Second-ranked Virginia baseball began its road to Omaha with a three-game road sweep of East Carolina. The Cavaliers (3-0) continued their winning ways as always, with dominant pitching and timely hitting.
Junior Nathan Kirby (1-0) pitched Virginia to a 3-1 victory in Friday’s opening game. The southpaw pitched seven shutout innings, allowed three hits and two walks and struck out five. He finished the game by retiring 12 of his final 14 batters.
The offense capitalized on two errors to push across one run in both the fourth and fifth innings. Senior third baseman Kenny Towns stole home while junior catcher Robbie Coman was caught in a rundown to score the first run of the season for the Cavaliers.
The sole earned run against the Pirates (0-3) came in the eighth inning. Sophomore shortstop Daniel Pinero hit a two-out home run, the first of his career.
East Carolina forced junior Josh Sborz to labor for his first save of the year. They righty entered the game with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the eighth. Sborz escaped the jam and surrendered only one run, which was not charged to him. Sborz pitched a perfect ninth to complete the save opportunity.
Virginia cruised to a 9-2 victory in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader. Sophomore righty Connor Jones shined in his first weekend start, and the Pirates gifted the Cavaliers six unearned runs.
Jones (1-0) pitched a career-high six innings, surrendered a lone unearned run on three hits and fanned eight.
East Carolina’s defensive woes continued and the Virginia batters took advantage. The Pirates committed a total of five errors in the game, while the Cavaliers plated five runs on only one hit in the second inning.
The bottom third of the order propelled Virginia’s offense. Sophomore designated hitter Matt Thaiss and freshmen left fielder Charlie Cody and second baseman Justin Novak went a combined five for 10 with five runs batted in.
East Carolina recovered from the drubbing earlier in the day to push the Cavaliers in the series finale.
Junior lefty Brandon Waddell took to the mound for Virginia, but he struggled with command and only lasted four-plus innings. In that time, the Pirates tagged him for two runs on seven hits, although Waddell did strike out six.
The Cavaliers scored two quick runs to take an early lead. Freshman center fielder Ernie Clement scored in the first inning on a Towns groundout, and Thaiss belted a leadoff homer in the second inning.
Sophomore righty Jack Roberts (1-0) relieved Waddell in the fifth inning and pitched four innings of one-hit ball.
Virginia scored twice in the eighth inning to take a 4-2 lead, and Sborz pitched a perfect ninth to collect his second save of the season.
After the Cavaliers’ home opener this Tuesday against Virginia Commonwealth, the next 14 games will be at Davenport Field. First pitch against the Rams is scheduled for 3 p.m.
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