WILLIAMSBURG, Va. – William & Mary baseball (28-22, 11-12 CAA) erased an early-seven run deficit, but fell to Towson (14-37, 4-18 CAA), 9-7, Saturday as the conference weekend series tied at one apiece.

Prior to the game, the Tribe honored its class of 2024, commemorating the accomplishments of Lucas Carmichael, Nate Goranson, Mark Hindy and Ethan Snyder as the quad complete their undergraduate degrees this semester.

Christian Rush, who earned his first career four-hit game a week ago when he hit for the cycle against Elon, belted four hits once again.

Leading the Tribe with three RBI, Jerry Barnes III tallied a pair of hits, including a two-run double.

Henry Jackson and Joe Delossantos each scored a pair of runs and the former made four trips to first base with a hit to accompany his three walks. Delossantos drew a walk and was hit by a pitch, coming across to score following both freebies.

Luca Trigiani belted his fifth home run of the year, giving the Tribe sole possession of eighth-place in program history in team single-season home runs with 54.

Defensive mishaps once again posed the greatest threat to the Tribe as six of the nine Towson runs were allowed to score unearned. A pair of unearned runs in the sixth inning produced the decisive Tigers lead.

Getting off to a strong first-inning start, Zack Potts faced the minimum, retiring the leadoff runner with a pickoff move to first and notching a pair of strikeouts. 

Tiger southpaw Matt Lynch returned the favor in the first, giving way to the Towson's pair of crooked numbers in the second and third. The visitors worked up a 7-0 lead through three before the Tribe would answer in the fourth. 

Over the next two innings, the Tribe produced a seven-run answer, digging out of the early hole.

A five-run fourth inning sparked hope for the series-clinching victory as four hits cut the deficit to two.

Jackson led off the inning with a double to right-center field, gunning it to second base for his fifth double. Delossantos walked, Rush tacked on an infield single and Witt Scafidi got the scoring started for the Green & Gold with an RBI fielder's choice.

Barnes hit a towering double off the left-field wall, scoring a pair.

Trigiani smashed another towering hit to left field, his clearing the wall, for the five-spot in the fourth. 

Jackson again led off the inning, this time with one of his three walks on the evening, to get the Tribe on base in the fifth. Rounding the bases aided by a pair of Towson errors, Jackson cut the visitors' lead to one run, 7-6.

Following the double in his previous at-bat, Barnes notched another RBI as he laced a single into right field to score the tying run.

Brendan Kelly tossed 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing a pair of hits, a walk and a HBP. In the fourth and fifth, the Hopkinton, Mass., product stranded a pair of baserunners to hold the tied score.

The Tigers broke to score to regain the lead as a two-out error and a pair of balls put in play allowed two more unearned runs to sneak by.

Mark Hindy returned to the mound for the final three scoreless innings with a dominant response to the previous frame. He retired the next five Tigers before another baserunner was able to reach on an eighth-inning HBP.

With just one hit in the ninth, Hindy yielded the 9-2 game to the Tribe offense, hoping for a late rally. The lefty tallied four strikeouts over 4.0 innings, allowing four hits with no walks and a pair of unearned runs.

Rush tacked on his fourth hit of the day as he dropped a one-out single into right field, but the comeback chances fell short as Towson evened the series.

W&M will return for the series finale against Towson at 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 12, for the final home game of the 2024 campaign. 
 
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