Virginia Baseball Falls to Liberty, 9-7
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March 5, 2002
LYNCHBURG, Va. – Liberty’s Keith Butler tripled to center field in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Flames an 8-7 lead over the Virginia Cavaliers and lead the Flames to a 9-7 victory at Worthington Stadium on Tuesday. The runs capped a comeback from a 7-0 deficit to improve the Flames’ record to 5-3, while the Cavaliers drop to 9-3.
Virginia jumped on top early with two runs in the second inning. Matt Street doubled home Chris Sweet for the first run and Street scored on a single by Mike Priest to make the score 2-0. UVa increased its lead to 7-0 with five runs in the seventh inning. Mark Reynolds highlighted the inning for the Cavaliers with a two-run home run to right field. Kyle Werman also drove in two runs for Virginia in the inning.
Liberty began its comeback with six runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Marcus Maringola drove in the first Flames’ run of the inning when he singled to right field, bringing home Matt Hagen. Butler then doubled down the left field line, driving in Maringola and Eric Cloninger to cut the lead to 7-3. LU’s Joey Monahan then hit a sacrifice fly to right field to bring in Butler for the Flames’ fourth run of the inning. Kelly Knouse then hit a two-run home run to right field with Larry Wayne York on base, setting the stage for Butler’s game-winning hit in the eighth.
For Liberty at the plate, Butler was 2-for-5 with four RBI. York went 3-for-4 with an RBI, while Knouse was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Steve Horstman pitched 2.2 innings, giving up no runs on just one hit to pick up the win and run his record to 2-1 on the season. Alex Dooley started the game and went 6.1 innings, surrendering seven runs on 11 hits.
The Cavaliers were led at the plate by Priest, going 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Street went 2-for-4 with an RBI. Chris Marinak (1-1) took the loss for the Cavaliers, pitching one inning, giving up three runs on three hits.
Virginia will return to home action on Wednesday, March 6th when the Cavaliers host the Radford Highlanders. The contest is scheduled to begin at 3:00 p.m. and will be played at the UVa Baseball Field. Liberty will return to action on Friday, March 8, when they play host to LeMoyne. The game is set for a 2:30 p.m. start at Worthington Stadium.
– UVa –