Virginia Claims Tenth Consecutive Win Following 8-5 Victory Over Virginia Tech At Radford
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March 27, 2005
RADFORD, Va. – The Virginia Cavaliers (18-6, 4-3 ACC) defeated the Virginia Tech Hokies (7-9, 1-7 ACC) by the score of 8-5 in an Atlantic Coast Conference game at Dedmon Center Park on the campus of Radford University. The contest was the lone game played in a scheduled three-game ACC series after a rainout on Friday night and unplayable field conditions on Saturday at VT’s English Field caused the series two be moved to Radford. A doubleheader was scheduled to be played at Dedmon Center Park on Sunday, but inclement weather shortened the doubleheader to a single game.
The victory was UVa’s tenth consecutive win of the season which marks a season-high for the year. The Cavaliers also turned five double plays for the game, including three consecutive inning-ending double plays to close out the second, third and fourth innings.
“This was a good team win on the road,” said UVa head baseball coach Brian O’Connor. “Mike Ballard, Jeff Kamrath and Casey Lambert did a good job on the mound. The key to our success today was the ability to score runs with two outs, and in a lot of the cases, with nobody one base. That was really the story of the game, we got a lot of clutch hits. It was a tough day to play with the weather conditions, but we were fortunate to at least get one ball game in and to get the win.”
Virginia wasted little time getting on the scoreboard and took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. UVa’s Tim Henry led off the game by reaching base on an error by Virginia Tech’s Warren Schaeffer and made the Hokies pay for the miscue when he scored the first run of the game on a two-out RBI-single to right field by Sean Doolittle.
The Cavaliers extended their lead to 3-0 in the top of the second inning with another two out rally. UVa’s Kyle Werman got on base following a two-out double to right field before Henry drove him in to score a run one batter later on an RBI-double to left-center field to make it 2-0. After a wild pitch allowed Henry to advance to third base, Virginia’s Matt Street drove him in to score a run with an infield single to shortstop to make it 3-0.
Virginia Tech made it a 3-2 ballgame in the bottom of the second inning with one swing of the bat following a two-run home run to left field by Billy Marn. Marn’s home run, his second of the season, also drove in Joe Cueto on the play after he singled up the middle to lead off the side for the Hokies.
But the Cavaliers answered right back with a home run of their own in the top of the third inning by Doolittle. Doolittle’s home run was his team-leading fourth of the season and gave UVa a 4-2 lead.
Virginia Tech cut Virginia’s lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the third inning when Chris Stanton singled up the middle before scoring a run two batters later on a RBI-single to shallow center field by Cueto.
Two innings later, the Hokies took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning by scoring a pair of runs to take a 5-4 advantage after Bryan Thomas was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded before a double play ground out by Cueto plated another run.
However, the Cavaliers regained the lead in the top of the sixth inning and held onto it for good after another two-out rally and regained the lead at 6-5 after scoring a pair of runs. Werman walked, stole second base and then scored a run on an RBI-single by Henry to tie the game at 5-5. Henry advanced to second base on the play thanks to a Hokie error and scored a run himself one batter later on an RBI-single to left field by Street to make it 6-5.
In the top of the seventh inning, the Cavaliers used yet another two-out rally Virginia stretched its lead to 8-5 when Brandon Guyer reached base on a two-out error before Scott Headd belted a two-run home run to left field. Headd’s home run was his second of the season and UVa would not relinquish its three-run cushion.
The Cavaliers’ Jeff Kamrath (5-2) picked up the win after going 5.0 innings and allowed two unearned runs on two hits and struck out three batters. Casey Lambert closed out the game and earned his sixth save of the season.
The Hokies’ Ryan Kennedy (2-3) took the loss after going 5.2 innings and allowed four runs (one earned) on four hits and struck out two batters.
UVa starting pitcher Mike Ballard went 3.0 innings and allowed three runs on six hits and struck out one batter in a no-decision. Virginia Tech starting pitcher Nicky Bowers went 3.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits and struck out one batter, also in a no-decision.
With the victory, Virginia’s record improves to 18-6 overall, 4-3 in the ACC. The loss drops Virginia Tech’s record to 7-9 overall, 1-7 in the conference.
The Cavaliers will return to home action on Wednesday, March 30th when Virginia hosts the VMI Keydets in a non-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for 7:00 PM at Davenport Field at the UVa Baseball Stadium.
— UVa —