They have experienced the jubilation of a ninth-inning comeback on several occasions during the past two seasons. A Keith Werman slap to the gap. A Stephen Bruno single up the middle.
Maybe that's why the blow of No. 20 Virginia Tech's five-run ninth and first win at Davenport Field during coach Pete Hughes' four-year tenure with the school felt so acute for the No. 1 Virginia baseball team. For all the ecstasy that goes hand-in-hand with a come-from-behind victory, Virginia (29-9, 12-6 ACC) knew there would be an equally potent low associated with the wrong side of such a loss. It didn't erase the Cavaliers' wins of the previous two days, nor could it diminish the glory of their series victory, but it did leave a bittersweet taste in their mouths.
"I'm not satisfied with winning the series, quite frankly," coach Brian O'Connor said. "I can't be satisfied with winning the series when you have a chance to take the whole thing."
Neither was junior reliever Tyler Wilson, who pitched three innings of two-hit, shutout baseball to help finish what sophomore Danny Hultzen and junior Robert Morey started Friday and Saturday. Wilson inherited a difficult one-out, bases-loaded situation in the top of the ninth, with Virginia leading by only two runs. After striking out senior pinch hitter Anthony Sosnoskie, Wilson got ahead of senior center fielder Sean Ryan in the count and nearly caught him looking on a 1-2 fastball that would have ended the game, but home plate umpire Joe Marion called the pitch a ball. With the count at 2-2 and a sellout crowd of 4,219 begging for a strikeout, Hughes called timeout.
"I wanted to slow momentum down - you know how it gets here - [the fans] start stomping, they're looking for strike three," Hughes said. "Next thing you know, it gets into a kid's head, and he gets out of his approach."
Following the brief respite, Ryan drew a walk to close the gap to one. Sophomore left fielder Buddy Sosnoskie, who entered the series hitting .364 with eight doubles, then stepped up to the plate, fouled off several pitches and eventually hit a bases-clearing double off the left field wall off Wilson's 2-2 offering.
"Buddy extended the bat to a 9, 11 pitch at-bat, something like that," Hughes said. "But when you do that, you live to see a mistake finally from a very good pitcher - and I think he hit a mistake."\nThe Hokies (25-13, 9-9 ACC) tacked on one more run to take an 8-5 lead that they would not relinquish. Junior closer Kevin Arico took his first loss of the season. O'Connor turned to the nation's leader in saves (12) after junior starter Cody Winiarski and freshman Branden Kline combined to pitch three perfect innings in the sixth, seventh and eighth.
Arico had issued just three walks in 21 innings pitched prior to Sunday's rubber match. But after striking out the first batter and working an 0-2 count on the next, Arico proceeded to walk three straight batters. O'Connor said he hated to have to pull his closer at this point, but he nevertheless did not think Arico had a solid command of his pitches. Though he turned to Wilson this time, O'Connor indicated he likely will not have to take the contender for the National Stopper of the Year award out of a game again.
"This is what Kevin Arico gets paid to do - if you could pay them," O'Connor said with a grin that quickly corrected his faux pas. "Bottom line is: guy leads the country in saves. That's his role; that's his job. This is the time he didn't get it done. It happens all over the place. It's frustrating, it's disappointing, it's tough to live with - but the next time we have a chance, the guy will be back out there and I'm sure he'll do the job."
An entirely different mood swept the Virginia dugout the previous two days, when the matchups drew out so much excitement that the series as a whole drew a record crowd of 12,657 for the three games. After Friday's 4-2 victory, during which Hultzen padded his league-lead in strikeouts with 10 more in seven strong innings, sophomore first baseman John Hicks earned his first-career pie-in-the-face. The versatile infielder, who has been Virginia's Saturday catcher throughout the season, poked a single down the right field line to send home the go-ahead run during the bottom of the eighth.
"It didn't taste very good," Hicks said as he laughed and wiped the cream off his face, adding that he thought fellow first baseman / catcher Kenny Swab was the perpetrator.
By Saturday, senior shortstop Tyler Cannon was the center of attention.
Following Virginia's series-clinching 8-2 victory, Hughes joked that he thought Cannon, a rare senior who entered the three-game set hitting .500 for his career against the Hokies, was 28 years old. Hughes said Cannon had been tearing apart his club's pitching ever since the coach spent his final year at Boston College in 2006.
Turns out, Cannon was still in high school when Hughes last coached the Eagles. Apparently, the shortstop's demolition of the Hokies has taken its toll on Hughes' memory.
"I think Tyler would've been 15 at the time," O'Connor joked.
Cannon delivered another blow with a 3-for-3, two-RBI day at the plate Saturday. A sacrifice fly to deep center in the bottom of the fourth gave Virginia a 2-1 lead, and a two-out single to right off an 0-2 offering from sophomore pitcher Mathew Price in the sixth scored junior right fielder Dan Grovatt to put the Cavaliers ahead for good.
"[Price] was a good pitcher," Cannon said. "We were just trying to look for something good to hit, square some balls up, hopefully they'll find some holes, and they did today."
Cannon's clutch hit was emblematic of Virginia's timely hitting that broke open a game which was tight through the first seven innings.
"We've had a good two-out, two-strike hitting club all year," O'Connor said. "And that's a great quality to have."
Virginia's 12-hit offensive display buoyed an equally important performance by Morey on the mound. Though the right-hander did not dominate from a strikeout standpoint, O'Connor said Morey's outing was perhaps his best of the season because of his ability to log seven innings - which he accomplished for just the third time this year.
So even though Virginia was not satisfied with their weekend as a whole, it had plenty of bright moments. And, most importantly, it took the series against a team that took two of three in Blacksburg a year ago.
"We wanted revenge. Down there last year - they played well; they beat us," Cannon said after Saturday's game. "We were able to get back at 'em this year."
The Cavaliers now prepare for midweek contests against in-state rivals Richmond and George Mason tomorrow and Wednesday.
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