After scoring three runs in the top of the ninth to take the lead, the Bulldogs dropped a heartbreaker on Sunday afternoon at William and Mary.

Cullen Large hit a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to lift William and Mary (9-6) to a 7-6 win over the Bulldogs to sweep the two-game series.   Alex Stiegler pitched a perfect eighth inning and took the loss for Yale.  

Dai Dai Otaka went 3-for-4 for Yale and hit .400 for the weekend in three games.  

Down 5-3 entering their final at bat, the Bulldogs (3-5) loaded the bases and drew three straight run-scoring walks.  Otaka started the rally with a two-out single.

Tim DeGraw followed with a walk and Brian Ronai singled through the left side.  Richard Slenker, Harrison White and Griffin Dey all walked to force home a run.  

Dey's bases-loaded walk resulted in his team-leading 14th run batted in through the first eight games.  In the first inning, Dey also plated the first two runs of the game with a double to score White and Simon Whiteman. 

Thomas Espig started for the Bulldogs and gave up four runs in 2 2/3 innings.  Tyler Sapsford relieved Espig and struck out seven in 4 1/3 innings. 

Sapsford has 10 strikeouts in his first 6 2/3 innings of the season with a 1.35 ERA. 

The Bulldogs return to action on Tuesday to begin a two-game series at Clemson, which began the week ranked 14th in the nation in the D1Baseball.com Top 25.  First pitch on Tuesday is scheduled for 4 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Wednesday.

Report filed by Ernie Bertothy, Yale Sports Publicity