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March 11, 1998

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Sophomore righthander Kevin Shrout (Murrysville, Pa.) struck out a career-high 10 batters to lead the University of Virginia baseball team to an 8-4 victory over Liberty. Shrout allowed only three earned runs and five hits in seven innings of work, the longest stint of his career. Virginia improves to 12-3 on the season with a perfect 9-0 record at home, as has now won 13 straight home games dating back to last season. Liberty falls to 7-8.

The Cavaliers took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning, as senior outfielder Ted Kinsman (Vienna, Va.) led off with a single and scored on an RBI triple by junior first baseman Javier Lopez (Fairfax, Va.). Lopez would then come in to score on a sacrifice fly by senior third baseman Brian Sherlock (Medford, N.J.). Liberty cut the lead to 2-1 in the second when Brian Byler walked and scored on an RBI double by Kevin Brown. UVa then pushed the lead back to 3-1 with a solo homer by sophomore shortstop Tim LaVigne (Virginia Beach, Va.) in the bottom of the inning.

In the third Liberty tied up the score as Tim Strong walked and came around to score on an RBI single by Trey Miller. Later in the inning, Miller scored on an RBI groundout by Jim Clinton to make the score 3-3. The Flames then took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth with an unearned run, when Steven Wright came home on a groundout by Byler.

Virginia came roaring back in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs to retake the lead at 6-4. Sherlock led off with a single and eventually scored on an RBI single by sophomore designated hitter Luis Giraldo (McLean, Va.). Giraldo would later score the go-ahead run on a wild pitch, while junior outfielder Julian Gonzalez (Avon Park, Fla.) plated the final run as he walked and came home when LaVigne reached on an error.

The Cavaliers added single runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to conclude the scoring. In the seventh, Kinsman singled and eventually scored on an RBI single by Lopez. Then in the eighth, Gonzalez doubled and came home when LaVigne once again reached on an error.

Lopez finished the day 2-for-4 with two runs batted in, while both Kinsman and sophomore catcher Josh Bowling (Springfield, Va.) had two hits. Freshman lefthander Brandon Creswell (Newport News, Va.) and freshman righthander Tommy Keiper (Chesapeake, Va.) each pitched one shutout inning to close out the game.

The Cavaliers return to action on Friday, Mar. 13, when they open a three-game series at Duke with a 3:00 p.m. game.

Virginia 8, Liberty 4                                                                      R   H   ELiberty (7-8)   0   1   2   0   0   1   0   0                 0   -   4   6   2Virginia (12-3) 2   1   0   0   0   3   1   1                 X   -   8   10  2LU: Phillip Kojack, Ryan Chatterton (7) and Brian Byler, David Benham (8); 

UVa: Kevin Shrout, Brandon Creswell (8), Tommy Keiper (9) and Josh Bowling; 2B: Kevin Brown (LU), Julian Gonzalez (UVa), Josh Bowling (UVa); 3B: Javier Lopez (UVa); HR: Tim LaVigne (UVa).

Win: Shrout (3-0); Loss: Kojack (0-3).

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