Hempstead, NY – Kyle Wrighte hit two home runs in game one including the go-ahead shot in the eighth and Bodie Sheehan pitched 5 1/3 innings of two-hit ball in game two as William & Mary swept a Colonial Athletic Association doubleheader from the Pride Friday at University Field. The Tribe won game one, 5-4, and took the nightcap, 7-5.
Hofstra fell to 14-36 overall and 7-16 in CAA play with the losses, while William & Mary upped its mark to 30-23 overall and 14-8 in league action.
In the opener, William & Mary scored a single run in each of the first four innings to take a 4-0 lead. In the top of the first the Tribe loaded the bases on a walk and two singles before Rooney plunked Charles Ameer with two outs to force in a run. The Tribe went up 2-0 in the second on a solo home run from Kyle Wrighte. In the third a run scored on an error and in the fourth, Ryder Miconi drove in Owen Socher with a single.
But Hofstra erased the deficit in the fourth inning as
Rob Weissheier (2-run) and
Tyler White hit back-to-back home runs, and
Tom Archer delivered a RBI single that plated
Brad Witkowski.
The score remained that way until the eighth when Wrighte hit his second of the game, off
Chris Weiss, to provide what proved to be the winning run. Weiss (6-4) took the loss, allowing the one run on three hits in two innings of work. Starter
John Rooney allowed four runs (3 earned) on 10 hits over seven innings. The sophomore struck out a season-high 11 batters.
Charlie Fletcher (3-1) picked up the win with an inning of relief. Nick Brown went the final 1 1/3 innings to earn his sixth save. Miconi had three hits for the Tribe, while Wrighte, Socher and Cullen Large each had two.
Rob Weissheier had three hits to pace the Pride in game one while Archer and
Chris Hardardt each had two.
The Tribe used the long ball to their advantage in game two as well with Miconi and Matthew Trehub hitting solo shots in the second and third, respectively, to give William & Mary a 2-0 lead. The lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth as Nick Butts doubled in a run and later scored on a wild pitch. Ameer extended the lead to 5-0 in the fifth with a sacrifice fly. Brandon Raquet added another sacrifice fly in the sixth to push the Tribe's lead to 6-0.
Hofstra loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth and was able to get one run across on an RBI ground out from
Teddy Cillis. The Pride added a second run in the seventh on a ground out from
Rob Weissheier.
The Tribe tacked on a run in the eighth on Cullen Large's double to close out their scoring. The Pride added a run in the eighth on Archer's RBI single that scored Hardardt, who had singled to start the inning, and two more in the ninth on
Vinnie Costello's home run.
Matt Weissheier (0-1) took the loss for the Pride after allowing four runs on five hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Sheehan (6-4) earned the win after allowing two hits and one run over 5 1/3 innings.
The teams conclude the series Saturday at Noon. Hofstra will honor its six seniors in a pregame ceremony at 11:40 a.m.
