W&M Defeats URI, 9-7, to Earn Fifth Straight Victory

03/18/08 8:50PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary baseball team rallied back from a 6-0 deficit to earn a 9-7 victory against Rhode Island at Plumeri Park on Tuesday evening. With the triumph, W&M (16-4, 7-2) has won nine of its last 10 contests and is 9-2 in non-conference games. Additionally, the College improves to 13-1 at Plumeri Park this season.

Leading the Tribe was senior Greg Maliniak, who went 3-for-3 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored. Junior Ben Guez also played well and finished 3-for-5, while classmate Mike Sheridan went 2-for-5 and has now hit safely in all 20 games this season. Junior Rob Nickle homered for the third straight game and has four home runs in the last five contests.

Freshman RHP Logan Billbrough (1-0) earned his first collegiate victory, while senior RHP Pat Kantakevich worked 2.0 scoreless innings in relief to register his second save of the season.

The Rams got on the scoreboard first with six runs in the top of the fourth inning. Mike O’Malley led off with a single to left, and Zach Zaneski drove him in with a double to center. After Rob Deveney flew out to center, Shaun Hagey plated Zaneski with a double to left. Oliver Palmer then followed with another double to left that brought in Hagey, while Robert Noe drove in a run with a single to right center. Kenny Burns finished off the six-run frame with a two-run home run that cleared the left field fence.

With RHP Ken Graveline on the mound in relief of starter RHP Jamie Degidio, the College responded with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the inning. Nickle and Maliniak provided the offensive firepower, as they hit back-to-back solo home runs to lead off the frame.

W&M narrowed the margin to just one, 6-5, with three more runs in the fifth. Junior Tyler Stampone drew a leadoff walk, and Sheridan doubled down the left field line with one out to put two runners in scoring position. Senior Tim Park followed with a ground-rule double to center that plated both runners. After LHP Mark Fraser entered the game in relief, Maliniak registered an RBI double to right.

The Green and Gold charged ahead with three runs in the sixth. Junior Lanny Stanfield began the inning with a double off the left field fence, and Stampone drove him in with a one-out double to left. Guez followed with a RBI triple to deep center, while Sheridan plated another run with a single to right.

The Tribe added a run in the seventh to push the advantage to 9-6. Maliniak was hit by a pitch to begin the frame, and junior Jeff Jones followed with a double to right that put two runners in scoring position. Junior James Williamson then brought in Maliniak when he grounded out to second.

URI got a run back in the top of the eighth to cut the deficit to 9-7. With sophomore RHP Cole Franklin on the hill to start the frame, Zaneski led off with a single up the middle. After Deveney was hit by a pitch to put two runners on, Hagey registered a RBI single up the middle. Still with no outs, Kantakevich entered the game and got out of the jam. The senior right-hander struck out Palmer, and Park picked off Hagey at first on the third strike. Noe then grounded out to second to end the threat.

Rhode Island put a runner in scoring position in the ninth when Rusin led off the frame with a double to left center, but Kantakevich shut down URI and preserved W&M’s fifth straight victory.

The Tribe will return to action when it hosts Maryland on Wednesday at 5 p.m.

Box Score