WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – Nearing the four-hour mark on Sunday, Reed Interdonato delivered the final pitch in his second scoreless inning, sealing the series victory for William & Mary baseball over Holy Cross.

In a slugfest of a game, the Tribe came out on top, 14-12, powered by two five-run innings and a pair of home runs from Joe Delossantos and Ben Parker.

The Tribe improved to 2-1 on the season with the win, while Holy Cross fell to 1-2. Nick Lottchea earned the victory for W&M and Interdonato got the save in his Tribe debut.

Parker's home run came early in the first, as he rocketed the second pitch of just the second Tribe at-bat of the game to right-center field. Following seven Holy Cross runs in the opening frame, Parker's first home run in the Green & Gold was first to chip away at the Crusaders' lead.

Brendan Kelly, a graduate transfer from Stonehill, earned a pair of strikeouts in his debut on the mound for the Tribe, posting a scoreless second inning.

Entering the game in the top of the third, Lottchea tossed three scoreless frames to keep the Holy Cross bats quiet. Allowing only one hit and three baserunners during his outing, Lottchea joined three other Tribe arms with 0.00 ERAs through the first weekend and held Crusaders to a .100 AVG.

Three four-pitch walks loaded the bases with Nate Goranson, Luca Trigiani and Trey Christman to lead off the fourth inning. Derek Holmes notched his first RBI in his first plate appearance with the Tribe, wearing a pitch to open the scoring. 

In the bases reloaded over the next few plays as Trigiani scored on a fielder's choice, Christman crossed the plate on a passed ball, Delossantos drew a walk and Jerry Barnes III was hit by a pitch. 

With two outs and three men on, freshman outfielder Anthony Greco worked back from an 0-2 count, roping a 2-2 single to right field for his third and fourth RBI of the weekend to tie the game at 7-7.

Following the five-run frame with another to match, Delossantos launched his second home run of the weekend off the scoreboard to secure the lead for the Green & Gold – a three-run rocket to drive in Corey Adams and Carmichael. Barnes and Greco drew back-to-back walks and Goranson belted a double to center field for a pair of RBI.

With an Adams sacrifice fly in the seventh and Goranson's second hit of the afternoon to score Henry Jackson in the eighth, the Tribe extended their final lead to 14-12.

Hit by a third pitch in the bottom of the eighth, Barnes joined a short list of only six other times in program history a single player has been hit by three pitches in a game, and the first since Ryan Lindemuth in 2013. 

The 3:55 duration marks the longest game since the Tribe played a historically-long six hour and three minute, 24-inning game at Charleston on May 16, 2014.
 
Up Next
The Tribe will hit the road for the first time in 2024 on Tuesday, Feb. 20 as they travel to Richmond to face the Spiders in their first midweek matchup of the year. The game is scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch.
 
Follow the Tribe
Follow William & Mary baseball on Twitter/X (@WMTribeBaseball), Instagram (@WMTribeBaseball) and Facebook (/WMTribeBaseball) for more information, gameday updates and Tribe baseball content.