Virginia's baseball team is known more for their hitting talent than their pitching abilities. But Canon Hickman's brilliant shutout performance led the Cavaliers (16-10) past Richmond, 1-0, in a true pitching duel at U.Va. Baseball Field yesterday afternoon.
Hickman (2-2), a freshman right-hander, pitched all nine innings against the Spiders (10-15). He allowed only six hits and one walk and struck out seven batters. Hickman almost was matched by Richmond pitching ace Mike McGirr (3-3), who allowed one run and three hits in eight innings and fanned six.
"The ump was giving me a little bit, so I was trying to hit the corners and just throw it in there," Hickman said. "Our defense certainly was backing me up, so that's all I had to do."
Virginia's lone run came in the bottom of the fifth inning. Third baseman Chris Sweet got on base with a one-out infield single. Center fielder Doug Vroman followed that up with a double to the right field gap that scored Sweet. The inning ended two batters later, when Rob Newton grounded to second in a disputed inning-ending double play. Runner David Stone, who was running with the pitch, appeared to be safe at second but was called out, ending the rally.
Virginia's only other scoring threat had come in the fourth inning, when third baseman Jon Benick led off the inning with a double deep to right field. McGirr, however, stifled the Cavalier rally by easily dispatching the next three batters.
Richmond was unable to capitalize on its best opportunities, which came in the third and fourth innings. In the third, the Spiders had men on first and second with two outs. But Hickman's quick pick-off throw nailed Richmond runner Matt Reid at second.
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In the fourth, the Spiders threatened to score with men on the corners and only one out. Richmond's Chris Dolan hit a sharp grounder that was fielded skillfully by Cavalier shortstop Hunter Wyant, who turned the potential hit into a rally-killing double play.
Richmond seemed to be on the verge of a ninth- inning comeback when first baseman Vito Chiaravalloti hit a soft single into right field to lead off the inning. But Hickman, showing no signs of fatigue, got the last three batters out without further incident to close out a masterful performance.
This was Virginia's first shutout of the season. The one run matched the smallest offensive output of the Cavaliers this season.
"Canon Hickman really threw the ball well for us," Virginia coach Dennis Womack said. "Their guy matched Canon just almost pitch for pitch. He was pretty good all day. But Doug Vroman came up with a big play, we got some nice play at shortstop: The runner bit, a double play. We did what we had to do to win a tough game. It was a good win for us."
This game makes Virginia 6-3 in its current 13-game home stretch. The Cavaliers will complete the stay in Charlottesville by hosting Brown (3-8) on Thursday and a three game series against Georgia Tech (20-5, 4-2 ACC) this weekend. The Yellow Jackets started the season No. 1, according to Baseball America, and are currently No. 3.
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