It is difficult to describe anything about the Virginia baseball team’s four-game sweep of Bucknell during the weekend as coming up short — the Cavaliers defeated Bucknell 12-0 Friday, 7-0 and 6-1 in a Saturday doubleheader, and 11-1 Sunday, and combined for 49 hits, six homeruns and one earned run allowed.
For sophomore centerfielder Jarrett Parker, however, it is hard to forget how close he came to hitting for the cycle. After four innings Sunday, Parker was 3-3 with a leadoff homerun in the first, a double to left-centerfield in the second and a triple to right-center in the fourth.
The last Cavalier to hit for the cycle was Hunter Wyatt, March 12, 2001 against High Point.
“I didn’t even think about it until after the triple, and people started whispering,” Parker said.
In his next two at-bats, Parker hit the baseball with more than enough steam to add the remaining single; neither ball, however, could find a hole. With one out in the sixth, he shot a hard groundball at Bucknell junior shortstop Ben Allen, who fielded it cleanly for an easy 6-4-3 double play.
Parker got another chance when he led off the eighth, but nailed a first-pitch fastball right at junior second baseman Ben Yoder. Yoder initially mishandled the ball and Parker beat the throw by a full step; the at-bat was correctly scored, however, as E4.
“I can’t ask for anything else,” Parker said. “I hit the balls hard.”
Virginia coach Brian O’Connor also was pleased with the team’s performance over the weekend. The Cavaliers pounded 19 extra-base hits, and — in addition to Parker’s leadoff homer Sunday — freshman Steven Proscia and sophomore Dan Grovatt each knocked two homeruns, while sophomore catcher Franco Valdes hit one.
This output is particularly gratifying for a Virginia program that has struggled to clear the fence — particularly at spacious Davenport Field — throughout O’Connor’s tenure. The Cavaliers combined to hit 25 homeruns in 62 games last season, and just two came in February.
“Especially early when it’s cold, typically you don’t hit many homeruns,” O’Connor said. “You’re seeing the off-season work in some of those players, and their strength.”
Even more promising, O’Connor said, was that much of the production came from areas regarded as question marks coming into the season. One of those was in his young bullpen, which features numerous underclassmen with little to no experience; in particular, O’Connor said sophomores Robert Morey, Kevin Arico, Tyler Wilson and redshirt freshman Sean Lucas will try this season to bridge the gap from the starting rotation to junior closer Matt Packer. Against Bucknell, the four relievers combined for eight innings of shutout baseball, allowing just four hits.
“They’re gonna be counted on all year,” O’Connor said. “It was great to see right out of the gate them pitch really consistent baseball.”
In addition to the encouraging performance from an inexperienced bullpen, Virginia also got production from several freshmen who will be relied on as everyday players. Proscia had a base hit in each of the four games, including three-hit performances in games one and two.
“He’s got a chance to hit 10 homeruns and drive in some big runs,” O’Connor said. “For him to already in four games have the offensive production he did, speaks to the level of his ability.”
Freshman Danny Hultzen — the lefty who plays a Sean Doolittle-like pitcher/first base role — also had a solid opening to his season. He went 3-7 with three walks at the plate, made no errors in two starts at first base and threw six shutout innings in his debut on the mound in the first game of the Saturday doubleheader.
Virginia’s veteran starters also did the job against Bucknell. Friday starter senior righthander Andrew Carraway, Saturday game two starter junior southpaw Neal Davis and Sunday starter junior righthander Jeff Lorick each went at least five innings and allowed just one earned run combined.
For Valdes, the lock-down effort on the mound was better than he anticipated.
“I was a little excited to see what was gonna happen with our rotation — if we were gonna come out and do well,” Valdes said. “Actually, we all did well.”
O’Connor noted that the past weekend was Bucknell’s first time playing outdoors, because of the harsher weather the Bison contend with in Lewisburg, Penn. Virginia can expect tougher competition as soon as Tuesday, when William and Mary pays a visit to Davenport Field. The Tribe downed Virginia 6-5 in the teams’ last matchup in Charlottesville.
Six home runs, 49 hits and one earned run allowed, however, does not leave much else to ask for.
“To have four games that you feel like are under control by the middle of the game, nobody can predict that,” O’Connor said.
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