WILLIAMSBURG, VA- William & Mary baseball exploded for 28 runs in a home-opening doubleheader sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson Saturday afternoon at Plumeri Park. The Tribe defeated the Knights 12-3 in the opener and 16-8 in the nightcap to improve to 2-4 on the season.
 
Chris Farrell twirled another gem and the bats came alive as the Tribe took game one of the doubleheader. Farrell struck out seven over five scoreless innings while Matt McDermott and Cole Ragone each smashed three hits. Brandon Raquet homered for the second time this season and Matt Howat and Tom Mayer were strong in relief. 
 
Farrell left the bases loaded in the first, but used a pair of strikeouts to get out of the jam. W&M jumped all over the Knights in the first as Cone and McDermott led off the game with back to back doubles. McDermott would come around on Brandon Raquet's two-run home run over the left-center wall. Cole Ragone would single and score from first on Ben Williamson's triple to center giving the Tribe a 4-0 lead. 
 
Cone would double again in the bottom of the fourth and advance to third on a McDermott's single. A wild pitch would plate Cone to extend the lead to 5-0. A leadoff walk from Brandon Raquet would get the rally started in the fifth inning. Raquet would score on a Ragone RBI single. Ragone and Williamson would both come around on a Matt Trehub single through the right side to make it 8-0. 
 
McDermott would record his third hit of the ballgame with a leadoff bomb in the sixth. Tyler Solomon would single and score on Raquet's triple down the right-field line. Ragone sent a shot to off the wall in left for his third hit of the game to bring home Raquet. 
 
The Knights scored a trio of runs in the top half of the eighth inning, but Tom Mayer would shut the door on FDU in the ninth to preserve the 12-3 Tribe victory. 




Tribe starter Justin Pearson would give up a run in the first inning, but the Tribe would respond as Cole Rangone roped a triple to right-center and would come in on Carlos Garrido's sac fly. The Tribe would tack on one more run in the second and one in the third to make it 3-1. 
 
The Knights would cut the lead to one with a run in the fourth, but the Tribe would take advantage of a two-out rally bottom half of the frame as Matt Thomas would triple with and come around on a double from Raquet. Another two-out knock from Hunter Hart would plate Raquet to make it 5-2. 
 
A solo home run in the top of the fifth would bring FDU within one, but Tyler Solomon would start the bottom half with a triple off the center-field wall and scored on a Jack Cone triple pushing the lead back to three. 
 
WM would extend the lead as a Hart single plated Thomas and Raquet in the sixth. Later in the inning, Carlos Garrido would lace a bases-loaded double down the right-field line scoring a pair of Tribe runners. WM would explode for 10 runs on three hits in the frame to jump out to a 16-3 lead. 
 
The Knights would chip away but were unable to overcome the large deficit as the Tribe's Brody Mack and Jack Ryan tossed innings in relief. Rojo Prarie was the first out of the bullpen and earned his first win of the season as the Green and Gold cruised 16-8. 
 
The Tribe will look to complete the three-game sweep as the same two teams get together tomorrow for a Sunday afternoon 1:00 p.m. start time. 
 
NOTES
 
Matt McDermott's solo home run in game one was the first round-tripper of his career. The junior also tied a season-high with three hits in the opener and will be bruised up after being hit by four pitches on the day.
 
The Tribe's 13 hits in game one, and 16 runs in game two are both season-highs. 
 
William & Mary scored 10 runs in the sixth inning of the nightcap. The inning was by far the Tribe's largest output in a single frame this season. 
 
Between the two games, the Tribe had eight players with multi-RBI games. Hunter Hart led the way with four RBI in game two. 
 
Chris Farrell earned the win after tossing five clean innings in game one. The senior starter now has thrown 11 innings, struck out 11, and allowed just eight hits and no runs. 
 
Game one was one to remember for Cole Ragone. The sophomore saw a career-high in hits, runs, and RBI. 
 
Seven players had multi-hit games over the doubleheader. Three hits from McDermott and Ragone in game one and a trio of knocks from Hart in game two led the way. 
 
Patience was key for the Tribe as the team earned 20 base on balls over the two games.