Four-Run Seventh Propels W&M to 6-2 Victory over Radford

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. -- WILLIAMSBURG, VA (February 26, 2005) Sophomore lefthander Michael LaFleur (Chesapeake, VA) allowed one run on two hits over seven dominant innings, and senior catcher Mike DeCarlo (Glen Mills, PA) went 3-for-5 with three RBI to lead William and Mary over Radford, 6-2, Saturday afternoon in collegiate baseball action at Plumeri Park.

The Tribe improves to 5-4 overall, after taking the first two games of the three-game series, and will go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon in the 1 p.m. finale. The Highlanders fall to 1-7.

For the second-straight day, W&M got an outstanding effort out of its starter, as LaFleur (2-1) stymied the Radford hitters for seven strong innings to pick up his second victory of the season. He retired the first nine he faced in order and worked around four walks, while striking out five to lower his ERA to an impressive 2.89 through three starts this season.

Junior righthander Joe Mante (Longmeadow, MA) worked the final two innings, allowing one unearned run on one hit to nail down the victory.

The Tribe, which pounded out 16 hits on the afternoon, jumped on the Highlanders early with three consecutive two-out singles in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead. DeCarlo started the rally with a liner into left field, and sophomore Greg Sexton (Suffolk, VA) followed with a base hit up the middle to set up senior Will Rhymes¹ (Houston, TX) RBI single into center. Sexton advanced to third on the play, and Rhymes wound up on second after the ball was misplayed in centerfield, but Radford starter Justin Morgan, who allowed one run on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, retired junior Jeff Lunardi (Exton, PA) on a flyout to escape further damage.

After a perfect three innings for LaFleur, Highlanders¹ centerfielder Steve Mignogna led off the fourth with a double down the left field line. He advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jesse Ross and scored on a sac fly by Mark Fleisher to knot the game at 1-1.

From there, both starters settled in and preserved the 1-1 tie through six and a half innings, before W&M struck again in the bottom of the seventh. The Tribe, which had runners on in every inning, stranded eight through the first six innings, while the Highlanders also squandered scoring opportunities in both the fifth and sixth innings.

LaFleur worked out of a jam in the fifth by getting Radford¹s Ben Toth to fly out to center, after a pair of two-out walks had runners on first and second. In the sixth, Mignogna reached on an error to start the frame, but was promptly picked off first for the initial out of the inning.

Ross followed with a walk, and after Fleisher flew out to left, Aaron Ranft
singled to right, giving the Highlanders runners at first and third with two
down in the inning. LaFleur again worked out, however, as Nate Toth
grounded back to LaFleur to end the threat.

W&M finally broke through in the seventh against Michael Schurz, who relieved Morgan in the bottom of the sixth. Senior Terry Revere(Smithtown, NY) started the seventh with a ringing single through the left side and advanced to third on a double by sophomore Brent McWhorter (Atlanta, GA). DeCarlo brought both runners in with another double deep into the left-center gap to make it 3-1 in favor of the Green and Gold. After two pitching changes, sandwiched around a flyout and a strikeout, Lunardi reached on a perfectly executed bunt single down the third base line, giving W&M runners at the corners with two down. Junior Chris Rahl (Chesapeake, VA) stepped to the plate as a pinch hitter and delivered the knockout blow, scoring both McWhorter and Lunardi with a triple to deep left-center to make it 5-1. The shot snapped an 0-for-19 slump for Rahl, which had spanned the Tribe¹s last four games.

DeCarlo tacked on W&M¹s final run in the bottom of the eighth with a two-out, RBI-single that scored senior Jon Rhymes (Houston, TX).

Shurz took the loss for Radford, after allowing three runs, all earned, over one inning of work.

Will Rhymes finished 2-for-5 with an RBI, while Lunardi, Jon Rhymes, Sexton and Revere all had two hits apiece.

Ranft had two of the Highlanders¹ three hits, going 2-for-4 with one run scored, while Mignona had the other and also scored a run.

(box score)