Championship against No. 2 Charleston. First-pitch is slated for 7 p.m. from Eagle Field at War Memorial Stadium. Fans can watch the online broadcast on CAA.TV.