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Feb. 25, 2000
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball teamreturned to home action in the first contest of a four-game homestand asthe Cavaliers hosted the Liberty Flames this afternoon at the UVa BaseballField. Virginia and Liberty were facing-off for the second time this weekafter the two teams met on Wednesday in Lynchburg, Va. The Flames won thatcontest by the score of 6-5. The Cavaliers were hoping to return the favorand gather their first of the season, but fell short as Liberty came awaywith a 9-6 decision over UVa. The game was called after eight innings ofplay due to darkness.
The Flames didn’t waste any time getting on the scoreboard as theyposted four runs in the first inning to pull out to an early 4-0 lead.Liberty was highlighted in the first inning by Larry York, who finished 4-5at the plate with two runs and one RBI on the afternoon, and Chad Bryan,(2-4, two RBI) who hit a two-run double to left field in the Flames firstat-bat.
Leading 4-0, Liberty kept the heat on the Cavaliers and scoredanother run in the second inning when Jay Sullenger (1-4, run) singled andlater scored when York hit an RBI double to make it a 5-0 LU lead. TheFlames kept their offensive attack on and posted two more runs in the topof the third inning. Kevin Butler (2-5, two RBI, two runs) led the inningoff by singling to left field, stealing second base, and then scoring whenJim Clinton (1-4, RBI, run) hit an RBI single to right field. Clintonscored later in the inning himself when Steve Baker (1-3) hit an RBI singleto left field to give Liberty a 7-0 advantage.
Virginia finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the thirdinning when Michael Floyd (1-3, run) and David Stone (2-4, two runs)singled to begin the side of the inning. Robbie Marvin (1-3, two RBI, run)then scored Floyd on a fielder’s choice bunt to make it a 7-1 contest. UVawould add another run in the fifth inning when Stone reached base on anerror and eventually scored a run when Marvin hit an RBI single to leftfield to cut Liberty’s lead to 7-2.
The Flames would score two more runs in the top of the eighthinning to pull out to a 9-2 lead before Virginia would make one last run atthe Flames. In the bottom of the eighth and eventual final inning, Stonesingles to second base. Marvin reached base on an error in the Cavaliers’next at-bat putting UVa runners at first and second base. Hunter Wyant(1-5, run) singled in the Cavs next at-bat to load the bases for Virginiawith one out. The next batter, Jon Benick (2-4, two RBI, run), hit atwo-run RBI single to center field to score Stone and Marvin to make it a9-4 contest. Tim LaVigne (1-5, RBI) then hit an RBI double down the leftfield line that scored Wyant to make it a 9-5 game. After Ryan Kalamayawalked, Mark Rueffert (2-5, RBI) reached first base on a fielder’s choicethat scored Benick, cutting the Flames lead to 9-6. However, Dan Street(1-5) grounded out to first base to end the inning, and the Cavaliers laterun would come to an end as the game was called after eight innings of playdue to darkness.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 0-6-1 overall, while theFlames improve to 3-2-0 on the season. The Cavaliers will return to homeaction on Saturday, February 26th when UVa begins a three-game series withthe Bucknell Bison. Virginia will start competition in Saturday’sdoubleheader at 12:00 p.m., and will round out the series with a contestagainst Bucknell on Sunday, Feb. 27th slated to begin at 1:00 p.m. Allthree games will be played at the UVa Baseball Field. Liberty will returnto home action on Feb. 26 as well as the Flames host UMBC in a doubleheaderschedule to begin at 12:00 noon at Worthington Field.
| Liberty | (3-2-0) | 4 1 2 0 0 0 0 2 | 9 13 5 | ||
| Virginia | (0-6-1) | 0 0 1 0 1 0 0 4 | 6 12 5 |
WP– B. Harrell.
LP– Keiper.
Save– None.
2B: LU 3 – York (2), Bryan, UVa 2 – LaVigne, Street.
3B: None.
HR: None.
LOB: UVa 14, LU 9.
DP: UVa 2, LU 0.
SF: None.
SH: LU 1 – Monahan, UVa – 0.
SB: LU 2 – Butler (2), UVa – 0.
CS: LU 1 – York, UVa – 0.
E: UVa 5, LU 5.
Attendance: 303.
TIme: 3:00
Note: Game was called after eight innings of play due to darkness.