No. 3 Virginia Baseball Drops 13-9 Contest to Duke
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April 7, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – Duke scored four runs in the fourth inning and added five in the fifth to break open a close game and defeat the No. 3 Virginia baseball team, 13-9, on a blustery Saturday afternoon Davenport Field.
“Duke played very well today,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “I have to tip my hat to them. We didn’t execute our pitches or make plays at the big time.”
Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) and Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.) each had two hits to lead the Cavaliers’ offense, while Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) had two hits, including his fifth homer of the season, and drove in two runs.
Matt Packer (Germantown, Tenn.) took the defeat, going 3 2/3 innings, allowing six runs (two earned), seven hits and one walk with three strikeouts. He falls to 3-2 on the year. Duke’s Tony Bajoczky (6-2) earned the win after going six innings, allowing four earned runs, six hits and three walks while striking out four. Michael Seander pitched the final 1 1/3 innings to notch his seventh save.
Brett Bartles led the Duke offense with three hits and five runs batted in, while Nate Freiman and Matt Williams also chipped in three hits apiece.
Duke (22-12, 3-11 ACC) scored twice in the third inning on a double by Freiman, but Virginia (28-7, 9-5) came back in the bottom of the third with four runs, and all scoring with two out. Doolittle brought Miclat and Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) home with a single, then Guyer homered off the left-field foul pole on the next pitch to give Virginia a 4-2 lead.
Duke responded with four of its own in the fourth inning, with all the damage coming with two out. Back-to-back fielding errors by the Cavaliers allowed the first two runs to cross the plate and tie the game, then Bartles hit a two-run single to push the Blue Devils back in front, 6-4.
Duke then put a five-spot on the board in the fifth inning, with the big blow coming off the bat of Bartles, a three-run triple up the right-center field gap. The Blue Devils tacked on two more in the sixth on an RBI single by Gabriel Saade and a fielder’s choice from Ryan McCurdy.
The Cavaliers scored five in the eighth to make things interesting. Tim Henry (Fairfield, Conn.) hit into a fielder’s choice to score Ryan Hudson (Tampa, Fla.). Miclat followed with an RBI single, and Marsh hit an RBI double before Doolittle hit a pop-up that was dropped, allowing both runners to score and pull Virginia within 13-9.
Virginia and Duke conclude their three-game series at 1 p.m. Sunday.