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William & Mary Gets Revenge over VMI, Defeat Keydets 12-6

WILLIAMSBURG, Va.- William & Mary plated four unearned runs in the fourth inning Wednesday evening, as the Tribe gained a measure of revenge, defeating VMI 12-6 on a beautiful night at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg in non-conference baseball action.

Two weeks previously, VMI (19-19) defeated W&M (20-17) by an 8-6 margin in Lexington. However, this time it was the Tribe that would come from behind, handing the Keydets their second straight loss after reeling off six in a row following their last meeting with the Tribe.

The Keydets struck first in the second inning, grabbing a 3-0 lead on an RBI double by B.T. Good, a squeeze bunt laid down by Chase Buchanan, and a single through the left side of the infield by Matt Smith that scored Shane Geisslinger. The Tribe cut that margin to 3-2 in their half of the second, beginning with a double down the left field line by Jeff Lunardi scored Mike DeCarlo. Two pitches later Lunardi scored when Chad Murray singled to right field.

W&M grabbed the lead in the bottom of the third, as DeCarlo got things going with a solo home run to left-center field. After Kyle Padgett reached on a wild pitch following his strikeout, a walk issued to Will Rhymes signaled the end of the evening for VMI starter Trey Barham. Relieving Barham was Corey Bachman, who allowed a two-run double to the first batter he faced, Lunardi.

VMI answered with a three-run, two-out rally to take the lead in the top of the fourth. Geisslinger drew a full-count walk to start things off, followed by a single to left field by Matt Smith. Following a walk issued to Klint Reed, Sean Grieve took over the Tribe mound duties, relieving Patrick Kantakevich. Grieve allowed Geisslinger to score on a wild pitch before Sweppenhiser brought home two more runs with a single to left field.

However, the Tribe would take the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth. After Bachman retired two of the first three batters he faced, he appeared to be out of the inning when he induced a pop-up just in front of home plate. However, the ball fell in fair territory and rolled foul, not before grazing the mitt of Chase Buchanan. The floodgates after that, as the Tribe pieced together four more runs in the next two at bats, a two-run single to right field was followed by a single to left field from Jon Rhymes that scored two more runs before Murray grounded into a fielder's choice to end the inning.

Both pitching staffs settled down after that, as the next three and a half innings went by scoreless before the Tribe tacked on three insurance runs in the bottom of eighth.

Matt Smith was the only Keydet to record multiple hits in the contest, going 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Sweppenhiser finished 1-for-3 with two RBI, while Geisslinger went 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored. For W&M, Lunardi and Will Rhymes had three hits in the game, while Will Rhymes and Murray drove in three runs.

The Keydets return to action on Friday evening, when they travel to Rock Hill, S.C. for the first game of a three-game Big South Conference series against conference co-leader Winthrop. First pitch is scheduled for 8 p.m. at the Winthrop Ballpark.
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