#15 Virginia Cruises To School-Record 13th Consecutive Victory With 8-3 Win Over Norfolk State
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April 20, 2004
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The #15 ranked University of Virginia baseball team recorded its school-record 13th consecutive win following an 8-3 victory over the Norfolk State Spartans in a non-conference game at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. UVa starting pitcher Josh Myers picked up his first collegiate victory in just his second ever start and the Orange and Blue scored eight runs on 10 hits to cruise to a five-run victory. Virginia has not lost a game since March 28th.
The Cavaliers used a key third inning scoring run to their advantage as UVa plated four run to take a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Matt Street got things started when he was hit by a pitch and scored the first run of the game on a RBI-single through the left side by Ryan Zimmerman two batters later. In UVa’s next at-bat, Joe Koshansky turned Virginia’s 1-0 lead into a 3-0 advantage with one swing of the bat when he belted his team-leading 12th home run of the season over the right field wall. The Cavaliers tacked on another run two batters later and plated the eventual game-winning run when Matt Dunn was hit by a pitch and score one batter later on a RBI-triple to right-center field by Tom Hagan.
Norfolk State scored all three of their runs in the game in the top of the fourth inning and pulled within one run of UVa at 4-3 after home runs by Darryl Chever (two-run HR) and Alfred Corbin (solo HR). But that would be all the scoring the Spartans would muster as the Cavaliers would go on to score four more unanswered runs to close out the game.
Virginia answered back in the bottom half of the fourth inning and stretched its lead to 6-3 when Koshansky and Dunn each posted a RBI. The Cavaliers added a pair of insurance runs by scoring a run in the bottom of the fifth and sixth innings thanks to a RBI-triple by Mark Reynolds and a RBI-single up the middle by Paul Gillispie, respectively.
UVa’s Myers (1-0) picked up the win after lasting 6.0 innings and allowed three runs on four hits and struck out three batters. Reliever Adam Laird tossed 2.0 scoreless innings and struck out a game-high four batters before Alan Zimmerer closed out the game with a scoreless inning of work.
NSU starting pitcher Joseph Weaver (0-3) took the loss for NSU after allowing six runs on seven hits in just 3.2 innings of action.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 33-7 overall. The loss drops Norfolk State to 14-26 on the year.
Virginia will return to home action on Wednesday, April 21st when the Cavaliers host the Virginia Tech Hokies in a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —