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Baseball
Adams' Walk-off Homer Pushes No. 5 UVa Baseball to 7-6 Win
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April 14, 2007
CHARLOTTESVILLE – David Adams (Margate, Fla.) ripped a two-out, three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to rally the No. 5 Virginia baseball team to a 7-6 victory over Georgia Tech Saturday at a soggy Davenport Field. The Cavaliers were down to their final strike before Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) walked and Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) was hit by a pitch. Adams then swatted his third homer of the season and first career walk-off blast.
“A win like this can carry you for a long time,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “We have lacked a little confidence since we haven’t been playing out best lately. A win like this can really boost our confidence and push us down the stretch.”
The walk-off home run capped a 3-for-5, four-RBI performance from Adams. Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) added two hits, including a home run, while Tyler Cannon (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) added two hits. Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) extended his hitting streak to 24 games with a single in the third inning.
Virginia starter Matt Packer (Germantown, Tenn.) pitched four innings, giving up four earned runs, seven hits and two walks while striking out five. Pat McAnaney (Syracuse, N.Y.) pitched three scoreless innings out of the bullpen to earn the win and improve to 2-0 this year.
Georgia Tech’s Danny Payne (0-2) gave up the winning rally in the ninth inning. Starting pitcher Eddie Burns gave up three earned runs, seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts in four innings.
Virginia (31-8, 11-6 ACC) scored in the opening inning on a solo home run to left field by Marsh, his third homer of the season.
Georgia Tech (21-14, 10-7) scored twice in the third to take the lead. Brad Feltes tripled to lead off and scored one out later on a Michael Fisher single. After a walk to Matt Wieters, Wally Crancer grounded out to first baseman Greg Miclat (Concord, N.C.), who stepped on first for the second out, but his attempt to nab Wieters at second was errant and allowed Fisher to score.
The Cavaliers came right back in the bottom of the third with two runs of their own. With one out, Miclat singled and moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Marsh. Doolittle followed with a sacrifice fly. Guyer continued the inning with an infield single and Adams brought Marsh home with a single up the middle.
Georgia Tech took the lead back with three runs in the fifth inning. Packer gave up a single to Payne and a walk to Fisher, then was lifted for Michael Schwimer (Alexandria, Va.). Wieters hit the first pitch for a double to score Payne, and Crancer followed with a groundout to score Fisher. An out later, Plagman doubled to center to plate Wieters and give Georgia Tech a 5-3 advantage.
The Yellow Jackets tacked on a run in the sixth inning when Crancer walked with the bases loaded, but Guyer walked with the bases loaded in the seventh to get that run back and cut the lead to 6-4.
The game was delayed an hour and five minutes at the start because of rain, and the contest was played in rainy conditions for the majority of the day.
Virginia and Georgia Tech will square off in the rubber game in the series at 1 p.m. Sunday.