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Baseball
Virginia Wins Doubleheader Against Bucknell, 2-0 & 13-3, Sweeps Bison In Series
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Feb. 19, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team defeated the Bucknell Bison in a doubleheader at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. The Cavaliers won a close 2-0 decision in game one before routing the Bison 13-3 in the second contest. The pair of wins in the doubleheader, coupled with Virginia’s 7-2 victory over Bucknell on Friday, gave the Cavaliers a three-game sweep in the non-conference weekend series. UVa outscored the Bison 22-5 for the series and didn’t commit a single error compared to the 10 errors Bucknell committed, including seven in the final game of the series.
“The three wins and the series sweep over Bucknell were great for us,” said UVa head coach Brian O’Connor. “The thing I was most impressed with about our ballclub this weekend was our defense. We played three errorless games and got three very good starting pitching performances. Those two things, our defense and our pitching, are what’s going to carry this ballclub this year and it was great to see that this weekend.”
In game one of the doubleheader, UVa scored the only two runs of the contest in the bottom of the third inning. The Cavaliers’ Tim Henry singled up the middle and Matt Street connected on a bunt-single to the pitcher in Virginia’s first two at-bats to put runners at first and second. Two batters later, UVa’s Ryan Zimmerman drove in Henry and Street with a RBI-single to left field to give the Cavaliers a 2-0 lead. That would be all the scoring Virginia would need as Zimmerman’s hit and Henry’s run proved to be the game-winning marks.
On the mound for the UVa, Matt Avery (1-1) picked up his first win of the season and was one out shy of pitching a complete game shutout as the RHP threw 8.2 innings. Avery allowed no runs on six hits to go along with his game-high eight strikeouts. Closer Casey Lambert struck out the lone batter he faced in 0.1 inning of action to post his third save of the season to seal the win for Virginia. The Bison’s Matt Curry (0-1) took the loss after going 5.0 innings and allowed two runs on four hits with two strikeouts.
In the second game of the doubleheader, UVa jumped on Bucknell early and often and made the Bison pay dearly for their seven errors in the contest. The spark of the game for the Cavaliers was the bats of Zimmerman (2-for-4) and Josh Darby (1-for-4), as each player recorded four RBIs apiece in the contest. Zimmerman turned out to be a one-man wrecking crew against the Bison for the series as he went 5-for-12 at the plate with eight RBI and also scored a pair of runs. UVa’s pitching staff also struck out 20 batters for the series compared to nine for Bucknell.
UVa’s Jeff Kamrath (2-0) won his second game on the mound in as many appearances this season and turned in a solid 6.0 innings of work. Kamrath allowed just one run on four hits and posted a game-high six strikeouts to help Virginia cruise to the victory. The Cavaliers’ Alex Smith (2.0 innings) and Josh Myers (1.0 inning) closed out the game in relief duty. The Bison’s Nathan Mittag (0-1) took the loss after going 5.0 innings and allowed six runs (four earned) on four hits and struck out two batters.
With the two victories, Virginia’s record improves to 5-2 overall. The two losses drop Bucknell’s record to 0-3 on the season. UVa swept the series three games to none.
The Cavaliers will return to home action on Wednesday, February 23rd when Virginia hosts the Old Dominion Monarchs. The contest is scheduled for 3:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —