Seven batters were hit by pitches en route to a 13-3 victory for the Virginia baseball team yesterday at Davenport Field. Sophomore starter Andrew Dobies (5-0) earned the win over visiting James Madison in the front end of Virginia's home-and-home series with the Dukes. Freshman Matt Avery recorded the first save of his college career.
The Cavaliers (14-8, 3-3 ACC) entered the contest after winning their first 11 home games. The left-handed Dobies pitched for the first time since going the distance in a complete game shutout of William and Mary on Mar. 19. Although not as dominant as he was against the Tribe, Dobies was able to get himself out of jams all afternoon, giving up only two runs off nine Duke hits in 5.1 innings pitched.
Trouble began for the Cavaliers early when JMU third baseman Brent Metheny started a two-out rally with a single to left-centerfield. The very next batter, six-foot, four-inch, 260-pound first baseman Eddie Kim pulled a shot over the right field fence to give the Dukes a 2-0 lead after only four batters.
JMU (13-9) came knocking on the door twice more in the next two innings but were unable to capitalize on a bases-loaded jam in the second and left men stranded on second and third bases in the third. Both times, it was Dobies who diffused a potential game-breaking rally by fanning the third out to end the inning.
"You have to give Andrew Dobies a lot of credit for that," assistant coach Steve Heon said. "No doubt, facing Metheny with the bases loaded -- that was a huge at-bat. Metheny is a great hitter -- a tough guy to get out.
"Andrew made a couple of good pitches after falling behind, 2-0. He made a great pitch on 2-2 to get out of that inning, came back in the third inning and basically did the same thing with a couple runners in scoring position. I think those were maybe the key at-bats of the whole game."
Virginia tied the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the third inning, thanks to an error by Kim and an RBI single by junior Joe Koshansky. James Madison would never reclaim the lead.
Following the two-run third, the momentum suddenly shifted in favor of Virginia. After Dobies struck out the side in the top of the fourth, Virginia scored at least one run in every inning but the eighth and final frame.
The real offensive explosion occurred in the sixth inning when Virginia exploded with a seven-run outburst. Second baseman Kyle Werman led off by being hit by a pitch -- a move that prompted JMU coach Joe McFarland to bring in the right-hander Brian Leatherwood to replace starter Greg Nesbitt. With Leatherwood on the hill, the Dukes watched the game slip further out of their grasp with each Cavalier batter that took his cuts.
Utility infielder Matt Dunn had a pinch-hit RBI and sophomore slugger Mark Reynolds recorded a sacrifice fly to give the Cavaliers their fifth and sixth runs of the day. After a Koshansky RBI, freshman third baseman Ryan Zimmerman walked to load the bases for left fielder Paul Gillispie. Gillispie, who entered the game with no home runs on the year, launched a shot over the left fielder's head for a crippling grand slam.
"I didn't try to hit it over the fence," the junior said after the game. "I just tried to hit the ball hard. Sometimes you get lucky and it goes over."
JMU responded to DH Kurt Isenberg being hit by a pitch in the seventh by pegging Virginia senior Chris Sweet with the first toss of the bottom frame. Both benches were issued warnings after the Mike Riley pitch -- the fifth one to hit a batter on either team. Riley hit the very next batter, Reynolds, but due to the two-strike count, the umpires did not eject the pitcher because it was not deemed an intentional bean situation.
The two teams meet for the third time this season tomorrow in Harrisonburg with Virginia seeking the season sweep. Gillispie, for one, does not expect the events of today's game to carry over into tomorrow's showdown.
"I just expect there to be some hard-nosed baseball tomorrow," Gillispie said. "I don't expect any of that bush league stuff."
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