Over the weekend at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, North Carolina, William and Mary (0-3) suffered three consecutive losses to No. 21 ranked East Carolina (3-0), dropping its first three matchups of the season.
In the season opener Friday, Feb. 14, the Tribe dropped its first game of the season to the Pirates by a score 2-1, despite an impressive performance during the game. Senior Chris Farrell pitched exceptionally well, not allowing a run throughout the six innings he pitched. Neither team would score until the seventh inning, when the lone Tribe run came from a homerun by senior Brandon Raquet.
In the bottom half of the seventh, after taking Farrell out, the Tribe turned to sophomore Rojo Prarie, who got out of the inning, striking out two Pirates in the process. With Prarie still in the game in the eighth inning, the Pirates capitalized on a few key mistakes and tied the score 1-1 on a sacrifice fly. As the game moved into extra innings with the score still tied, the College failed to put any runs on the board in the 10th or 11th innings. In both instances, The Tribe had players in scoring position but could not capitalize. Going into extra innings, the Pirates’ offense proved to be too tough for the Tribe to handle as the Pirates scored the game winner in the bottom of the 11th off of three straight hits. Junior Matt McDermott finished the game with three hits to go along with Farrell’s strong performance.
Saturday afternoon, the College again fell to East Carolina, this time by a score of 11-3. ECU scored early and often in the game, scoring six runs in the first four innings including five runs in the fourth inning alone. In the fifth inning, the damage continued to mount, with ECU building its commanding lead to nine. The Tribe was pretty quiet throughout the game and did not score until the ninth. McDermott scored the first of three runs to continue his strong start to the season. The following two runs scored on a single from junior David Hogarth and a sacrifice fly from sophomore Hunter Hart. It was a little too late however, as the College could not overcome the massive deficit accumulated over the course of the game.
Sunday, Feb. 16, the Tribe suffered its third loss in a row, losing 7-4 to the Pirates. In the early stages of the game, ECU scored four runs in the first three innings, including three in the first inning alone. The Tribe answered in the fourth and fifth innings with one run apiece, making the score 4-2. Sophomore Matt Thomas was crucial to the Tribe’s performance Sunday, recording two hits and two runs batted in. ECU continued to press, however, and scored three more runs in the sixth and seventh innings, which would prove to be enough for the victory.
The pesky Tribe offense would not go away though, scoring two runs behind three straight hits and a walk to narrow the lead to three. The Tribe found itself in a familiar position, scoring runs late, but once again could not muster a comeback and the Pirates shut the door on the series.
Up next, the Tribe continues its trip through North Carolina, travelling to Durham to face the Duke Blue Devils Tuesday. First pitch is set for 4 p.m.