Friday, Feb. 28, Saturday, Mar. 1 and Sunday, Mar. 2, William & Mary baseball (4-7, 0-0 CAA) hosted the Central Virginia Challenge tournament, losing games to Boston College (4-4, 0-0 ACC), Toledo (4-6, 0-0 MAC) and Penn State (8-1, 0-0 Big 10) at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va.
On Friday, the Tribe fell 14-11 to Boston College in a game where the Green and Gold led by as many as six runs at one point. The afternoon started quietly, as neither team scored runs in the first inning. That trend soon changed, as a wild second inning saw ten total runners cross home plate. The visitors’ half of the second saw the Eagles score four runs, aided in part by two Tribe errors, but William and Mary instantly mounted a response with a six-run bottom of the second. Freshman infielder Jamie Laskofski notched a two-RBI single to put the Green and Gold on the board. After subsequent RBIs by graduate student outfielder Ben Parker and senior outfielder Lucas Carmichael, senior outfielder Christian Rush singled home two more runners and the inning ended with the Tribe leading 6-4.
Senior right-handed pitcher Carter Lovasz, who replaced freshman RHP Jack Weight during the second inning, controlled the game during his tenure on the mound. Against a typically productive Boston College offense, Lovasz conceded only two runs through his 4.2 innings of work.
The third inning saw Laskofski score one runner on a single. Rush again answered the call in the fourth inning, when he slammed a 3-run homer to make the score 10-5.
After Carmichael scored off a single in the fifth, it was all Eagles. The Tribe committed two more errors as the Eagles poured in nine unanswered runs over the last four innings, eventually taking a 14-11 lead. The Tribe was given a chance to even the score in the bottom of the ninth, but graduate student infielder Ethan Rothstein struck out with two men on base and ended the game.
“For seven of the nine innings we played pretty well,” head coach Rob McCoy said. “All in all, I was happy with the effort, but we need to make plays.”
On Saturday, the Tribe fell to the Toledo Rockets by a score of 7-2. Three Toledo players launched solo home runs in each of the first three innings against senior RHP Reed Interdonato. The hosts were unable to score until the sixth, when Carmichael’s single drove Parker home following a triple by the latter. Unfortunately, the Tribe was only able to scratch one more run across the plate, and the Rockets went on to cruise to a victory.
The Tribe’s lackluster offensive performance amplified the frustration of the loss. The Green and Gold outhit Toledo 10-7, but they could only draw one walk. Additionally, the Tribe missed many scoring opportunities and left a total of eight runners on base.
“We can’t count on putting up 10 runs every time we play,” McCoy said. “At the end of the day if you can’t score runs, and give up too many, it’s not gonna work out well for you. We played better today than we did yesterday, but it’s still not good enough.”
The Tribe fell 7-6 to Penn State to conclude the weekend. The Green and Gold began the day strong, holding the Nittany Lions to just one hit and no runs in the top of the first. Sophomore first baseman Anthony Greco opened the scoring for the hosts, singling to centerfield and plating Laskofski. Graduate student utility player Derek Holmes followed with a two-RBI single, and the Tribe left the inning leading 3-0.
The top of the second saw Penn State score three, aided by the Tribe’s 33rd and 34th errors of the season. While the third and fourth innings saw no runs, the Nittany Lions plated two men off of a double from senior center fielder Matt Maloney in the fifth. The home frame saw Holmes record another RBI, and the score sat at 5-4 as the Tribe left two men on base.
The Green and Gold was able to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth courtesy of a Carmichael single that scored Laskofski. Missed opportunities would again haunt the Tribe, with the team once more leaving two on base.
Maloney smacked another RBI in the seventh, but the Tribe benefited from a timely Penn State error in the bottom of the inning, as a single from junior outfielder Charlie Iriotakis evened the score at six. The frame ended with the hosts leaving three more men stranded.
After a quiet eighth, the Nittany Lions struck again in the ninth. A wild pitch by junior pitcher Owen Pierce created an opening that the visitors took advantage of, sending the go-ahead run across home plate as the Tribe attempted to recover the ball. Weight replaced Pierce, and the former pitched the final 0.2 innings without allowing a score. However, the Tribe could not score in the bottom, and the Nittany Lions escaped Williamsburg with a victory.
“I’m not discouraged at all,” McCoy said, stressing that his focus remains on getting the team focused on overcoming its mistakes. “We played a decent ball game, it’s just when you play a really good team, the margin for error is really small.”
McCoy remains optimistic about the rest of the season. “We’re about to get some guys back and healthy, which will be good.”
The Tribe went on to drop a midweek game to #9 Virginia (8-3, 0-0 ACC) by a score of 15-4. The Green and Gold will return to the field Wednesday, March 5 against VCU (2-9 , 0-0 A10) at The Diamond in Richmond, Va.
