After taking a victory from Georgia Tech down in Atlanta last weekend, this weekend Virginia (19-4, 4-2 ACC) returned to Charlottesville and defeated second-ranked Clemson (11-6, 0-3 ACC) 7-4 sweeping the Tigers for the second consecutive series in Charlottesville.
Yesterday "was another great win," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "The whole series was great. Clemson's got one of the most storied, historical baseball programs in the country. They've got a great coach, they've got a great tradition and that's where we are trying to aspire to be."
After being down 4-1 through five innings, Virginia's comeback started in the bottom of the sixth with a sacrifice fly by third baseman Jeremy Farrell that brought in second baseman David Adams. Two more runs came across the board in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to a two-RBI single by outfielder Brandon Guyer that brought home shortstop Greg Miclat and outfielder Brandon Marsh.
The eighth inning made the game more exciting. In the top of the eighth inning with Clemson pinch runner D.J. Mitchell on first, Clemson designated hitter Ben Hall struck out, but committed catcher's interference as Virginia catcher Beau Seabury tried to throw Mitchell out at second base. Mitchell was called out, even though neither Adams nor Miclat covered the bag on time. Clemson coach Jack Leggett argued the call, but to no avail.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, after a go-ahead RBI single by outfielder Tim Henry, Marsh singled to right but an error by Clemson outfielder Travis Storrer allowed Marsh and Henry to score, giving Virginia a 7-4 edge.
Virginia reliever Michael Schwimer pitched two innings of scoreless ball and allowed Virginia reliever Casey Lambert to pitch one and a third innings allowing zero runs.
"Schwimer was the story of the game for us," Lambert said. "He came in and shut them down at a key time and allowed us to tie the ball game up and get the ball to Lambert."
Marsh was a big star for the Cavaliers yesterday, going four for five with an RBI while scoring three runs himself. A junior-college transfer out of Georgia, Marsh feels comfortable with his new teammates.
"I am really liking it right now," Marsh said. "I really feel like I'm fitting in with the guys. We're all playing well right now."
Allowing only one run in the first five innings, Clemson starting pitcher Stephen Faris had a strong start for the Tigers. But the Cavaliers eventually got to him later on in the game.
"He was pitching really well," Henry said. "All of their pitchers threw great this weekend. We just have a lot of confidence in each other. Battling at the plate has been an issue all weekend and I think today especially we did a good job with two strikes and two outs. We fought off his good stuff."
O'Connor said he thought his starting pitcher today, Mike Ballard, was not pitching as well as he could have, but the coach praised him for allowing the Cavaliers to have a chance to win the game.
"He was a little bit off," O'Connor said. "But I was really proud of Ballard. He could have let that game get out of hand. We were down 4-1 after three innings, he came out and shut them out in the fourth and fifth and kept us in the game to allow us to get the ball to Schwimer to have a chance to win the game at the end."
The Cavaliers face an improving Liberty squad on Tuesday. However, even with the increased attention they are set to receive, they feel good about what they accomplished this weekend.
"Not only has [the performance this weekend] put a target on our back," Lambert said. "It's given us the confidence we need to go into every single series and every single mid-week game, having the confidence and knowing that if we play our style of baseball we should be able to come out on top."
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