The No. 18 Virginia baseball team continued its stellar play yesterday at Davenport Field, grabbing a 10-3 victory against VMI. With the win, the Cavaliers remain one of only two undefeated teams in the country, the other being No. 1 Georgia.
Virginia (14-0, 3-0 ACC) played steady baseball during the first three innings, protecting a 2-0 lead before using a five-run fourth inning to put the game out of reach against the Keydets (6-8). The Cavaliers amassed 12 hits while VMI tallied only 6. Entering the game, Virginia totaled 20 or more hits in four of its last five games, accumulating an astounding 81 runs while batting .394.
Sophomore rightfielder Dan Grovatt led the Cavalier offense with three hits and three RBIs in four at-bats. Fellow sophomore leftfielder Phil Gosselin also had an impressive performance, smacking two hits and scoring three runs in four at-bats, and sophomore second baseman Corey Hunt added two runs and two RBIs.
“We’ve all been doing pretty well offensively,” said Grovatt, who extended his hitting streak to a career-best 14 games. “[We’re] just trying to take the approach of being consistent out there — just see the ball, hit the ball, you know?”
Virginia’s defensive showing also was notable, as coach Brian O’Connor played a variety of pitchers, including redshirt freshman Sean Lucas, freshman Shane Halley, sophomore Robert Morey, junior Matt Packer and sophomore Kevin Arico, to hold VMI scoreless through the first six innings en route to a 9-0 lead. Sophomore righthander Tyler Wilson got his first start of the season for the Cavaliers, allowing two hits and no runs in his two innings of play. Virginia chopped up the game with five relievers to allow several players to gain experience before a long stretch of ACC play begins this weekend.
“You’re always concerned when you do that,” O’Connor said. “If it’s [going to] be a low-run game, you’re nervous that someone might go out there and not have good stuff on that day. But we fortunately jumped on top of them and were able to get a lot of our relievers work out there.”
VMI, which won five of its previous six games, also tinkered with its pitching lineup throughout the day, though these changes were more because of poor pitching than a desire to gain experience. VMI pitchers hit Virginia batters many times, prompting Keydet coach Marlin Ikenberry to make frequent substitutions. The fourth inning was especially turbulent for VMI, as two pitchers were relieved after hitting batters. The inning afforded five hits and five runs for Virginia, in addition to three steals.
Virginia’s first offensive series set the tone for the rest of the game when Grovatt hit his first home run. The score remained 2-0 until Grovatt scored another run off junior shortstop Tyler Cannon’s RBI single to open up the scoring in the fourth inning. Freshman catcher John Hicks ran home a short time later thanks to a well-placed bunt by Hunt, who then scored a run off Keydet junior third baseman Tanner Biagini’s error. Grovatt ended the inning similarly to the way he started it, hitting a single to allow sophomore centerfielder Jarrett Parker to score.
In the fifth inning, Hunt blasted a line drive to center field to let Hicks run home, making the score 8-0. After a double play by Cannon and freshman first baseman Danny Hultzen off Halley’s pitch closed VMI’s half of the sixth inning, Grovatt struck again, blasting a single up the center that let Gosselin score.
Keydet redshirt junior leftfielder Brian Sandridge finally put VMI on the scoreboard by grounding out to second base in the seventh inning. The out allowed junior first baseman Jordan Ballard to score, and a wild pitch by Morey during the ensuing at-bat made the score 9-2. Ballard also gave the Keydets one last moment to celebrate with a solo home run over the left center wall in the final inning.
The win gives Virginia an important boost of momentum heading into a tough weekend series with No. 14 Florida State.
“(The win) was huge,” Gosselin said. “We wanted to go into the weekend with a win. We have a tough opponent this weekend with Florida State so we just wanted to go in with a win, and we’re ready to go.”
Read More
Mel Josephson and women’s lacrosse prepare to take center stage
By Xander Tilock | 16 minutes agoJosephson's ability to perform throughout a game's biggest moments is crucial for the Cavaliers.
Virginia schools can pay players through NIL, but the University should proceed with caution
By Emory Huffman | YesterdayGiven the unique academic and athletic opportunities Virginia is able to offer its athletes, it is not shocking that Virginia has been resistant to extravagant, NIL-induced changes.
Record-setting weekend for Virginia track and field at Penn Relays and Virginia High Performance
By Tanmayi Patil | YesterdayThe Cavaliers took down records across two events over the weekend.
