Virginia Baseball Crushes North Carolina A&T, 25-1
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March 11, 2002
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team recorded an eye-opening 25-1 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies this afternoon at War Memorial Stadium. UVa took a 9-0 lead after four innings of play and never looked back en route to a 24-run victory. The Cavaliers’ 25 runs marked the first time Virginia scored more than 20 runs since posting 21 against Seton Hall on March 3, 1996, and UVa’s 20 hits were the most hits gathered by Virginia in a single game since the Cavaliers recorded 21 against Maryland back on April 21, 2001.
After jumping out to an early 2-0 lead through two innings of play, Virginia scored six runs in the top of the third inning, highlighted by Mike Priest’s two-run RBI-single. Leading 9-0 and heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Cavaliers scored 16 runs in the finals three innings after posting six runs in the seventh inning, five runs in the eighth inning and five more runs in the ninth inning. UVa’s six-run outburst in the seventh inning was again highlighted by Priest after he recorded a two-run, RBI-triple. In the eighth inning, Rob Newton hit his first career home run in a UVa uniform after he connected on a grand slam. Newton’s grand slam was Virginia’s first since Jon Benick’s recorded one on April 29, 2001 against the #3 Miami Hurricanes in Coral Gables, Florida. The Cavaliers were also aided by nine Aggie errors on the afternoon.
UVa starting pitcher Jeff Kamrath improved to 3-0 on the season after going seven innings and allowing only one run on three and two strikeouts. The Cavaliers’ Alan Zimmerer and Chris Marinak each pitched an inning in relief duty. N.C. A&T’s Austin Love took the loss after surrendering nine runs on nine hits despite a game-high four strikeouts in six innings on the mound.
With the victory, Virginia improves to 11-6 overall, while the loss drops North Carolina A&T to 6-21 on the year. The Cavaliers will return to action on Thursday, March 14th when UVa travels to Norfolk, Va. to face the Old Dominion Monarchs at 1:00 p.m. before returning home to Charlottesville to host the #1 Florida State Seminoles in a three-game series on March 15-16 at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
– UVa –