Tribe Shuts-Out Maryland Eastern Shore, 4-0, at Plumeri Park

Shain Throws Five Scoreless Innings to Earn Victory

04/16/09 10:51PM

WILLIAMSBURG - The William and Mary Tribe baseball team did something it hadn’t done all season on Thursday; shutout the opposing team. The College used fantastic pitching and timely hitting to defeat the visiting University of Maryland Eastern Shore Hawks, 4-0, at Plumeri Park. With the victory, the Tribe’s record moves to 14-19 overall on the season, while the Hawks fall to 10-28.

Box Score

Freshman pitcher Cole Shain had the best performance of his young William and Mary career on Thursday night, pitching five shutout innings, allowing only five hits while striking out three hitters to move his record on the year to 2-2. The Tribe’s bullpen started right where Shain left off, silencing the UMES’ hitters behind strong pitching and great defense. The quartet of Garrison Sarrett, Jay McCarthy, Matt Davenport, and Logan Billbrough combined to throw four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits, while striking out six Hawk batters.

“I was very happy with the way Cole threw the ball tonight,” Tribe head coach Frank Leoni said after the game. “He did a good job of locating three pitches tonight; his fastball, his change-up, and his curveball. He has to focus on location and he did that tonight.”

At the plate, the Tribe was led by a pair of seniors in Tyler Stampone and Jeff Jones. Stampone had a team-high three hits, including two doubles, and scored two runs, while Jones was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a CAA-leading 19th stolen base. Fellow senior Rob Nickle had two RBIs, while freshman Tadd Bower also had an RBI.

After three scoreless innings, the College got on the board for the first time in the bottom of the fourth inning. Stampone doubled down the right field line to start the inning and was then moved over to third when Bower grounded out to the Hawk first baseman. Nickle then stepped to the dish and grounded out to second, scoring Stampone and giving the Tribe a 1-0 lead.

The College wasted no time extending their lead, adding another run in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, senior Lanny Stanfield hit a single to center field. Stanfield was followed up with a Tyler Truxell single to left center that moved Stanfield to third base. Jones was the next batter and attempted to get on base with a bunt. But the UMES catcher made a nice play to get Jones at first, but Stanfield did a nice job of running the bases and scored on the play, giving W&M a 2-0 lead.

The Green and Gold continued the scoring in the seventh inning when Stampone once again led the inning off with a double, this time to deep center field. Bower then sacrificed Stampone to third on a perfect bunt down the third baseline. Nickle then notched his second RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Stampone and giving the Tribe a 3-0 lead.

Defense was huge in conserving the shutout for the College on Thursday night at Plumeri Park. The Tribe defense was great, getting out of potential trouble by turning four double plays, tying the William and Mary single-game record. No more was the defense key then in the eighth inning. With a hawk runner at second with two outs, Josh Dunham of UMES hit a ball up the middle just past the arm of Tribe pitcher Matt Davenport. Just as it looked like the ball would get through and the shutout lost, senior second baseman James Williamson made a diving stop, got to his feet and threw a strike to first base to get Dunham by a half-step, preserving the shutout and getting the College out of the inning.

The Tribe would go on to add an insurance run in the ninth inning, but it wouldn’t be necessary as W&M would go on to shut-out the UMES Hawks, 4-0.

The William and Mary baseball team will have no time to relish the victory on Thursday, as CAA-rival Towson comes to Plumeri Park for a pivotal three-game series starting on Friday, April 17. First pitch for Friday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m.