After being shelled with nine runs in two innings, William and Mary (1-6) could not piece together a comeback and fell to Quinnipiac (2-3) 10-3 in the second loss of its first home weekend series.
In his first start since the Tribe’s Feb. 17 loss to Clemson, sophomore pitcher Jamie Sara was bombarded in the third after two scoreless innings from both teams, allowing five runs on three hits. Even with two outs on the board, Quinnipiac, already up 3-0, managed to continue to run up points, scoring twice more before Quinnipiac’s Colton Bender was tagged out as he attempted to steal a base. The Tribe would gladly welcome the respite as they headed into the bottom of the third down 5-0. There was to be no comeback; despite getting a single from senior outfielder Luca Farina and a walk from junior catcher Hunter Smith, the Tribe never got as far as home plate.
Quinnipiac was still buoyed by their earlier offensive output as they got up to bat in the top of the fourth. The Tribe would switch out senior Michael Toner as pitching relief for Sara with two on base, but to no avail as Bobcat Evan Vulgamore put a grand slam past the back boards of Plumeri Park to add on four more runs to Quinnipiac’s lead and put them ahead 9-0. The Tribe couldn’t find an answer in the bottom of the fourth, as Quinnipiac’s Brandon Shileikis made quick work of the three College batters. The College walked off the field in the bottom of the fourth having only managed a single hit against the Bobcats all game.
The Tribe found some offense later in the match as freshman infielder Matt McDermott and senior outfielder Ryan Hall scored in the fifth. With Hall tallying another one in the seventh to put the Tribe only six behind the Bobcats at 9-3. For a moment in the seventh, it looked like the College was going to rally as they managed to put three runners on base, but a strikeout sent the Tribe right back to defense.
Despite Toner keeping the Bobcats off the scoreboard for four innings after their grand slam, Quinnipiac would top off their victory with one more homer in the ninth to put them up 10-3. The Tribe could not respond in the bottom of the ninth and was forced to concede the second game of the series to put it down 0-2 on the weekend.
The Tribe will look for redemption and its first weekend series win in the final game of the series Sunday as the College wraps up its homestand at Plumeri Park.
