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No. 5 Virginia Baseball Runs Past George Mason, 17-6
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March 27, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The fifth-ranked Virginia baseball team scored eight runs in the first inning and never looked back in defeating George Mason, 17-6, Tuesday at Davenport Field. Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) hit a grand slam to highlight the inning as part of his 3-for-4 day and finished a triple shy of the cycle.
“We seized an early opportunity today when we saw their pitching was struggling,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Brandon Guyer hit a big home run and we played well. I feel good about the way we pitched tonight, and it was a total team effort.”
Virginia (23-5) finished with 20 hits. David Adams (Margate, Fla.), John Scaglione (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) and Mike Mitchell (Chesapeake, Va.) each had three hits to lead the Cavaliers’ attack. Mitchell and Guyer each drove in four runs, while Scaglione knocked home three.
Freshman Neal Davis (Baltimore, Md.) picked up the win to move to 2-0 on the year. He tossed four innings, giving up six hits and two runs while striking out one. Jeff Lorick (Duluth, Ga.) completed the last three innings to earn his first career save.
Virginia put up an eight-spot and sent 13 batters to the plate in the first inning as each of the first eight hitters reached against George Mason starter Kris Mengle (0-1). Mengle did not retire a batter, giving up eight earned runs, four hits and three walks.
The first three Cavalier batters reached in the first innings before Adams singled off the glove of second baseman Dan Palumbo to plate Tyler Cannon (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.). Guyer followed with a grand slam to left-center field to push the lead to 5-0 after five batters. Patrick Wingfield (Winchester, Va.) then singled, Ryan Hudson (Tampa, Fla.) walked and Scaglione was hit by a pitch, forcing George Mason to switch pitchers and insert Jack Zeltner.
Zeltner then got the first out of the inning – a sacrifice fly to Mitchell – before giving up an RBI groundout to Cannon and an RBI single to Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) to complete the eight-run frame.
George Mason (11-12) got a run back in the second on a Justin Bour single, but Virginia answered in its half of the second with two runs. Guyer scored on an RBI grounder from Scaglione which was booted by GMU shortstop Brent Weiss. Mitchell then hit an RBI single to score Hudson.
The Patriots added single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but in each instance the Cavaliers responded with runs of their own – two in the fourth, three in the fifth and one in the sixth.
The Cavaliers tallied their final run in the seventh inning on a Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) groundout. George Mason added two runs in the ninth to complete the scoring.
Virginia finishes its five-game homestand at 5 p.m. Wednesday against Longwood.