The William & Mary Tribe scored the first eight runs of the game and went on to defeat the VMI Keydets, 10-2, in non-conference baseball action Tuesday night at Williamsburg’s Plumeri Park.
VMI (1-6) was looking for its first back to back wins in Williamsburg since the 1964 and 1965 seasons, but the Tribe (3-5) scored in five of the first six innings, including three runs in both the third and the fifth. Outfielder Tadd Bower was 2 for 4 with three RBI to pace the Tribe’s 14-hit attack, while Matt Davenport (1-0) pitched seven innings of two-run ball for the win. Travis Thomas (0-1) took the loss for the Keydets, surrendering five runs (four earned) over 2 1/3 innings.
The Keydets threatened in the first, as Jacob Morley doubled with one out, but Davenport retired the next two hitters without incident. That would be the only runner VMI would get to second base over the game’s first six innings, and the Tribe got on the board in the bottom half, when Bower singled home the game’s first run.
The home team scored again in the second, this run coming on an RBI single by Bobby Klein, and the Tribe led 2-0 after two. That lead grew to 5-0 with a three-run uprising in the fourth, one that included a two-run double by Bower that knocked out Thomas. William & Mary got three more in the fifth, runs charged to freshman Jonathan Kelley, who was making his collegiate debut, and the Tribe capped its scoring with two runs in the sixth.
The Keydets averted the shutout in the seventh, as Cameron Walter had a leadoff single and George Piccirilli followed with a double. One out later, Rob Dickinson had a sacrifice fly, and after Thomas Stallings was hit by a pitch, Berkley Hawkins delivered an RBI pinch-hit single to make it 10-2, W&M, and end the scoring for the evening.
In relief of Thomas on the mound, Andrew Deal pitched 1 2/3 innings of shutout ball, while Connor Bach and Michael Devine also kept the Tribe off the board. Piccirilli and Morley had the lone Keydet extra-base hits of the evening to pace the offense.
VMI baseball will return to action Friday, as the Keydets return home to open a series with the Hartford Hawks. Game time is set for 4 p.m., and the contest will be the first game of a seven-game homestand.
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