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Virginia Pounds Maryland, 15-3
Story Links
April 24, 1999
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Junior right hander Casey Kennedy pitchedhis first complete game of the season and sophomore first baseman JonBenick collected a career-high tying four hits as the University ofVirginia defeated the University of Maryland 15-3 here Saturday inAtlantic Coast Conference action. With the win, the Cavaliers improve to 17-29 onthe season and 7-12 in ACC play. The Terrapins fall to 17-20-1 and 5-11.
Virginia tied a season high with the 15 runs scored, equally15-run outings March 19 and 20 against Duke. Virginia pounded 18 hits on theday, the third-highest total on the season.
Meanwhile, Kennedy (3-5) looked to have regained hisearly-seasonform, allowing three runs on nine hits with no walks and six strike outsinhis eighth-career complete game. The Boca Raton, Fla., native used just26pitches to retire the first 10 batters he faced, threw only nine ballsinthe first four innings and did not have a three-ball count until theseventh inning. Kennedy threw 117 pitches on the day with only 34 balls.
The Cavaliers laid claim to an early 4-0 lead with two runs inthesecond and two more in the third. Maryland then got on the board withtwo runs on three hits in the top of the fourth, but the Terrapins wouldneverget any closer. Virginia pushed the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of theinningon an RBI single by Benick.
Virginia then exploded for a five-run fifth inning, scoring allitsruns with two outs in the frame. On the day, the Cavaliers scored 11runswith two outs and scored a 12th run on a one-out sacrifice fly off thebatof Ryan Kalamaya. Julian Gonzalez had the big hit in the fifth, atwo-rundouble to left-center. That two-bagger moved the senior right fielderintoa 12-way, 11-player tie for ninth all-time at UVA in single-seasondoubleswith 15.
David Stone tacked on another Wahoo run in the sixth following aMaryland error, which extended the inning. The Cavs added four more runsinthe seventh with Hunter Wyant, Kalamaya and Michael Floyd gettingback-to-back-to-back RBI singles.
Maryland scratched for a run in the top of the ninth on arun-scoring ground out by Matt Swope.
Benick finished the day 4-for-6 with two runs, two RBI and his13thdouble of the season. Stone added three hits and three RBI, giving himseven RBI thus far on the weekend. Wyant went 3-for-5 with a career-highfour runs scored and a couple of RBI, and Tim LaVigne reached safely inallfive trips to the plate. The junior shortstop was 2-for-2 with acareer-high tying four runs scored and was hit by a pitch threeconsecutivetimes, one shy of the NCAA record.
Joe Hart (3-5) started and took the loss for the Terrapins,allowing six runs, five earned, on nine hits with a walk and threestrikeouts in four innings of work. Casey Trout and Craig Munroe each had twohits on the day with the latter posting two doubles.
The Cavaliers now lead the series two games to none afterFriday’s 9-5 victory. The three-game set will conclude here Sunday at 1 p.m.
VIRGINIA 15, MARYLAND 3
UM (17-20-1, 5-11) 000 200 001 - 3 9 2UVA (17-29, 7-12) 022 151 40x - 15 18 1
WP – Kennedy (3-5). LP – Hart (3-5). Sv – None.Hart, Wagner (5), Ginsberg (5), McFarling (7) and McDonald, Beck (8);Kennedy and Rueffert. T – 2:42. A – 261.