The difference between playing in Scott Stadium and Davenport Field became readily apparent for William & Mary's R.J. Archer yesterday evening.
The senior quarterback who led the Tribe to a 26-14 upset of the Virginia football team Sept. 5 doubled as the school's middle relief pitcher against the No. 1 Cavaliers (13-3) for the second time in seven days and was torched for a four-hit, five-run fifth inning that blew open a 4-1 ball game into a 9-1 Virginia rout.
The inning began when freshman designated hitter Stephen Bruno and junior second baseman Phil Gosselin reached base on an error and a walk, respectively. Senior shortstop Tyler Cannon then blasted a triple down the right-field line that caromed off the outfield wall and cleared the bases. After junior right fielder Dan Grovatt and sophomore third baseman Steven Proscia compiled back-to-back singles, sophomore first baseman John Hicks sent a rocket to center that soon would stir controversy for the umpiring crew.
Freshman Ryan Brown appeared to bobble and drop the fly ball and then threw infield for a double play that would have ended the inning and kept William & Mary (9-6) within a manageable five-run deficit. As the Tribe prepared to go to the plate, Virginia coach Brian O'Connor stormed onto the field in protest, arguing that Brown had in fact caught the fly ball. The catch would mean the Cavaliers had only two outs for the inning rather than three.
"One of the umpires made a call that [Brown] did drop the ball, and the other one made one that he caught the ball, so it was confusing to the base-runners on what to do," O'Connor said. "But I believe they made the right decision - they got together and for the game they made the decision that was the best, and that was to rule it as a catch."
Virginia immediately capitalized on the opportunity as junior left fielder John Barr hit a deep fly ball in the right center field gap to score both runners.
"It's tough when you're in the other dugout and that comes against you," O'Connor said. "You're off the field you feel like you got out of something and then Barr steps up and hits the ball in the gap. So fortunately, we took advantage of those opportunities in the game."
Indeed, the Cavalier bats were hot from the outset, as Virginia quickly overcame an early one-run deficit with seven hits and four runs off sophomore lefty Cole Shain, who had pitched five innings of two-hit, shut-out baseball in the Tribe's 3-0 upset victory against then-No. 11 North Carolina in Chapel Hill Mar. 9.
"We found a way in the early part of the game to scratch across a few runs," O'Connor said. "[Shain] was a left-handed pitcher that pitched in, pitched away, threw his change-up. He's a guy that keeps you off balance."
Shain, however, received little help from his defense, which - with four errors - allowed as many mistakes as the offense had hits. Three were attributed to right fielder Derek Lowe, whose errors included two botched fly balls that eventually led to Cavalier runs. As his counterpart for the Virginia team, Grovatt said he was not sure what may have thrown Lowe off his game.
"The sun's actually in left field in our field, so I can't tell you what his problem was," Grovatt said.
But perhaps most impressive for Virginia was sophomore pitcher Will Roberts, who allowed just four hits and one run in six innings of work - his longest outing of the season. His eight strikeouts tied a career high, which he set in his debut performance as a Cavalier against the Tribe in Williamsburg last season. After tossing two wild pitches during the first inning, which led to a William & Mary run, Roberts settled in and was only truly threatened in the top half of the fourth. After retiring the first two batters, Roberts surrendered a double down the first baseline to sophomore Stephen Arcure and a walk to freshman Ryan Williams. The Tribe stole second and third, setting up a crucial two-out scenario for at-bat senior Chris Jensen, who had two runners in scoring position depending on his performance. Jensen worked the count to 3-and-2 until Roberts caught him looking with a slider.
"It was definitely a make-or-break pitch there," Roberts said. "Just got the sign and committed to the pitch ... There was a base open on first so it was kind of a perfect-or-foul situation, but luckily I got it across."
After Roberts emerged from the next two innings unscathed, redshirt freshman Chad O'Connor came in for relief in the top of the seventh and pitched two innings, allowing zero base runners and striking out four batters in dominant fashion. Sophomore Shane Halley closed out the game in the ninth to seal the Cavaliers' second win of the season against the Tribe.
Virginia resumes out-of-conference play tonight against James Madison in Harrisonburg. The Dukes opened the season with a three-game losing streak but have played .500 ball since then and will not be pushovers necessarily.
"JMU has a good ball club," O'Connor said. "They were picked to win the CAA coming into the season - I know they're a very offensive ball club. They've got a beautiful new stadium that we're excited to go over there and play ... Fortunately it's St. Patrick's day, so hopefully we'll have a chance"
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