Tribe Sweeps Doubleheader Against New York Tech

04/12/08 8:25PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - Junior Ben Guez hit a pair of home runs and extended his hitting streak to 25 games as the William and Mary baseball team won both games of a doubleheader against New York Tech at Plumeri Park on Saturday afternoon. The Tribe won the first game, 15-9, and the second contest, 7-2.

With the victories, the Tribe (24-11) has now won eight of its last nine games and improves to 19-3 at Plumeri Park. Additionally, W&M is 14-4 in non-conference contests this season.

Senior Tim Park led the Tribe in the opener, going 4-for-4 with a home run, three RBI and two runs scored, while Guez went 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored. Junior Lanny Stanfield also homered, while senior Aaron Hurwitz, junior Mike Sheridan and sophomore Chris Jensen also posted multi-hit performances.

In the second game, Sheridan went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while junior Tyler Stampone also finished the game 2-for-4 with a home run. Guez extended his hitting streak in the second inning with a two-run blast.

Freshman RHP Logan Billbrough (2-1) earned the win in the first game, while sophomore RHP Cole Franklin recorded the save. Sophomore RHP Kevin Landry (1-0) registered the victory in the second game, while senior RHP Pat Kantakevich picked up his league-leading sixth save of the season. Kantakevich’s saves total already ranks fifth on W&M’s single-season list.

The Tribe scored the contest’s initial run in the opening game in the bottom of the first inning. Stampone led off with a double to right and advanced to third when Guez grounded out to second. Sheridan then plated Stampone when he grounded out to first.

NYIT (8-14-1) evened the score with a run in the top of the second. Julian Richards drew a leadoff walk, and Joe Lucente reached on an error to put two runners aboard. Richards advanced to third when Greg Gilroy grounded into a 6-4-3 double play and later scored on a wild pitch.

W&M answered with four runs in the bottom half of the frame to take a 5-1 advantage. Senior Greg Maliniak walked to lead off the inning, and Hurwitz followed with a single to right. Juliano, Jensen and Stanfield then drew consecutive walks to bring in a pair of runs, while Guez later plated two more scores with a single to center.

The Bears narrowed the margin to one, 5-4, with three runs in the third. Brian Smith began the inning with a single to left, and Mike LaLuna followed with a two-run blast over the left field fence. Tom Leonick registered a one-out double to left, and Richards drove him in with a single to right.

The College scored again in third when Park led off the frame with a solo home run to left. It was Park’s eighth home run of the season.

Tech cut the deficit to one, 6-5, with a run in the fifth. Smith was hit by a pitch to start the frame and advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches. LaLuna plated the run with a sacrifice fly to center.

W&M broke the game open with five runs, all coming with two outs, in the sixth to take a commanding 11-5 lead. With Steve Faulkner on in relief of starter Eric Johnson, Stanfield got things started with a solo shot over the center field fence. Stampone followed with a walk, and Guez singled to center before Sheridan recorded a RBI single to right. After a wild pitch put two runners in scoring position, Park plated a pair of runs with a single to center. After Maliniak drew a walk, both runners advanced into scoring position on another wild pitch. Park later scored on a balk to complete the five-run inning.

The Green and Gold added a pair of runs the following inning when Guez hit a two-run blast to center.

The Tribe tacked on two more runs in the eighth to open up a 10-run lead, 15-5. Park led off the inning with a single to right, and junior Jeff Jones entered the game as a pinch runner. After advancing to second on a balk, Jones scored when Hurwitz singled to left. A one-out double to left by Jensen plated Hurwitz for the second score.

The Bears put four runs across in the top of the ninth but never threatened the Tribe’s comfortable lead. Three runs came off LaLuna’s second homer of the day, while Lucente drove in the other run with a RBI single to center. In addition to his pair of home runs, LaLuna finished the first game with six RBI.

As was the case in the first game, the Tribe also got on the scoreboard first in the second contest. Stampone led off the bottom of the first inning with a solo home run to left. Guez then drew a walk, and Sheridan followed with a long, two-run blast over the right field fence.

W&M pushed its lead to 5-0 when Guez hit a two-run home run in the second. Stampone registered a two-out single, and Guez followed with a home run to right.

New York Tech put its first run across in the fourth inning. LaLuna and Christian Dienna singled to put runners on the corners, and Jerry Smith drove in a run with a RBI single to left.

The Bears scored again in the fifth to cut the deficit to 5-2. Lucente registered a one-out double to left and scored when Denten Neill followed with a single to right.

The College answered with two runs in the bottom half of the inning for a 7-2 advantage. Park drew a one-out walk, and two batters later Jones walked as well. After Nickle reached on catcher’s interference to load the bases, Osteen drove in two runs with a single.

The teams will play the series finale on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score