NEWARK, Del. – The William & Mary baseball team produced a four-run first inning and a duo of
Nick Brown and
Charlie Fletcher held CAA foe Delaware to just two runs, carrying the Tribe to an 8-2 victory in game one of Saturday's doubleheader at Bob Hannah Stadium. With the win, W&M improves to 15-11 overall and 2-2 in league play, while the Blue Hens fall to 13-10, 1-3 in conference action.
Senior
Charles Ameer and sophomore
Owen Socher paced the Tribe's offense with two hits each. Ameer posted a home run and a double, while Socher drove in a pair of runs and hit a double. Sophomore
Hunter Smith and redshirt sophomore
Kyle Wrighte notched a couple of RBI as well.
The Tribe got off to a quick start by scoring in bunches in the top of the first. With one out, Ameer towered a solo homer to right field for the first run of the afternoon. A pair of walks and a hit by pitch then loaded the bases to keep the rally going.
Cullen Large scored the second run following a fielder's choice, and a two-out two-RBI single from Socher made it a 4-0 affair.
The Blue Hens pushed across their first run in the home half of the third inning. Diaz Nardo led off the frame with a walk. The next batter James Meeker lined out to right field, but Nardo move to scoring position by stealing second. Kevin Mohollen then drove Nardo home on a double down the left line, trimming the Tribe margin to 4-1.
The Green & Gold responded with its fifth run in the fourth inning. Socher smashed a leadoff double down the right line, before advancing to third on a wild pitch. Brandon Walter retired the next two batters on a grounder and a strikeout. However, Socher made it home courtesy of another wild pitch, giving the Tribe a 5-1 lead.
W&M sparked a two-out rally to pad its lead in the top of the seventh. Ameer continued his big day by igniting the rally with a double to left center. The Blue Hens intentionally walked Large, before Smith cleared the bases behind a two-RBI double to center field. After another intentional walk, Wrighte hit an RBI single to right field, lifting the Tribe to an 8-1 advantage.
During the bottom of the eighth, UD managed to tack on its second run. Back-to-back singles set the table, before the Tribe got the first out. Doug Trimble then grounded out the second, but it was enough to plate Mohollen to make the score 8-2.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Blue Hens continued to battle with back-to-back one-out singles. However, Fletcher recorded a pop up and a fly out to cut the rally short.
Brown captured his third win of the season as went seven innings, fanned two batter and surrendered just one run on six hits. Fletcher also pitched a solid two innings of relief, striking out a batter and allowing one run on four hits.
Walter was attributed the loss after giving up five runs on four hits, posting five strikeouts in six innings.
