Virginia Baseball Prepares For Radford And Wake Forest

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April 4, 2001

Up Next For UVa: Virginia (17-13, 5-7 ACC) will travel to Radford, Va. to face the Radford Highlanders on Thursday, April 5th at 3:00 p.m. before heading to Winston-Salem, N.C. to meet the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in a three-game ACC series on April 6th-8th. UVa will play Wake Forest on Friday and Saturday (March 6 & 7) at Ernie Shores Field at 7:00 p.m. and on Sunday at Hooks Stadium at 1:30 p.m.

Brandon Creswell Named ACC Pitcher Of The Week: Fourth-year, left handed pitcher Brandon Creswell was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week after his role in leading UVa to a 3-1 victory over the #3 ranked Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets on March 30th. Creswell turned in a stellar performance in the Cavaliers win over the Yellow Jackets. He pitched a compete game (9.0 innings) and tied his career-high with 11 strikeouts while allowing only one run (unearned) in Virginia’s victory.

Virginia Ends 13 Game Home Stand With 8-4 Record: The Cavaliers wrapped up their 13 game mid-season home stand with a record of 8-4 (.667). UVa played 12 of its scheduled 13 games after the Brown contest for March 29th was cancelled due to inclement weather. Virginia began its home stand by winning two of three games against Duke (March 16-18), defeating George Mason 13-9 (March 19), dropping an 8-2 decision to VCU (March 20), winning two of three games against N.C. State (March 23-25), defeating Richmond 1-0 (March 27) and winning one of three games against Georgia Tech (March 30-April 1).

Virginia Still Holds Winning Record: After its 17-4 loss to Richmond (March 3rd), Virginia stands 17-13 overall this season. The Cavaliers have had a .500 record or better the entire year. UVa started the season with a 5-0 record before dipping to 7-7 through 14 games. Since then, Virginia has won 10 of its last 16 contest to improve to 17-13. The Cavaliers were 14-15-1 through 30 games in 2000 and only had a winning record one time (11-10-1) for the entire season.

Creswell and Word Lead Virginia Past #3 Georgia Tech: UVa’s Brandon Creswell and Robert Word came up huge for the Cavaliers in Virginia’s 3-1 victory over Georgia Tech (3/30). Creswell pitched a complete game and allowed only one run (unearned) on seven hits while recording a game-high 11 strikeouts, while Word recorded the game-winning hit after blasting a two-run, home run to deep left-center field. Words hit broke open a 1-1 tie and gave UVa a 3-1 win.

Virginia’s Game With Brown Cancelled: UVa’s game with the Brown Bears for Thursday, March 29th at 3:00 p.m. was cancelled due to inclement weather in the Charlottesville area.

Hickman Records First Complete Game Shutout Since 1997: First-year pitcher Canon Hickman recorded his second win of the season in Virginia’s 1-0 victory over Richmond (3/27) and he became the first UVa pitcher to throw a complete-game shutout since Casey Kennedy accomplished the feat on April 26, 1997 against Duke.

Virginia’s Earns First Shutout Of 2001 Season: UVa tallied its first shutout of the 2001 season in the Cavaliers 1-0 victory over the Richmond Spiders (3/27). The last time Virginia shutout an opponent was on April 26, 2000 in a 1-0 victory over UNC-Greensboro.

Vroman Records Game-Winning Hit In Victory Over Richmond: Center fielder Doug Vroman recorded the game-winning hit when he connected on an RBI-double that scored teammate Chris Sweet in the fifth inning during Virginia’s 1-0 victory over Richmond (3/27).

Benick Blasts His Way To Top Of ACC: UVa’s Jon Benick hit his 10th and 11th home runs of the season in Virginia’s 10-2 victory over N.C. State on March 24th. As of March 26th, Benick leads the ACC with 11 home runs. His 11 home runs through 25 games this season is already four more home runs than he hit all of last season when he posted seven in 2000.

Lucky 13 For Wyant?: With his sixth triple of the season against N.C. State on March 25th, UVa’s short stop Hunter Wyant recorded a hit in 13 consecutive games. Heading into Virginia’s game with Richmond (3/27), Wyant also had 13 multiple-hit games for the Cavaliers this season. He recorded two four-hits games, three three-hit games and eight two-hit games this year.

Virginia Takes Two Of Three Against N.C. State: Virginia won two of its three games in its ACC weekend series with the N.C. State Wolfpack (March 23-25). The Cavaliers won the first two games 8-7 (3/23) and 10-2 (3/24) before the Wolfpack recorded a 10-3 victory in the final game of the series (3/25). With the two victories, UVa improves to 59-84-1 all-time against NCSU.

Street & Christensen Equal Game Winning Combo: UVa’s Dan Street and Eric Christensen proved to be the right combination needed for the Cavaliers in Virginia’s 8-7 victory over N.C. State (3/23). In the bottom of the ninth inning and the scored tied at 7-7 with two outs, Street recorded the game-winning hit when he drove in Christensen (who singled up the middle to get on base) to score the game-winning run in the Cavaliers 8-7 victory.

Koshansky Records First Career ACC Win As A Pitcher: First-year, LHP Joseph Koshansky recorded his first career ACC victory in Virginia’s 10-2 win over N.C. State (3/24). Koshansky pitched 7.1 innings and allowed only two runs on 10 hits to go along with a team-high five strikeouts.

Marinak Records First Career Victory As A Pitcher: UVa’s RHP Chris Marinak recorded his first collegiate win as a Cavalier in Virginia’s 8-7 victory over N.C. State (3/23). Although he only pitched 0.2 innings, Marinak did not allow a run and it was enough to give him his first win against the Wolfpack.

Stone’s Streak Ends At 20 Games: Third-year left fielder David Stone had his 20-game hitting streak end in Virginia’s 8-2 loss to VCU (3/20). After going hitless in UVa’s 9-1 season opening victory over the U.S. Naval Academy, Stone hit safely in the next 20 games for the Cavaliers prior to the VCU contest.

What A Week For Wyant, Named ACC Co-POW: Senior short stop Hunter Wyant had an unbelievable week of performances as he helped the Cavaliers go 5-1 over a stretch of six games (March 12-18) and was named the Atlantic Coast Conference Co-Player of the Week. He shared the honor with Wake Forest’s Cory Sullivan. Wyant went 15-22 (.682) at the plate with 12 RBI, 11 runs scored, four triples, three doubles, one home run and two stolen bases. Included in his outstanding week of performances, Wyant hit for the cycle in UVa’s 18-7 victory against High Point on March 12th. In that game, Wyant went 4-5 with five RBI and three runs scored after he hit a double in his first at-bat, a home run in his second appearance, a triple in his third trip to the plate and a single in his fourth batting appearance of the game.

Word Drives In Game Winning Run Against GMU: Virginia’s Robert Word (1-2, two RBI, run) entered the game as a pinch hitter in UVa’s 13-9 victory over George Mason (3/19) and made his presence felt as he recorded the game-winning hit (a two-run, RBI-double to left field) that scored teammates Hunter Wyant and Mark Rueffert to give Virginia the lead for good at 10-9.

Kamrath Gathers First Collegiate Win: RHP Jeff Kamrath posted his first collegiate win in Virginia’s 13-9 victory over George Mason (3/19). Kamrath pitched 3.1 innings and allowed no runs or hits en route to gathering the victory.

Virginia Takes Two Of Three Against Duke: The Cavaliers won two of its three games in its three-game ACC series with the Duke Blue Devils (March 16-18). Virginia won the first game 4-3 before dropping its second contest against Duke by the score of 12-11. UVa bounced back and won the third contest by the score of 14-5 to claim the series.

Creswell Guns Down 11 Batters In Victory: Senior LHP Brandon Creswell became the first UVa pitcher since Jon Metzger (10 strikeouts on March 17, 1999 vs. UNC-Greensboro) to record at least 10 strikeouts in a single game. Creswell tallied 11 strikeouts in Virginia’s 4-3 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on March 18th.

Four Cavaliers Record Three Hits Each In Virginia’s 14-5 Victory Over Duke: The group of Jon Benick, David Stone, Robert Word and Hunter Wyant each went 3-5 at the plate in Virginia’s 14-5 victory over the Duke Blue Devils on March 18th.

Wyant Becomes First Player At Virginia To Hit For The Cycle: UVa short stop Hunter Wyant became the first player known at Virginia to ever hit for the cycle in UVa’s 18-7 victory over High Point (3/12). Wyant hit a double in his first at-bat, recorded a two-run home run in his second trip to the plate, posted a two-run triple in his third batting appearance and tallied a single in his fourth at-bat of the contest.

Benick Hits Three Home Runs In Two Games: UVa third baseman Jon Benick recorded three home runs in a two-game stretch, leading Virginia to back-to-back victories over High Point (3/12) and UNC-Greensboro (3/13). Against High Point, Benick finished 2-5 with six RBI, two runs scored and one home run in the Cavaliers 18-7 win. Against UNCG, Benick went 2-4 at the plate with three RBI, two runs scored and recorded two home runs in UVa’s 6-3 victory.

Cavaliers Take 1-0 Lead On Three Solo Home Runs In Three Different Games Against Seminoles: Although Virginia lost all three of its games to Florida State (9-2, 16-1, 2-1) in its ACC series with FSU, UVa jumped out to a 1-0 lead in each of the three games on solo home runs. In the first game of the series (3/10), Jon Benick hit a home run to deep center field in the top of the first inning. In the second contest with Florida State (game two of a doubleheader on 3/10), Dan Street hit a home run to left-center field. In game three, Robert Word hit a home run off the FSU scoreboard in left field in the top of the third inning (3/11).

Zimmerer Records First Collegiate Victory: First-year LHP Alan Zimmerer recorded his first collegiate win as a pitcher in Virginia’s 18-7 win over High Point (3/12). Zimmerer pitched a career-high 5.0 innings and struck out three batters in the victory.

Hickman Records First Collegiate Victory: First-year pitcher Canon Hickman recorded his first collegiate win as a pitcher in Virginia’s 12-2 victory over UNC-Greensboro (3/14). Hickman pitched six scoreless innings while scattering three hits while recording four strikeouts.

Weather Causes Cancellations With Seton Hall & Old Dominion: Due to inclement weather, Virginia’s scheduled games with Seton Hall (3/4) and Old Dominion (3/6) have been cancelled. The SHU contest was cancelled due to heavy rain, while the ODU game was called due to low temperatures and wind.

Koshansky Goes The Distance In UVa’s 2-1 Victory Over Seton Hall: LHP Joseph Koshansky pitched a complete game (9.0 innings) and allowed only one run (unearned) on seven hits with four strikeouts in Virginia’s 2-1 victory over Seton Hall (3/3).

Riesenfeld Records Game-Winning Hit: UVa catcher Andrew Riesenfeld recorded the game-winning hit when he posted an RBI-double that scored teammate Mark Rueffert in the bottom of the seventh inning during Virginia’s 2-1 victory over Seton Hall (3/3).

Stone Shines For UVa In Loss: Left fielder David Stone finished 3-5 at the plate with two doubles and an RBI in Virginia’s 9-4 loss to Seton Hall (3/3).

Collins & Gale Make UVa Debut Against Seton Hall: First-year pitchers Ty Collins and Christopher Gale each made their UVa debut against Seton Hall (3/3). Collins pitched 2.0 innings and recorded two strikeouts, while Gale pitched 1.0 inning and posted one strikeout.

Cavaliers Gather First Road Win Of 2001 Season: With its 13-10 victory at Liberty (3/1), Virginia earned its first road game victory of the 2001 season.

Benick Blasts Back-To-Back Home Runs In Victory Over Liberty: In Virginia’s 13-10 victory over Liberty (3/1), Jon Benick had an outstanding showing and was a one-man wrecking crew against the Flames’ pitchers. Benick finished 3-6 at the plate with four RBI and two runs scored and hit two home runs in his first two at-bats in the contest. He became the first Cavalier since Ben Himes (April 29, 2000 at Maryland) to hit two home runs in a game.

Five Cavaliers Record Three Hits Against Liberty: Hunter Wyant (3-5), Andrew Riesenfeld (3-5) , Chris Sweet (3-5), Jon Benick (3-6) and Dan Street (3-6) each posted three hits apiece in Virginia’s 13-10 victory over Liberty (3/1).

Starr Records First Win Of 2001 Season: Alexander “Shooter” Starr pitched 2.0 innings and recorded three strikeouts as he closed out the game to earn his first victory of the season in Virginia’s 13-10 win over Liberty (3/1).

Virginia Records 20 Hits In Victory Over Liberty: The Cavaliers recorded 20 hits in a game for the first time since Virginia’s 20-hit outing against Duke on March 20, 1999.

Cavaliers Drop First Road Game Of 2001 Season: Virginia lost its first road game of the 2001 season after UVa dropping a 7-6 decision in 11 innings to the VCU Rams at The Diamond in Richmond, Va (2/28).

Vroman & Sweet Come Up Big For Virginia in Close Loss: Doug Vroman (4-5, 3 runs, 2 RBI, double) and Chris Sweet (3-5, run) came up big for Virginia in the Cavaliers 7-6 loss at VCU (2/28). Vroman’s had a career day at the plate. His five at-bats, four hits, three runs and two RBI were all career-highs. Sweet tied two career-highs with his five at-bats and three hits.

Hurrie Makes First Appearance: RHP Mark Hurrie made his first start of the 2001 season at VCU (2/28). Hurrie pitched four innings in the 7-6 loss.

Rueffert Hits UVa’s First Grand Slam Since 1998: Mark Rueffert hit a grand slam for UVa in Virginia’s 15-4 victory over Penn State (2/24). Rueffert’s grand slam was the first by a UVa player since Julian Gonzalez hit one on February 28, 1998 against Seton Hall.

Rueffert Records Game-Winning Hit: With the game tied at 5-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning with the bases loaded and two outs, Mark Rueffert recorded the game-winning hit when he ripped the ball up the middle to center field to score teammate Shawn McCleary, giving Virginia a 6-5 victory over Penn State (2/24).

Stone Has A Huge Day At The Plate: David Stone was a key contributor in Virginia’s 15-4 victory over Penn State (2/24). The left fielder went 4-5 (including a double) at the plate and recorded three RBI and three runs in the victory.

Creswell Improves To 2-0: LHP Brandon Creswell improved his pitching record to 2-0 after throwing 7.0 innings in Virginia’s 15-4 victory over Penn State (2/24). He allowed four runs (two earned) on seven hits with a game-high five strikeouts.

Vroman Records Three Runs, Two Hits And One RBI in First Collegiate Game At-Bat: UVa center fielder Doug Vroman went 2-5 at the plate with three runs scored and one RBI in his first game with at-bats. Vroman was making his batting and center fielding debut after appearing in six games last season as a pitcher.

McCleary Helps Spark UVa To 6-5 Win: OF Shawn McCleary finished 3-4 at the plate with two RBI and two runs scored to help Virginia pull out a 6-5 victory over Penn State (2/24). McCleary scored the game-winning run when teammate Mark Rueffert ripped a single up the middle to allow McCleary to score.

Starr Shines In Limited Action: RHP Shooter Starr recorded three strikeouts and held seven Penn State batters hitless through 2.0 innings of work in UVa’s 15-4 win over the Nittany Lions (2/24).

Hansard Hits Form: LHP Greg Hansard hit his form in Virginia’s 6-5 victory over Penn State (2/24). Hansard recorded his first collegiate win and struck out two of the three batters he faced in the Cavaliers one-run victory to help preserve the Virginia win.

Cavaliers Win 2001 Home Opener: Virginia opened its 2001 season with a great start, a 9-1 victory against the U.S. Naval Academy (2/17). Virginia went on to win all three games of the weekend series with Navy (9-1, 10-3, 6-2). Last season, UVa tied Old Dominion by the score of 14-14 in their 2000 home opener.

Rueffert Red-Hot!: UVa catcher Mark Rueffert had an outstanding three-game series against Navy (Feb. 17-18). For the series, Rueffert finished 6-10 (.600) at the plate with five RBI and four runs scored. He gathered 15 putouts and hit Virginia’s first home run of the season in the series.

Koshansky Makes UVa Debut In Style: First-year pitcher/designated hitter Joseph Koshansky had a superb start to his UVa baseball career. After going 1-2 at the plate with a run scored in Virginia’s season-opening 9-1 victory over Navy (2/17) as the designated hitter, Koshansky took the mound in the next game and pitched seven strong innings and struck out a game-high seven batters en route to his first collegiate win as a pitcher.

Street Shines in Pitching Appearance, Named ACC Pitcher of the Week: Third-year pitcher/second baseman Dan Street picked right up this year where he left off from last season on the mound. Street, who finished 4-0 with a 0.69 ERA in 2000, pitched seven scoreless innings by striking out a game-high six batters and allowed only two hits in Virginia’s 6-2 victory over Navy – his first pitching appearance of the season. For his accomplishment, he was named the ACC Pitcher of the Week.

Rueffert, Benick And Word Go Yard: UVa catcher Mark Rueffert hit Virginia’s first home run of the season, a three-run shot in Virginia’s 9-1 victory over Navy (2/17). Third baseman Jon Benick and first baseman Robert Word followed Rueffert’s lead, and the pair each recorded a two-run shot in Virginia’s 10-3 victory over Navy in the next game.

Creswell Opens Season In Winning Fashion: Fourth-year pitcher Brandon Creswell opened the 2001 season as one of UVa’s top pitchers, and looked exactly like one after pitching a complete game in Virginia’s 9-1 season-opening victory over Navy (2/17). Creswell pitched nine innings and allowed only one run to go along with his game-high six strikeouts.

Wyant Posts Virginia’s First Extra-Base Hit In 2001: UVa short stop Hunter Wyant recorded Virginia’s first extra-base hit of the season. Wyant went 2-4 at the plate with a run scored and hit a triple in Virginia’s 9-1 victory over Navy (2/17).

Womack’s Coaching Numbers Keep Rising: On March 11th, 2000, Dennis Womack coached in his 1000th career game as a head coach when Virginia faced Eastern Michigan. Four days later (March 15), Womack earned his 500th career victory as a head coach when Virginia defeated Princeton by the score of 5-2. Although the win was just another victory to Womack, the victory marked yet another one of his many great accomplishments as head coach of the Virginia baseball program. Last season, Virginia finished 26-31-1 overall, 10-14 in the ACC. After opening the 2000 season with a slow start, the Cavaliers cruised en route to winning 26 of their remaining 51 games. UVa went 26-25 (.510) in that span, including a 2-2 mark in the ACC Tournament. With the exception of Georgia Tech, the Cavaliers won at least one game against every conference opponent in their regular season series with ACC schools. Womack’s overall coaching record now stands at 532-531-7 through 1069 games.

Virginia Tabbed Seventh In 2001 ACC Baseball Coaches Preseason Poll: The Atlantic Coast Conference’s nine head coaches picked the University of Virginia baseball team to finish seventh in the 2001 ACC Preseason Baseball Coaches Poll. The Cavaliers return 15 lettermen and four starters from last seasons team that finished 26-31-1 overall, 10-14 in the conference.

2001 ACC Coaches Preseason Baseball Poll

1. Georgia Tech (9)	812. Clemson		693. Florida State	644. Wake Forest		555. North Carolina	405. N.C. State		407. VIRGINIA		268. Duke			189. Maryland		12

2001 Cavalier Firsts

BattingAt bat: David Stone (2/17 vs. Navy)Hit: Hunter Wyant (triple on 2/17 vs. Navy)Run: Mark Rueffert (2/17 vs. Navy)RBI: Chris Sweet (2/17 vs. Navy)Extra-base hit: Hunter Wyant (triple on 2/17 vs. Navy)Double: Shawn McCleary (2/17 vs. Navy)Triple: Hunter Wyant (2/17 vs. Navy)Home run: Mark Rueffert (2/17 vs. Navy)Base runner: Hunter Wyant (2/17 vs. Navy)Walk: Dan Street (2/17 vs. Navy)Strike out: Dan Street (2/17 vs. Navy)Hit batsman: Dan Street (2/24 vs. Penn State)Sacrifice bunt: David Stone (2/17 vs. Navy)Sacrifice fly: Mark Rueffert (2/17 vs. Navy)Stolen base attempt: Jon Benick (2/17 vs. Navy)Stolen base: Jon Benick (2/17 vs. Navy)Caught stealing: Mark Rueffert (2/17 vs. Navy)

PitchingWin: Brandon Creswell (2/17 vs. Navy)Loss: Alan Zimmerer (2/25 vs. Penn State)Save: Jeffery Kamrath (2/17 vs. Navy)Complete game: Brandon Creswell (2/17 vs. Navy)Shutout: Canaon Hickman (3/27 vs. Richmond)Strike out: Brandon Creswell (2/17 vs. Navy)Walk: Brandon Creswell (2/17 vs. Navy)Wild pitch: Joseph Koshansky (2/17 vs. Navy)Hit batsman: Alexander “Shooter” Starr (2/17 vs. Navy)Balk: Mark Hurrie (2/28 @ VCU).

FieldingPutout: Chris Sweet (2/17 vs, Navy)Assist: Dan Street (2/17 vs. Navy)Fielding error: Jon Benick (2/17 vs. Navy)

2001 Big Innings

VirginiaFirst: 7, vs Duke (3/18)Second: 4, @ Liberty (3/1)Third: 5, @ High Point (3/12)Fourth: 4, @ UNC-Greensboro (3/14)Fifth: 8, vs. Navy (2/17)Sixth: 10, vs. Penn State (2/24)Seventh: 6, George Mason (3/19)Eighth: 2, vs. Penn State (2/24), Navy (2/17), Seton Hall (3/3), vs. Duke (3/17)Ninth: 3, vs, William & Mary (2/27), vs. Liberty (3/1)Tenth: 0.Eleventh: 0.

OpponentFirst: 3, Georgia Tech (3/31), @ Richmond (4/3)Second: 4, vs. Virginia Commonwealth (3/20), @ Richmond (4/3)Third: 6, @ Florida State (3/10), @ Richmond (4/3)Fourth: 9, Georgia Tech (4/1)Fifth: 5, @ Florida State (3/10)Sixth: 4, George Mason (3/19)Seventh: 4, vs. Penn State (2/24)Eighth: 4, vs. N.C. State (3/25)Ninth: 3, vs. William & Mary (2/27), vs. Duke (3/18), Georgia Tech (3/31)Tenth: 1, vs. Penn State (2/25)Eleventh: 1, VCU (2/28)

2001 Home Runs

No. Player (Runs) Date Opponent (game)1. Mark Rueffert (3) 2/17 Navy (1)2. Jon Benick (2) 2/17 Navy (2)3. Robert Word (2) 2/17 Navy (2)4. Mark Rueffert (4) 2/24 Penn State (4)5. Jon Benick (2) 3/1 @ Liberty (9)6. Jon Benick (2) 3/1 @ Liberty (9)7. Mark Rueffert (1) 3/3 Seton Hall (10)8. Jon Benick (1) 3/10 @ Florida State (12)9. Dan Street (1) 3/10 @ Florida State (13)10. Robert Word (1) 3/11 @ Florida State (14)11. Jon Benick (3) 3/12 @ High Point (15)12. Hunter Wyant (2) 3/12 @ High Point (15)13. Jon Benick (2) 3/13 @ UNC-Greensboro (16)14. Jon Benick (1) 3/13 @ UNC-Greensboro (16)15. Dan Street (2) 3/17 Duke (19)16. Jon Benick (2) 3/18 Duke (20)17. Jon Benick (1) 3/19 George Mason (21)18. Hunter Wyant (1) 3/19 George Mason (21)19. Jon Benick (1) 3/24 N.C. State (24)20. Jon Benick (1) 3/24 N.C. State (24)21. Dan Street (1) 3/24 N.C. State (24)22. Robert Word (2) 3/30 Georgia Tech (27)

Solo HRs: 102-Run HRs: 93-Run HRs: 2Grand Slams: 1