Charleston Rides Brink Shutout, Four Homers To Defeat William & Mary, 12-0
Rob Washburn
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MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 21, 2025) – Fourth-seeded Charleston homered four times and got a complete-game five-hit shutout from junior right-hander Jake Brink to defeat No. 5 William & Mary, 12-0, in the opening game of the 2025 CAA Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
Charleston (35-20), which won for the 10
th time in the past 11 games, will meet either No. 1 Northeastern or No. 2 UNCW on Thursday in the winner’s bracket, while William & Mary (21-34) will play an elimination game at 11 a.m. on Thursday.
Seven of the Cougars’ 12 hits went for extra bases and they scored multiple runs in four innings. Catcher Dylan Johnson and outfielder Avery Neaves smacked two-run homers and Ethan Plyler and Landon Penfield added solo shots. Tyler Sorrentino was 3-for-3 and drove in a run for the Cougars.
Brink (6-5) was dominant on the mound, scattering five singles over the seven frames and only allowed one runner to reach third base. He struck out five and walked only one.
After scoring an unearned run in the second, Charleston pushed its advantage to 3-0 in the third when Johnson launched a towering a two-run homer over the wall in left.
In the fourth, Sorrentino laced a one-out double down the right-field line and scored on an Alex LaCoste triple. A perfectly executed bunt by Ben Venables brought in LaCoste to make it 5-0.
The Cougars blew the game open with a five-run fifth. Plyler and Penfield opened the frame with back-to-back solo homers. Johnson followed with a single and came across on a triple to right-center by Will Baumhofer to up the lead to 8-0. A bloop RBI single by Neaves plated Baumhofer and he later scored on an error to put Charleston ahead, 10-0.
Neaves capped the scoring with a two-run shot to center in the sixth and Brink retired the Tribe in the seventh to post his third complete game of the year and first solo shutout.
Five different William & Mary players had a hit, with All-CAA outfielder Ben Parker the only one to reach base twice on a single and a walk.