With momentum in hand after taking two of three games from formerly-ranked Georgia Tech, Virginia baseball returned back home for a nighttime midweek matchup against VCU. Superb at-bats in a six-run fourth inning propelled the Cavaliers (25-16, 11-10 ACC) past the Rams (14-30, 7-14 Atlantic 10) in a 9-8 victory.
It was a firefight from the beginning — sophomore infielder Eric Becker started the scoring by launching a fastball into the left field bleachers for his eighth home run of the year. Unfortunately, Virginia later stranded two men in scoring position. This allowed VCU to take the lead in the top of second inning, via a sacrifice fly from freshman infielder Nick April-Gath and a single from junior utilityman Spencer Sullivan.
The Cavaliers were quick to retort — as they tied the game up at two in the bottom of the second with a double from junior outfielder Aidan Teel.
The Ram defense kept VCU in the game for a while. After Virginia got two batters on in the third inning, the Rams turned a 5-4-3 triple play to end the inning and keep the game tied. Later on, sophomore outfielder Trent Adelman caught a potential home run from junior infielder Chris Arroyo in the fourth inning and did the same to freshman outfielder James Nunnallee in the fifth.
On the other hand, the Rams pitching was shaky. Junior pitcher Brayden McCollough started for VCU, and had a rollercoaster outing. After giving up the Becker home run, McCollough settled in. The Rams pitched by committee, taking McCollough out after that lone inning. VCU used seven pitchers, and aside from the fourth inning they kept up okay with the Cavalier bats. Virginia scored eight runs and got 10 hits off the Rams bullpen in eight innings.
Sophomore pitcher Bryson Moore made his first start for Virginia since March, and he had his fair share of ups and downs. Moore started off well, striking out two in the first. However, Moore gave up a lot of hard contact including doubles in each of his two innings. In the end, Moore gave the Cavaliers just 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and one run.
“It was good to have Bryson Moore out there again, he’s been out for us for two months,” Coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought his stuff looked really good.”
The Cavalier bullpen was satisfactory. Whether it was junior pitcher Kevin Jaxel — who struck out four batters across three innings — or graduate pitcher Wes Arrington who threw 1.1 innings of no-hit baseball, they did a good job keeping the Rams at bay for a while. However, the bullpen later faltered and almost blew the game. This unit went 7.1 innings, combining for 11 strikeouts and allowing 10 hits from VCU. The bullpen has been Virginia’s weak point, but if they can step it up down the stretch, the Cavaliers’ postseason ceiling becomes significantly higher.
As for Virginia’s offense, it continued to pressure the Rams pitching staff in the fourth inning. Two singles to start the inning from junior catcher Trey Wells and junior outfielder Harrison Didawick put runners on the corners, and Nunnallee made VCU pay with an opposite field double to score Wells. An infield single from Teel then scored Didawick. A wild pitch in the next at-bat scored Nunnallee, and a three-run shot from sophomore outfielder Henry Ford capped off an inning that saw the Cavaliers extend their lead to six.
The Rams were not content with a massive loss, however. After a walk and a single opened up the seventh inning, senior infielder Cato Kleinman deposited a fastball from junior pitcher Joe Colucci over the left field wall, halving the Virginia lead. While a single from Nunnallee in the bottom half of the frame got a run back for the Cavaliers, VCU responded by scoring two runs from an April-Gath single. It felt as if momentum had shifted firmly in favor of the Rams.
The pressure mounted on graduate pitcher Matt Lanzendorfer as VCU opened the ninth inning with a Kleinman double. Then, a hit by pitch brought the winning run to the plate. With two outs, the Rams got a single to right field to close the gap to one with runners on the corners. Luckily, a Lanzendorfer strikeout ended the game before the comeback could be completed.
This victory was far from comfortable, but Virginia led for eight innings. As the final stretch continues, it will be incredibly important for the Cavaliers to close out games strong. The team will look to keep the momentum gained from tonight and their previous weekend series throughout the rest of the season, treating each game with importance.
“We’re just treating every game like a playoff game, like do or die,” Ford said. “That’s what we have to do and that has to be our mentality every game. You have to compete as hard as you can and give everything to win.”
Virginia continues its homestand with another midweek affair against Navy Wednesday. First pitch is at 3 p.m., and the game will be on ACCNX. The starting pitchers have not been announced, but it is possible that the Cavaliers will opt to start junior pitcher Evan Blanco given that he is no longer a weekend starter.
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