Fraudin Tosses One-Hitter To Lead 'Dogs To 2-0 Win Over William & Mary
May 08, 2014 | Baseball
BOILING SPRINGS - Gardner-Webb junior Matt Fraudin tossed a one-hit shout and struck out 11 to lead the Runnin' Bulldogs to a 2-0 win over William & Mary.
The Tribe (30-16) entered the game as the nation's second-best hitting team with a .327 batting average. Thursday's matchup lasted less than two hours (1:45) and snapped a four-game win streak for William & Mary.
Fraudin (4-5) allowed a single with one out in the seventh, when Nick Thompson roped a solid single to centerfield. The Upper St. Clair, Pa., native had a perfect game going to that point. He allowed just two base runners in the game, issuing a walk with one out in the eighth.
The Runnin' Bulldogs (21-26) scored twice in the eighth inning - with both runs coming on suicide squeeze bunts.
Ryan Hodge led off the eighth with a sharp single to left, but was cut down on a fielder's choice that allowed Henry Rundio to reach. Rundio moved to second when Brantley Smith was hit by a pitch, and Gardner-Webb moved the pair into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Leadoff man JJ Nazzaro came through with a clutch bunt, laying down a two-strike chance that drove home Rundio. Alex Newman followed with a two-out squeeze but, this time for a hit, to plate pinch runner Tyler Best.
Fraudin came out fresh in the ninth, getting the first two outs of the inning on just four pitches and striking out Thompson to end the game.
Both pitchers cruised through the first seven innings, with William & Mary ace Jason Inghram striking out seven and allowing just two singles to match Fraudin pitch-for-pitch. Fraudin was in a groove very early, striking out the side in the first inning and fanning nine through the first 6.0 innings - controlling his fastball on both sides of the plate and using a very crisp array of breaking pitches.
Gardner-Webb threatened briefly in the fifth after Scott Johnson drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt by Hodge. Ingrahm got out of the inning when Taylor Fisher drove a hard grounder up the middle that was gloved on a nice play by Kevin Casey to save a run.
Neither team mounted a threat again until the Runnin' Bulldogs struck for their pair in the eighth.
Inghram (9-2) was the hard-luck man on the mound for the Tribe, tossing a complete-game himself with only four hits and two runs allowed. The junior southpaw fanned eight, walked one and hit one batter.
Gardner-Webb was led offensively by Hodge, who went 2-for-2 at the plate. Newman (1-for-4, RBI), and Scott Coleman (1-for-4) had the other hits for GWU.
The two teams will play the second game of the three-game series on Friday night at 6:00 pm at John Henry Moss Stadium / Bill Masters Field.
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