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Feb. 24, 2001

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team defeated the Penn State Nittany Lions in a doubleheader this afternoon at the UVa Baseball Field. Virginia won the first game 15-4 before pulling out a 6-5 victory in the second contest.

In the first game, a scheduled nine inning contest, the Cavaliers fell behind by the score of 4-0 after five and a half innings to the Nittany Lions before exploding for 10 runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. After UVa’s David Stone (4-5, 3 RBI, 3 runs) scored the Cavaliers first run of the game, Mark Rueffert (2-3, 6 RBI, run) hit a grand slam to give Virginia the lead for good. Rueffert’s grand slam was the first by a Virginia player since Julian Gonzalez hit one on February 28, 1998 against Seton Hall. UVa tacked on five more runs in the inning to turn it’s four run deficit into a six run lead. The Cavaliers batted through their entire lineup before committing their first out in the inning.

Penn State was held scoreless the remainder of the game. Virginia, however, scored three runs in the seventh inning and two more runs in the eighth inning to post a 15-4 victory. UVa pitcher Brandon Creswell improved his record to 2-0 on the season after throwing 7.0 innings and allowing four runs (two earned) with five strikeouts. Alexander “Shooter” Starr pitched 2.0 innings with three strikeouts in relief. PSU’s Peter Yodis fell to 1-2 with the loss after surrendering six runs on seven hits with five strikeouts.

Virginia jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the second game (scheduled for seven innings) and appeared to have the game put away as Penn State came to its last at-bat in the top of the seventh inning. However, the Nittany Lions weren’t about to go down without a fight, as they rallied to score four seventh-inning runs to knot the score at 5-5. PSU’s Zach Smithlin hit a two-run RBI single that scored teammates Mike Hurey and Brian Bishop to send the game into extra-innings. In the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs and the bases loaded, UVa’s Rueffert recorded the game-winning hit when he ripped a ball up the middle into center field to score Shawn McCleary (3-4, 2 RBI, 2 runs), giving Virginia a 6-5 victory.

The Cavaliers’ left-handed pitcher Greg Hansard posted his first win of the season when he stepped in as a relief pitcher and recorded two strikeouts. The Nittany Lions’ David Aardsma was dealt the loss.

With the two victories, Virginia improved its record to 5-0 overall, while the loss drops Penn State’s record to 1-5 on the season. The two teams will return to action on Sunday, February 25th to complete the three-game weekend series. The contest is scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m. and will be played at the UVa Baseball Field.

Game 1			1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9    	    R    H   EPenn State	-	0 1 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 	    4    7   1Virginia	-	0 0 0 0 0 10 3 0 -	   15   13   1

WP- Creswell (2-0)LP- Yodis (1-2)Save- None.2B: UVa 2 – Stone, Benick. PSU 1 – Netwall.3B: None.HR: UVa 1 – Rueffert (Grand Slam).LOB: UVa 9, PSU 7.DP: PSU 2, UVa 0.SF: PSU 1 – Reohr.SH: PSU 1 – Melendez.SB: None.CS: None.E: UVa 1 – Word. PSU 1 – Yodis.Attendance: 177.

Game 2			1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9          R    H   EPenn State	-	0 0 0 0 1 0 4 0 0	   5   15   0Virginia	-	0 3 1 0 1 0 0 0 1	   6   12   2

WP- Hansard (1-0).LP- Aardsma (0-1).Save- None.2B: UVa 2 – Benick, McCleary. PSU 2 – Perry, D. Wright.3B: None.HR: UVa 1 – Wyant.LOB: PSU 12, UVa 9.DP: None.SF: None.SH: PSU 1 – Reohr.SB: UVa 1 – Stone.CS: UVa 1 – McCleary.E: UVa 2 – Wyant, D. Street.Attendance: 158.

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