W&M TOPS UNCW 12-6 TO REACH CAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Rob Washburn
Boxscore | Highlights
WILMINGTON, N.C. (May 23, 2014) – Top-seeded William & Mary scored 10 runs over the first three innings and cruised to a 12-6 win over #3 UNCW to advance to the title game of the CAA Baseball Championship for the second year in a row.
William & Mary (34-21) will face #2 College of Charleston in Saturday’s 1 p.m. championship game. The Tribe, which dropped a 3-1 decision to the Cougars on Friday afternoon, will need to beat CofC twice to claim their first conference title since 2001.
UNCW, which had to return to the field just 45 minutes after a dramatic 5-3 victory over Delaware, saw its season come to an end with a 30-27 record.
The Tribe took control of the game with six runs on only two hits in the second inning. After striking out the last two batters in a 1-2-3 first, Seahawks’ starter Evan Phillips (2-4) walked the first four batters he faced to start the frame. He battled back to fan the next two Tribe batters, but then hit Kevin Nutter to force in another run. Nick Thompson followed with a two-run double down the left-field line and Michael Katz laced a single to right that brought in two more to make it 6-0.
W&M piled on four more runs in the third as it batted around for the second straight inning. Derek Lowe had a leadoff double down the line in left and scored on a one-out single by Josh Smith. With two out, Nutter’s double brought in Smith and he came around to score on a Katz single. Thompson, who got on base with a walk, was able to cross the plate on a wild pitch to give the Tribe a 10-0 advantage.
UNCW chipped away at the deficit by tallying runs in three consecutive innings. In the fifth, Ryan LaGrange had a leadoff single and got the Seahawks on the board by coming home on a Dillon Bass sacrifice fly. UNCW added two in the sixth on a Corey Dick RBI single and a LaGrange sacrifice fly. Drew Farber drew a leadoff walk in the seventh and scored on a two-out single by Casey Golden to close the gap to 10-4.
The Tribe ended the Seahawks’ momentum by scoring twice in the eighth as Charley Gould and Derek Lowe contributed run-scoring singles. UNCW added a pair of ninth-inning runs on a Gavin Stupienksi sacrifice fly and a Terence Connelly RBI single.
W&M, which scored double-digit runs for the 19th time this season, had five players with multiple hits. Lowe led the way by going 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Nutter and Ryan Hissey each went 2-for-4 and scored twice, while Michael Katz was 2-for-5 and drove in three.
Freshman right-hander Nick Brown (5-1) earned the victory after giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits over six innings. The Tribe pitching staff was aided by four double plays, which was just one shy of the tournament record.
Connelly was the only Seahawk with more than one hit, finishing 3-for-4 with an RBI and run scored.