Virginia Baseball Rolls To 13-2 Victory Over James Madison
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March 9, 2005
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The University of Virginia baseball team rolled to a 13-2 victory over the James Madison Dukes in a non-conference game at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium. Virginia’s Sean Doolittle recorded his first collegiate victory on the mound after going 6.0 solid innings and the Cavaliers pounded out 14 hits to post their second consecutive victory and their eighth win at home this season.
“Tonight was a great in-state win for us, I have a lot of respect for James Madison’s program,” said UVa head baseball coach Brian O’Connor. “Sean Doolittle really pitched well for us tonight. He pitched himself into some jams and fortunately he pitched himself out off them. He also got us a big home run tonight and I was really happy with the way our guys swung the bat and the way we played the game tonight.”
James Madison took and early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, but the Cavaliers came roaring back in the bottom half of the side by scoring four runs to take a 4-1 lead after two. After a pair of RBI-singles by Mike Campagna and Matt Street to give UVa its first lead at 2-1, Ryan Zimmerman connected on a two-run RBI-triple to push the score to 4-1 by posting his 22nd and 23rd RBI of the young season.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cavaliers stretched their lead to 5-1 when Doolittle drilled a solo home run to right field to give Virginia a four-run lead. Doolittle’s home run was his team-leading third of the season and his first at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
The Cavaliers broke the game wide open in the bottom of the sixth inning and took a 9-1 lead by scoring four more runs on the side. The inning was highlighted by Tim Henry’s two-run RBI-triple and he scored a run on the play himself thanks in part to one of three JMU errors in the game. Virginia erupted for three more runs in the bottom of the seventh inning, capped off by a two-run RBI-triple by Joe Florio to center field, and made it a 12-1 contest. Florio’s triple was one of three for UVa in the game.
James Madison interrupted Virginia’s 12 unanswered runs and plated a run in the top of the eighth inning to make it 12-2 when JMU’s Davis Stoneburner doubled before scoring on Skyler Doom’s RBI-single two batters later. But the Cavaliers answered right back with another run in the bottom of the eighth inning when Anthony Martinez singled and scored two batters later on Patrick Wingfield’s RBI-single to make the final score 13-2.
UVa’s Doolittle (1-0) picked up the win after going 6.0 innings and allowed one run (unearned) on four hits and stuck out a game-high six batters. The Dukes’ Jacob Cook (0-2) took the loss and went 5.0 innings while allowing nine runs (eight earned) on nine hits to go along with a team-high three strikeouts.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 10-6 overall. The loss drops James Madison’s record to 1-7 on the season.
The Cavaliers will return to home action when Virginia hosts the Marist Red Foxes in a three-game non-conference series on March 11-13. All three contests will be played at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —