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Virginia Falls To UNC-Greensboro, 12-5
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April 20, 2002
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team dropped a12-5 decision to the UNC-Greensboro Spartans this evening in front of 809spectators at the UVa Baseball Field, home of Davenport Field. The Spartanstook an early 8-0 lead in the top of the second inning and never looked backen route to a seven-run victory.
UNC-Greensboro jumped out to an early 4-0 lead in the top of the firstinning. Jason Sarvis got things started with a double to right field beforeJustin Saltalamacchia singled to drive him in to score the first run of thegame. Saltalamacchia eventually scored a run himself, as did Ryan Gordon(fielder’s choice) and Jesse Martin (walk) to give the Spartans a four-runlead. UNCG extended its lead to 8-0 in the top of the second inning when theSpartans added four more runs, highlighted by a two-run, RBI-single to leftfield by Mike McClain.
Virginia’s bats came to life in the bottom of the second inning as theCavaliers pounded out five hits to manufacture three runs to cutUNC-Greensboro’s lead to 8-3. After Rob Newton reached base on a fielder’schoice, Chris Sweet singled before Kyle Werman singled to load the bases withtwo outs. In UVa’s next at-bat, Scott Headd connected on a two-run,RBI-single to drive in Newton and Sweet. David Stone then recorded aRBI-single to drive in Werman to make it a five-run lead for UNCG.
The Spartans pulled out to a 9-3 lead in the top of the fifth inning whenDavid Adams singled and scored a run two batters later on a RBI-ground out bySarvis. In the next inning, UNCG took to a 12-3 lead in the top of the sixthinning when Ryan Galligan belted a three-run home run to deep left-centerfield to give the Spartans a nine-run lead.
The Cavaliers added two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning and made it a12-5 contest when Mark Reynolds singled and Joe Koshansky reached base on anerror before each baserunner scored a run. But that would be all the scoringUVa would muster as UNCG posted a 12-5 victory.
The Cavaliers’ Adam Laird (0-2) took the loss after allowing eight runs(seven earned) on eight hits to go along with one strikeout. The Spartans’Chris Cloninger (4-4) picked up the victory after going six strong inningsand allowed three runs on 11 hits to add with two strikeouts.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 20-21, while the win improvesUNC-Greensboro’s record to 24-14 on the year. UVa’s loss marks the firsttime Virginia has had a losing record this season.
The Cavaliers and Spartans will return to action on Sunday, April 21st whenthe two teams meet again to play the second game of the two-game series.First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at the UVa Baseball Stadium, home ofDavenport Field.
— UVa —