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Baseball
Virginia Baseball Rolls To 9-3 Victory Over North Carolina A&T
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Feb. 14, 2004
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The University of Virginia baseball team recorded a 9-3 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies in the second game of a three-game non-conference series at War Memorial Stadium. After seeing a four-run lead shrink to one after seven innings of play, UVa pounded out five unanswered runs in the final two innings to cruise to a six-run win. The victory also secured the series for UVa, giving the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers wasted no time putting a pair of runs on the scoreboard and jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. UVa’s Matt Street led off the game with a double down the left field line before Mark Reynolds walked to put runners on first and second base with no outs. In Virginia’s next at-bat, Ryan Zimmerman doubled into the left-center gap to drive in Street and Reynolds, giving the Cavaliers a two-run lead.
The third inning shaped up similar for Virginia as the first inning did, as the Cavaliers scored another pair of run to extend their lead to 4-0. Like the first inning, Street and Reynolds both reached base to start the inning with no outs. Only this time, Street got on base following a passed ball on a strikeout and Reynolds reached base after being hit by a pitch. Street eventually crossed the plate on a RBI-double by Joe Koshansky to left field before Matt Dunn plated Reynolds from third base on a RBI ground out to second to give the Cavaliers a 4-0 lead.
Virginia held its four-run lead until the bottom of the seventh inning when North Carolina A&T finally got on the scoreboard with three runs. The Aggies’ Ben Teasley started the side off with a double down the left field line before he scored N.C. A&T’s first run of the game on a RBI-double down the left field line by teammate Chris Williams to make the score 4-1. Two batters later, Austin Love connected on a RBI-single to shallow left field coupled with a Cavalier fielding error that resulted in two more runs for North Carolina A&T to make it a 4-3 ballgame. UVa got out of the seventh inning jam with a one-run lead after an inning-ending double play.
With the score at 4-3 in favor of Virginia, the Cavaliers scored three runs in the top of the eighth inning to regain the four-run lead they had established earlier. The highlight off the inning occurred when Reynolds drilled a two-run, two-out RBI single to left field to drive in Paul Gillispie and Mike Mitchell for a pair of UVa runs to help build the lead to 7-3.
But Virginia didn’t stop there, as it kept the offense rolling in the top of the ninth inning and added a pair of runs to make the score 9-3. Joe Koshansky crushed a solo home run to right field to lead off the top of the ninth inning. Koshansky’s home run blast was his second of the season (and series) and marked the 12th home run of his career. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, Street walked for the second consecutive time with the bases loaded to score another UVa run, giving the Cavaliers a six-run cushion it would not relinquish.
UVa starting pitcher Chris Gale (1-0) picked up the victory on the mound after going 6.1 innings and allowed two runs while scattering five hits to go along with a game-high five strikeouts. First-year pitcher Casey Lambert saw his first collegiate action after going 1.2 innings and picked up his first collegiate strikeout. Canon Hickman closed out the game by tossing a scoreless inning and also struck out one batter.
N.C. A&T starting pitcher Ian DiGiorgio (0-2) took the loss after going 7.0 innings and allowed four runs (two earned) on six hits with a team-high three strikeouts.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 2-0 overall, while the loss drops North Carolina A&T’s record to 0-4 on the season.
The Cavaliers will return to action on Sunday, February 15th when Virginia and North Carolina A&T play the third and final game of the three-game weekend series. First pitch is scheduled for 10:00 AM at War Memorial Stadium.
— UVa —