Virginia eliminated from NCAA tournament with loss to William & Mary

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Charles Ameer hit a tiebreaking home run leading off the bottom of the seventh inning and fourth-seeded William & Mary ended Virginia's defense of its national championship on Sunday with a 5-4 victory in the Charlottesville Regional.

Ameer's eighth home run of the season came against Virginia closer Tommy Doyle (2-7), who came on in the second inning when starter Daniel Lynch faltered. Doyle, who allowed five runs in the ninth inning in a stunning 8-6 loss to East Carolina on Saturday night, allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings Sunday.

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Robert White (2-3) earned the victory with 1 1/3 innings in relief, and Joe Gaouette earned his 11th save, working two innings. Gaouette allowed a pair of two-out hits in the ninth, but got Charlie Cody to ground out to end it.

The victory was the sixth in a row this postseason for the Tribe when facing elimination. They won four straight from the loser's bracket a week ago in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, including one in 12 innings after scoring seven runs in the ninth inning to tie. They beat Bryant 4-3 on Saturday.

William & Mary took a 3-0 lead in the second on a two-run double by Kyle Wrighte and sacrifice fly by Zach Pearson, knocking Lynch from the game. Doyle, though, handcuffed them into the sixth as the Cavaliers scored three times in the fourth and went ahead on Danny Pinero's home run leading off the sixth.

The Tribe, playing as the home team, pulled even in the sixth on a double by Charley Gould and Hunter Smith's single.

Virginia (38-22) had won 10 in a row against William & Mary, including a 17-4 victory in the regional opener.

The Tribe (31-30) was to play East Carolina later needing to win twice to advance to a super regional.

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6/5/2016 3:13:02 PM (GMT -4:00)