Tribe baseball wins CAA regular season title
For the first time in school history, the William & Mary baseball team captured the Colonial Athletic Association regular season title.
The Tribe accomplished the feat with a 6-0 victory over the College of Charleston on Saturday evening.
Sophomore Mitchell Aker and junior Bryson Kauhaahaa combined to pitch a three-hit shutout in the win. With the victory, the Green and Gold finishes the regular season 32-20, 15-5 in CAA play, while Charleston falls to 38-17, 15-6 in league play.
Senior Kevin Nutter and sophomore Ryan Hissey led the Tribe, collecting three hits apiece. Hissey added a pair of RBIs in the victory.
Charleston had the first chance to score in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs and runners on the corners, Charleston tried a double steal, but the Tribe had it sniffed out and caught Brandon Murray at the plate.
The Tribe got on the board first with a run in the top of fifth inning. Senior Derek Lowe led off the inning with a walk. With two outs, freshman Tim Hoehn doubled to right center, scoring Lowe from first and giving the Green and Gold a 1-0 lead.
W&M added a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning. Nutter and junior Nick Thompson started the rally with back-to-back singles. After an out, Hissey singled into left field, plating Nutter. The next batter, junior Devin White doubled to right center field, scoring Thompson and giving the Tribe a 3-0 advantage.
The Green and Gold added two more runs in the top of the seventh inning. Senior Kevin Casey started the rally with a single, moving to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hoehn. The next batter, Nutter doubled down the left field line, brining around Casey. Thompson reached on a single and then Katz reached on a fielder’s choice, loading the bases. The next batter, Hissey singled into left, plating Nutter and giving W&M a 5-0 lead.
W&M added an insurance run in the top of the ninth inning. Hissey led off the inning with a triple down the right field line. A fielder’s choice allowed Hissey to score and give the Tribe a 6-0 lead.
Aker made the start for the Tribe pitching 2.1 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. Kauhaahaa pitched the final 6.2 innings for the Green and Gold scattering just two hits. He had four strikeouts in his first victory as a member of the Tribe. Charleston’s Tyler Thornton was charged with his fifth loss of the season. He pitched 6.1 innings allowing five runs on 10 hits.
W&M had 16 hits on the afternoon. All nine starters collected a hit, while five players had multi-hit games in the victory. The shutout was the fourth shutout of the season for the Tribe.
The Tribe will head to the CAA Tournament next week in Wilmington, North Carolina as the No. 1 seed. They begin play on Thursday, May 22 at noon against the winner of the No. 4 Delaware and No. 5 Northeastern game.
