W&M gains sweep of doubleheader
Jack Cone’s RBI single capped William & Mary’s three-run ninth-inning rally for a 5-4 victory Saturday over UNC Wilmington in Game 1 of a doubleheader at Plumeri Park. The Tribe (4-8, 3-2 Colonial Athletic Asociation) then completed the sweep with a 7-6 victory.
UNCW (11-5, 0-2) led the opener 4-2 before a two-out run-scoring single from Ben Williamson. W&M tied the score on a shortstop’s wild throw after he fielded a Matt McDermott ground ball. Cone then ripped a 2-2 pitch through the left side to bring Williamson home with the winning run. Senior Justin Pearson picked up the win, pitching two innings of scoreless relief after Nate Strain worked the first seven innings.
In Game 2, Phil Conti belted a two-run homer to cap a fourrun Tribe fourth. He and Cole Ragone each had two hits and scored twice.
Old Dominion (13-4) came back for a 4-3 victory at Richmond (5-4), improving the Monarchs to 3-0 on the road.
Chris Rinaldi’s three-run double to left-center in the second gave the Spiders a 3-1 lead, but ODU’s Ryne Moore, who got the victory, and fellow relievers Hunter Gregory and Nick Pantos shut out the Spiders after that.
ODU pulled even in the fifth when Carter Trice socked a two-run homer to left-center. Andy Garriola came home on a wild pitch later in the fifth to put the Monarchs ahead. Tommy Bell was 3 for 4 with an RBI.
Morehead State (9-9) overcame host Norfolk State 5-3 in eight innings and then 5-1 to sweep a doubleheader beginning a four-game weekend series. NSU fell to 3-12.
Christopher Newport (6-4) began Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference play by whipping Mary Washington 13-3 in Fredericksburg, thanks in part to an eight-run fifth inning. Jonathan Fisher and Eric O’Brien combined for five hits, five runs and five RBIs. Dylan Weber (2-1) got the win, and freshman Jack Braley pitched three innings for a save.
Virginia Wesleyan (2-9, 2-2 Old Dominion Athletic Conference) erupted in the eighth inning to gain a doubleheader split with Bridgewater (4-2) in Virginia Beach, winning 7-1 after losing 10-5.
Robert Cook, a junior lefthander from Landstown High, struck out 12 on his 136 pitches as he threw a five-hitter for the VWU victory.
Down 1-0, the Marlins scored seven runs in the eighth. The tying run came home on an error, Braxton Downum hit a go-ahead RBI single, Nick Price added a two-run single, and Nansemond River High graduate Matt Culbert hit a two-run triple and scored on a throw.
In the opener, Snider had three RBIs and two of the Eagles’ 10 hits. The loss spoiled a rare 5-for-5 game by the Marlins’ Jake Ness, who was only a home run short of the cycle. The sophomore from First Colonial High scored a run and drove in three.