The William and Mary offense found its stride over the weekend, winning both games against the Hofstra Pride with impressive scoring tallies. On Friday, the College broke a 3-3 tie with twelve straight runs to win 14-6. The Tribe followed this performance with another big day at the plate, beating the Pride 15-10 on Saturday behind three home runs.
On Friday, Hofstra (5-18, 0-2) started the scoring with a quick RBI double. In the bottom of the first, the Tribe countered when sophomore left fielder Ryan Hall doubled to send junior right fielder Charles Ameer home. Soon after, senior first baseman Charley Gould doubled to score Hall and give the College a 2-1 advantage.
With the game tied at three entering the bottom of the third inning, the Tribe offense took over, scoring four runs in the inning to take a 7-3 lead. In the bottom of the fourth, shortstop Kyle Wrighte hit a two-RBI single, which was immediately followed by Ameer’s home run. William and Mary punched in two more runs in the fifth inning to take a 14-3 lead that the Pride could not overcome, ultimately triumphing14-6.
Ameer led the Tribe offense on Friday, going 4 for 6 at the plate, with four runs batted in and two runs scored, including a home run. Freshman catcher Hunter Smith also had a strong game, going 4 for 5 at the plate, including a double and a triple. Wrighte finished 3 for 5 with three RBIs and three runs scored.
Junior right-handed pitcher Dan Powers picked up the win for the College after pitching the first six innings, improving his season record to 3-1. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Michael Toner secured his first save of the season in relief of Powers, pitching the final three innings.
The Tribe offense picked up right where it left off on Saturday; after Hofstra took an early lead after a three-run homer in the top of the first, the Tribe was quick to respond. In the bottom of the second, Wrighte smashed a single into right field to drive a run home. Then, senior center fielder Josh Smith hit a sacrifice fly to bring Hunter Smith home.
In the bottom of the third, sophomore second baseman Cullen Large hit a double to drive home two runs and tie the game at 4. Two more runs by the end of the inning gave the Tribe a slight 6-4 lead entering the fourth.
Hall singled to drive home Ameer in the bottom of the sixth. In the next at-bat, Gould singled to send junior designated hitter Ryder Miconi home. Hunter Smith hit a double immediately after to drive Gould and Hall home and to cap off a four-run inning for the College, who then held a 10-7 advantage.
Two runs in the top of the seventh for Hofstra trimmed the Tribe lead to one, 10-9. A Gould single in the bottom of the seventh sent Ameer home, and a huge bases-clearing double from Hunter Smith pushed the gap to 14-9 to put the game out of reach. One more run for each team left the final score at 15-10 for another William and Mary win.
Ameer again led the Tribe offense, going 4-for-6 in his at-bats and scoring two runs. Hunter Smith starred yet again, going 3-for-4 at the plate with six RBIs. As a team, the College had 17 hits compared to just eight for the Pride.
Freshman starter Bodie Sheehan picked up the win for the Tribe to improve to 2-3 on the season, allowing just one hit in over three innings of action. Pitching just over an inning to close the game without allowing any hits or runs, senior right-handed pitcher Joseph Gaouette picked up his fifth save of the year,.
The third game of the series was scheduled for Sunday but was cancelled due to wet field conditions. The College will face Georgetown at home this coming weekend in a three-game series. The first game is set for Friday, April 1 at 6 p.m. at Plumeri Park.