Tsakounis Pitches William & Mary Past Towson In CAA Baseball Championship
Rob Washburn
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WILMINGTON, N.C. (May 27, 2021) – Behind a stellar start from junior pitcher Zach Tsakounis, sixth-seeded William & Mary stayed alive in the 2021 CAA Baseball Championship with a 7-3 victory over #5 Towson on Thursday afternoon at UNCW’s Brooks Field.
The Tribe (14-28) will be back in action at 11 a.m. on Friday against an opponent to be determined based on the rest of Thursday’s results. The Tigers, who earned a berth in the CAA Tournament for the first time since 2013, ended their season with a 21-36 mark.
Tsakounis (3-2) allowed just one run on three hits over a career-long 7.1 innings, striking out five and walking two. The left-hander retired the side in order four times and didn’t allow a runner past second base until the eighth inning.
William & Mary tied its season-high with 14 hits as the first seven batters in the lineup each contributed two. Shortstop Matt McDermott was 2-for-5 with a double, homer and two RBI’s, while designated hitter Jack Cone was 2-for-3 and drove in a pair.
W&M wasted little time jumping out to a 1-0 lead. Ben Williamson led off the game with a double off the fence in left and scored on a one-out base hit by Cone.
The Tribe used the same formula to increase its advantage in the fourth. Matt Thomas doubled down the left-field line to open the frame and came around on David Hogarth’s one-out RBI single.
W&M broke the game open behind McDermott’s bat. In the fifth, the senior second baseman doubled and scored all the way from second on Cone’s sacrifice fly to right. He followed with a two-run homer to left in the seventh, which was his second of the tournament and team-leading sixth of the year, to make it 5-0.
The Tribe tacked on two more runs in the eighth. Consecutive singles by Tyler Solomon, Thomas and Matt Trehub put one on the board and Thomas was able to come home on a balk.
Towson was able to get on the board in the eighth. Pinch hitter Brandon Austin drew a walk to end Tsakounis’ day and Danny Becerra singled. Outfielder Billy Godrick followed with a towering, three-homer to left that brought the Tigers within 7-3.
Becerra finished 2-for-3 and second baseman Nolan Young was 2-for-4 for Towson.