Marsh Madness: Cavaliers Sweep #2 Clemson, 7-4
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March 19, 2006
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – – Brandon Marsh went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and one RBI and Tim Henry delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth that started a three-run inning as Virginia rallied and completed a three-game ACC sweep of No. 2 Clemson, 7-4, Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field in front of a season-high 1,879 fans. Casey Lambert (2-1) picked up his second win of the weekend in relief for the Cavaliers (19-4, 4-2 ACC) who swept Clemson for the second time under third-year head coach Brian O’Connor, who owns a 9-2 career record against the Tigers and has won six in a row against Clemson.
“We knew this weekend was important. Our guys stepped up and played well all weekend, “UVa head baseball coach Brian O’Connor said. “We’re playing with a lot of confidence right now and having a great crowd behind us really helped. Clemson has a lot of tradition, so these wins were very good for our program. The ACC is such a good conference. We can enjoy this one, but you better believe a good Wake Forest team is coming in next weekend as well. So, we have to get ready for this upcoming week and continue to play good baseball.”
Henry finished 2-for-5 with one run scored and one RBI. , Brandon Guyer and Tom Hagan each added two hits for the Cavaliers, who out-hit Clemson, 14-6, in the game. Sean Doolittle and Jeremy Farrell both had one hit for the Cavaliers. Virginia out-hit Clemson, 37-17, and hit. 370 in the series while UVa’s pitching staff held the Tigers to a .175 batting average. Virginia extended its home winning streak to 14 games.
Lambert pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief in picking up his second win of the weekend. He recorded two strikeouts. Mike Ballard started the game for the Cavs and allowed four runs on five hits in 5 2/3 innings and struck out six. Michael Schwimer relieved Ballard and tossed two scoreless innings. He gave up one hit and had one strikeout.
Daniel Moskos (1-3) took the loss for the Tigers as he gave up two runs on two hits in 1 1/3 innings. Stephen Faris was the Clemson starter. Faris held UVa to four runs on nine hits while striking out five. Tyler Colvin ended up 2-for-4 with two RBI including a home run while Stan Widmann was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Adrian Casanova and Travis Storrer each had one hit.
Henry’s RBI single up the middle started another two-out rally for the Hoos and gave UVa the lead for good in the bottom of the eighth. Beau Seabury was hit by a pitch with one out and moved to second on Greg Miclat’s sacrifice bunt. Henry singled up the middle to score Seabury putting UVa ahead, 5-4. Marsh then followed with a single to right field to score Henry, but Mitchell misplayed the ball and the three-base error allowed Marsh to round all four bases, putting the Cavs ahead, 7-4.
The Cavaliers and Tigers were tied 4-4 going into the eighth. In the top of the eighth, Storrer singled to lead off the inning. Schwimer struck out Ben Hall looking, and Hall was called for batter’s interference, preventing Beau Seabury to make a throw down to second base on a stolen base attempt, by D.J. Mitchell, who pinch-ran for Storrer. The play resulted into a double-play for the Cavaliers to get out of the jam.
Guyer’s two-run single in the bottom of the seventh with the bases loaded tied the game, 4-4. Miclat led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Marsh’s single to right field moved Miclat to third, but when the throw went home, Marsh took second giving the Hoos two runners in scoring position. Doolittle then walked and after a fly out by Adams, Guyer delivered his base-hit.
Adrian Casanova’s two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the second inning put the Tigers ahead, 2-1. Clemson took a 4-1 lead when Tyler Colvin hit a two-run home run over the wall in right center.
Virginia wasted no time putting up the first run of the game. Brandon Marsh tripled off the right field wall with one out and scored on David Adams’ sacrifice bunt to go ahead, 1-0.
Marsh ended the series 7-for-11 with four runs scored and three RBI. He hit .636, slugged .909 and had a .667 on-base percentage including three walks. Hagan hit .545 with six hits in 11 at-bats.
Virginia continues its 10-game home-stand when the Cavs host in-state foe Liberty, Tuesday evening at Davenport Field.