William and Mary smashed its way to two dominant non-conference wins this week, obliterating visiting University of Maryland-Eastern Shore 18-3 on Tuesday before shutting out Longwood 6-0 on the road.
The two victories pushed the Tribe’s win streak to four as the team heads into another important conference series this weekend at home against Delaware.
The College (21-11, 7-5 CAA) welcomed a poor UMES (5-23) squad Tuesday and quickly imposed its will on the Hawks, plating a run in both of the first two innings, first on a sacrifice fly from senior right fielder Stephen Arcure and later on a solo home run from sophomore third baseman Ryan Lindemuth.
Lindemuth would go on to have a career day, finishing 5 for 5 with four runs, five RBIs and the homer. He was a double away from hitting for the cycle.
After the Hawks scored one in the third, the College broke it open with three more runs in the fourth to take a 5-1 lead. Arcure started it off with a double to left-center before stealing third. After freshman first baseman Michael Katz drew a walk, Lindemuth cleared the bases with a triple and then scored on an error by the third baseman.
The Tribe came back in the fifth to essentially put things out of reach, adding on four runs, making it a 9-1 advantage.
From there, the College threw it into cruise control. Freshman starting pitcher Jason Ingraham left after seven impressive innings, striking out 11 and allowing three earned runs on five hits and no walks for the win. The Tribe scored two in the sixth, two in the seventh and five in the eighth as junior reliever Brett Goodloe and senior reliever Garrison Sarrett each turned in scoreless innings of relief work.
Senior catcher Sean Aiken also had an impressive day at the plate, going 3 for 4 with a walk, two runs and two RBIs.
The College then hit the road and went west to take on Longwood (15-15) of the Big South.
Head coach Frank Leoni tapped senior starter Cole Shain to take the hill, and the lefty was nearly flawless, throwing seven shutout innings, striking out six while walking just one and allowing only three base hits.
With Shain keeping the Longwood lineup at bay, the Tribe’s bats picked up where they left off a day earlier, taking a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI single from sophomore catcher Devin White.
The College then scored another in the fourth. After senior left fielder Tadd Bower singled to left, Lindemuth singled to center and took second on an error by the center fielder. With runners on the corners, freshman designated hitter Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right, putting the Tribe on top, 2-0.
The long ball then helped to give the Tribe a 5-0 stranglehold in the fifth. After junior second baseman Kevin Nutter and junior center fielder Ryan Brown both walked, Katz blasted a 1-1 pitch deep to left for a three-run homer. With the way Shain was pitching, that was more than enough run support.
Senior relief pitcher Jay McCarthy came on to pitch a scoreless eighth before junior closer John Farrell struck out two to shut the door in the ninth.
The College will look to carry its momentum from four straight wins into a big three-game series with CAA-foe Delaware. The Tribe is currently in a tie for third in the conference with the Blue Hens, who are also 7-5 in the CAA but 14-15 overall.