The sun having already set behind the mountains that backdrop Davenport Field, Virginia baseball (4-3) entered the ninth inning with a 5-4 lead in Friday’s opener of a three-game series against East Carolina (6-1).
Coach Brian O’Connor called on junior righthander Alec Bettinger to close out the game. The Woodbridge, Va. native had an opportunity to redeem himself. At the Caravelle Resort Tournament Feb. 21, Bettinger picked up the loss after two walks and a base hit allowed Coastal Carolina to plate the go-ahead run in the eighth inning.
History repeated itself Friday. Bettinger gave up a leadoff single and then — worked into a 3-2 count — threw ball four low to the next Pirate he faced. East Carolina senior outfielder Parker Lamm — who didn’t make the bus trip due to illness but rallied and drove to Charlottesville in his car — stepped up to the plate with teammates on first and second and nobody out.
Lamm laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved both baserunners into scoring position. Tasked with manufacturing the tying run, junior second baseman Charlie Yorgen lined out to right field, deep enough for the Pirates to tag and score a run. Bettinger struck out junior catcher Travis Watkins to end the frame, but not before East Carolina had leveled the score at five.
The middle of Virginia’s lineup was unable to produce any magic in the bottom of the ninth, despite junior catcher Matt Thaiss’ lead off single. Sophomore first baseman Pavin Smith flied out to left, while junior shortstop Daniel Pinero and senior catcher Robbie Coman both whiffed on third strikes.
“Their relief guy that came in, he did a nice job for them,” O’Connor said. “But we didn’t execute and have competitive enough at bats in the back half of the game. You know, you get a chance at home to extend the lead, we had opportunities to do that and didn’t do it.”
Returning to the mound in the 10th, Bettinger surrendered three more runs on one hit, two walks and a wild pitch. The Cavalier offense was unable to make up the deficit, and Bettinger picked up his second loss in relief as Virginia fell 8-5. Thaiss — who went 3-5 with three RBIs and one run Friday — stood by his pitcher in defeat.
“I think Alec is very suited and know’s what he's doing,” Thaiss said. “He’s got great stuff, and he’s got the mentality for it. I don’t think anyone on the team doubts that he’s got what it takes, and he’s going to get it done when we need him to.”
Competitors to their cores, Thaiss and O’Connor were both visibly unsettled in the press conference. They made no excuses. O’Connor credited the Pirates’ toughness and pointed out Virginia’s failure to throw strikes or produce runs late in the game. Thaiss dwelled on one controllable.
“Today really hurts, because they outplayed us,” Thaiss said. “Everything we stand for they beat us in. Everything we try to do here as a program and as individuals on this team, you know, they outdid it.”
It wasn’t until Sunday — following a 6-1 defeat Saturday and the first home weekend series loss to a non-conference opponent since O’Connor took over Virginia in 2004 — that the Cavaliers exuded their trademark aggressiveness. Sophomore center fielder Adam Haseley set the tone, slapping the first pitch he saw into the gap in left-center field.
Pirate senior center fielder Garrett Brooks sprinted to cut it off, and Haseley made the hard turn for second. He slid in just ahead of the throw, hopped to his feet and fired up his teammates in the dugout.
“The previous two days we’d been kind of passive as a team,” Haseley said. “Before today, coach said he wanted us to be aggressive and attack. I guess you could say it set the tone, but I was just trying to get a good pitch early in the count to hit hard.”
East Carolina made two of its five total errors soon after sophomore second baseman Ernie Clement’s sacrifice bunt moved Haseley to third. A throwing error allowed Thaiss to reach base on his RBI groundout, and Pinero’s fly ball off the left fielder's glove plated Thaiss. Virginia had quickly spotted sophomore starting pitcher Tommy Doyle a 2-0 lead in the first.
Doyle turned in another quality start Sunday. The 6-6 righthander was coming off six innings of work a week ago against Coastal Carolina, in which he yielded two runs on four hits and struck out six. Over 7 innings Sunday, he allowed only one earned run on seven hits.
“Tommy Doyle was terrific,” O’Connor said. “Again, you don’t win that ballgame if Tommy Doyle doesn’t go out and give you seven innings.”
Virginia also wouldn’t have won Sunday if not for Bettinger. Having doubled their 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 3rd on a Haseley single, Pirate error and Clement double, the Cavaliers saw their 4-0 margin cut in half after the seventh and eighth innings.
Coman — a converted pitcher — got the ball in the ninth but tossed only three pitches, as he suffered an arm or elbow injury. His bullpen short-staffed, O’Connor called on Bettinger once again. Two pop ups and a strikeout later, the struggling reliever had closed out a 4-2 Virginia win.
“I was just really proud of Alec Bettinger,” O’Connor said. “I think that speaks to the character of somebody that they bounced back after what happened Friday night, came back and saved the game for our team and the weekend quite frankly.”
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