Virginia Baseball Defeats Radford, 5-1
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March 6, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team got back to its winning ways with a 5-1 victory over the visiting Radford Highlanders this afternoon at the UVa Baseball Stadium. The Cavaliers were aided by eight strong innings on the mound by starting pitcher Joe Koshansky and timely hitting and base running. Shawn McCleary’s diving-slide into home plate on a wild pitch proved to be the game-winning run for UVa in its four-run victory.
Virginia jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning when Dan Street reached first base on an error before his brother, Matt, drove him in to score a run three batters later on a RBI-single to left field. The Cavaliers added another run in the third inning when McCleary walked and eventually scored a run on a wild pitch to make it a 2-0 UVa lead.
Virginia took a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning when David Stone singled and eventually scored a run on a double-steal. The Cavaliers extended their lead to 4-0 in the bottom of the sixth inning when Robert Word doubled to left field before scoring a run.
Radford scored its first run of the game in the top of the eighth inning when Jerry Fulton hit a RBI-double to right-center field to drive in Nat Hodges, making it a 4-1 ballgame. However, Virginia answered right back with a run of its own in the bottom half of the inning to take a 5-1 lead. UVa’s Word hit his second double of the game before scoring a run on a RBI-sacrifice fly to left field by Andrew Riesenfeld. That would be all the scoring the Cavaliers would need as they held on behind their solid pitching for a four-run victory.
Virginia’s Koshansky (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after going eight innings on the mound and allowed only one run on seven hits to go along with five strikeouts. The Highlanders’ Cory Koliscak took the loss after going 5.2 innings and giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits with three strikeouts.
With the victory, Virginia improves to 10-3 overall, while the loss drops Radford to 4-5 on the season.
UVa will return to action on March 9-10 when the Cavaliers travel to Charlotte, N.C. to face the UNC-Charlotte 49ers in a three-game weekend series. Virginia will face Charlotte on Saturday, March 9th in a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 noon before facing the 49ers in a single game on Sunday, March 10th starting at 1:00 p.m. All three games will be played at Tom & Lib Phillips Field. Radford will return to action on March 10-15 when the Highlanders travel to Homestead, Fla. to compete in six games beginning with a March 10th contest against St. Peter’s.
– UVa –