Box Score CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia outlasted William & Mary in a 12-inning marathon taking a 7-6 win over the Tribe Tuesday night in Charlottesville. The Green and Gold erased a 4-0 deficit to eventually take a 6-4 lead on
Matt McDermott's two-out ninth inning homer but could not hold on as UVA tied the game in the bottom of the frame and won in the 12th.
McDermott had three hits in the game and knocked in a career-high four runs to go with a walk and two runs scored.
Mark Trotta was strong for the Tribe with three hits and an RBI of his own. Relievers
Ben Greenspon,
Randy Prosperi, and
Justin Pearson combined to hold UVA scoreless in five innings out of the pen.
After both teams exchanged scoreless first innings, Virginia would break open the scoring in the bottom half of the second. The Cavaliers led off the inning with a pair of singles and Max Coiter would bring home Kyle Teel with a fielder's choice. Later in the inning, Coiter and Marc Lebreax scored on a single from Zach Gelof to make it 3-0.
Virginia added another run in the third as Devin Ortiz would walk, move to third on Teel's single, and finally score on a Tate Ballestero single. But the Tribe would cut the lead in half in the fourth.
Matt McDermott reached on an infield single and advanced on
Jack Cone's walk. McDermott scored on
Mark Trotta's RBI single and Cone would come around on a fielder's choice off the bat of
David Hogarth making it 4-2.
The top of the Tribe order would get the job done again in the fifth inning as
Ben Williamson drew a two-out walk and scored as McDermott roped a double down the left field line cutting UVA's lead to one. Trotta and Matt Trehub would reach base to lead off the sixth inning, but both were stranded as UVA retained the lead.
The bullpens locked in keeping the score 4-3 headed into the top of the ninth. With two outs
Tyler Solomon swatted a pinch hit double to right-center.
Ryan McKenna would come on to pinch run for Solomon as Williamson would earn his way on via a hit by pitch. McDermott stepped to the plate with a pair of hits on the day and smashed the 1-0 offering over the wall giving the Tribe the 6-4 lead.
The lead was short lived as UVA bounced back in their half of the ninth. With one out, Nic Kent walked and moved to second on a hit from Brendan Rivoli. Both would score on a double into the left center gap from Ortiz to tie the score. Howat induced a double play ball to keep the game tied and force extra innings.
In the top of the tenth, Trotta singled but would be eliminated on the bases as Trehub reached on a fielder's choice. Trehub moved up to second as Hogarth singled into left. With two outs,
Hunter Hart laced a single to right but Trehub was gunned down at the plate to keep the game tied 6-6.
The Tribe threatened again in the 11th as
Cole Ragone and McDermott both forced walks, but the two would be stranded, keeping the game deadlocked. The Cavaliers would break through in the bottom of the 12th taking advantage of three walks and a Gelof sac fly to push a run across for the 7-6 win.
For McDermott, it was his sixth multi-hit game of the season and his first game with more than one run driven in. It was the second straight season that McDermott homered at UVA. His four RBI performance ties
Jack Cone's March 26 game against VCU as the most runs batted in by a Tribe player in a single game this season.
Ben Williamson and
Jack Cone both extended steaks at the plate in the game as Williamson hit safely for his 15th straight contest and Cone reached base in his 16th consecutive outing.
In his first relief outing of the season, Greenspon tossed a perfect inning retiring all three batters he faced. Prosperi delivered his third straight outing without allowing a run giving up just one hit in 1.1 innings of work and Pearson was masterful allowing zero hits and striking out a pair over 2.2 clean frames.
Next up, the Tribe will head down to Elon for a three game series with the Phoenix. The CAA rivals will meet for a doubleheader Saturday afternoon before finishing the series on Sunday.
