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#25 VCU Rolls To Victory Over Virginia, 7-1
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May 12, 2003
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team dropped its season-high fifth game of the year following a 7-1 setback to the #25 ranked Virginia Commonwealth Rams at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. VCU broke open a close 1-0 ballgame in the sixth inning and never looked back as the Rams dealt the Cavaliers their 14th loss in their last 21 outings. The contest was also a milestone for Virginia head baseball coach Dennis Womack as it was his 1,200th career game.
VCU took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Danny Lopaze led off the inning with a single to right field that followed with a UVa fielding error that allowed him to advance all the way to third base. Lopaze scored two batters later on a RBI-ground out to second base by Jeff Parrish to give the Rams a one-run lead.
VCU erupted for four runs in the top of the sixth inning to pull out to a 5-0 lead. Virginia Commonwealth’s Eric Latura scored a run from third base on a sacrifice fly RBI to left field by Lopaze to make it a 2-0 contest before Nick Jones connected on a three-run home run to left field to drive in Justin Mattison and Anthony Granato. Jones’ home run, his fourth of the season, gave the Rams a five-run advantage.
Virginia Commonwealth tacked on a pair of runs and extended its lead to 7-0 in the top of the eighth inning when Jones hit a RBI-triple to the gap in right-center field to drive in Granato from second base. Jones ended up scored a run himself one batter later on a RBI-single to right field by Parrish.
Virginia avoided being shutout for the third time in its last four games when Scott Headd drove in Chris Sweet from second base with a RBI-single to center field in the bottom of the ninth inning to make it a 7-1 ballgame. However, that would be all the scoring the Cavaliers would manage to produce as Virginia fell to VCU, 7-1.
UVa starting pitcher Gabe Spooner (0-4) made his first career start and lasted 5.1 innings in the loss. Spooner allowed just three hits but surrendered four run (three earned) while striking out a career-high six batters.
VCU starting pitcher Justin Orenduff (8-3) picked up the win after tossing 7.2 scoreless innings and scattered four hits to go along with a game-high 12 strikeouts.
With the loss, Virginia’s record falls to 26-22 overall. The victory improves Virginia Commonwealth’s record to 39-11 on the season. UVa finished 0-2 against VCU this season after also dropping a 5-3 decision on April 29th in Richmond, Va. at The Diamond. Virginia closes out the 2003 home portion of its schedule with a record of 19-9.
The Cavaliers will return to action on May 15-17 when UVa travels to Chapel Hill, N.C. to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series. UVa and UNC will play a pair of night games on Thursday, May 15th at 7:00 PM and Friday, May 16th at 7:00 PM before wrapping up the series on Saturday, May 17th at 2:00 PM. All three games will be played at the Tar Heels’ Boshamer Stadium on the campus of North Carolina.
Virginia’s three-game ACC series against UNC is the last remaining regular season contests for Virginia on its schedule before the Cavaliers travel to Salem, Va. to compete in the ACC Tournament at the Salem Memorial Baseball Stadium on May 20-25.
— UVa —