When freshman infielder Matt McDermott came up to bat in the bottom of the ninth, he offered up a sacrifice bunt that got the two William and Mary runners on the field to third and second base. This led to a run that got the Tribe within one of the Virginia Commonwealth (1-3) lead. The College (0-4) couldn’t quite complete the comeback, however, and struck out with a runner still left on third to drop its home opener 4-3 in its fourth one-run loss in a row.
“The first six innings we struggled,” said sophomore first baseman Matthew Trehub. “The biggest thing moving forward is to group team at-bats together and get on base.”
Trehub boasted one of the best performances of the night; in three times at bat, he tallied two hits and one run. Junior infielder Zach Pearson also had a solid night at bat, getting hits in three of his four times batting, also tallying a run.
“The first six innings we struggled,” said sophomore first baseman Matthew Trehub. “The biggest thing moving forward is to group team at-bats together and get on base.”
Redshirt sophomore pitcher Chris Farrell saw his first career start against the Rams. He pitched five innings, allowing six hits and four runs.
“Chris Farrell for his first start was solid,” said head coach Brian Murphy. “He did a decent job against a good lineup.”
Relief pitching came from freshman Justin Pearson and senior Charlie Fletcher, who was a major part of last year’s bullpen. The two pitchers held the Rams to just three hits and no runs in four innings to allow the Tribe to attempt its comeback.
Solid pitching has been a major part of the Tribe’s season so far. Junior pitcher Bodie Sheehan was named Colonial Athletic Association Pitcher of the Week this week after a seven-inning start against Clemson last weekend in which he allowed only one run. In this game, and throughout its winless season start, the College has seen some stellar performances on the mound but has struggled to score in a stretch of close games. Its comeback that fell just short in the matchup against VCU marked the fourth time the Tribe lost by just a single run.
“Offensively, obviously, we really struggled,” said Murphy.
The Tribe will continue to fight for its first win of the season tomorrow against Maryland. Last season the College went 18-7 at home, so it will look to find a victory in this stretch of home games that includes the mid-week match against Maryland Wednesday, as well as a weekend home series against Quinnipiac.
“We love playing in front of our fans here,” said Trehub. “We’re definitely looking forward to playing some more home games.”