By: Ravi Pandya
The Huskies entered this series with a 7-4 record (19-16) overall. The William & Mary Tribe had a 6-5 record (17-20 overall). The Huskies appeared to have the advantage in their starting pitching matchups. On Friday, Huskies ace Aaron Civale faced off against Nick Brown. On Saturday, James Mulry faced Bodie Sheehan. On Sunday, Dustin Hunt pitched against Dan Powers. All three of the pitchers for the Huskies had a significantly better ERA than the three Tribe starting pitchers. In fact, all three of the starting pitchers for the Tribe had an ERA over 5. Coming off of a two game losing streak, this matchup looked like exactly what the Huskies needed in order to get back on track.
On Friday, Civale and Nick Brown had a great pitching duel going on. Neither of them allowed a run through the first seven innings. The Tribe left six men on base through the first seven innings, and the Huskies left three men on base. In the top of the 8th inning, Cullen Large and Charley Gould hit back-to-back two out singles off of Civale. Then, with runners on first and third, and Ryder Miconi at the plate, Josh Treff had a passed ball which caused Large to score the first run of the game. In the top of the 9th inning, Josh Smith hit an opposite field solo homerun off of Tyler Robinson. After eight strong shutout innings from Nick Brown, Joseph Gaouette struck out the side to get his seventh save of the season.
On Saturday, Mulry performed below expectations for the Huskies. He allowed four runs (two earned) in 4.1 innings. In the top of the third inning, Cullen Large hit a two run homerun off of him. In the top of the fifth inning, a costly error by Max Burt allowed two more runs to cross the plate. Unlike Friday, the Huskies batters did fight back. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Huskies scored five runs off of a Cam Walsh two-run single, a Charlie McConnell RBI single, a Mason Koppens bunt RBI single, and a Keith Kelly RBI single. Unfortunately for the Huskies, Andrew Misiaszek and Mike Fitzgerald proceeded to give up two runs each in the 7th and 8th innings respectively to give the Tribe an 8-5 lead. After Bodie Sheehan gave up five runs to the Huskies in the fifth inning, Mitchell Aker did a good job in bridging the game to their closer without giving up a run. Gaouette then came and got his eighth save of the season without giving up a hit.
On Sunday, Dustin Hunt and Dan Powers had another pitching duel. Through six innings, neither pitcher allowed a run. In the top of the seventh inning, Josh Smith hit a two-run homerun off of Hunt. In the top of the 9th inning, Smith got another RBI, this time a single off of Tyler Robinson. After seven strong innings from Powers, Charlier Fletcher and Robert White pitched a shutout inning each to clinch the sweep against the Huskies
The Huskies look to end their five-game losing streak against Central Connecticut State next weekend at Friedman Diamond.