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Virginia Baseball Opens ACC Tourney Play with 6-1 Win over N.C. State
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May 23, 2007
Preorder Your NCAA Regional Tickets
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The third-seeded Virginia baseball team scored six runs in the sixth inning and used a sterling pitching performance from Jacob Thompson (Danville, Va.) to top No. 6-seed North Carolina State, 6-1, Wednesday in the first game of the 2007 ACC Championship at The Baseball Grounds of Jacksonville.
Thompson (11-0) fired eight innings, allowing just an unearned run, five hits and a walk while striking out three. Jake Rule (Waynesboro, Va. ) came on in the ninth and tossed a scoreless inning to wrap up the game. Clayton Shunick (5-3) took the loss for N.C. State after going 5 1/3 innings and allowing six earned runs and nine hits.
Tyler Cannon (Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), Sean Doolittle (Tabernacle, N.J.) and David Adams (Margate, Fla.) each recorded two hits for the Cavaliers (42-13) as part of their 10-hit attack.
After being shut down offensively for the first five innings by Shunick, Virginia sent 11 men to the plate in a six-run sixth inning. Brandon Marsh (Alpharetta, Ga.) and Doolittle each singled to start things. Brandon Guyer (Herndon, Va.) hit a bunt single, and when Shunick chucked the ball down the left-field line while trying to make a play at third, Marsh came home to score. Adams followed with a two-run single through the drawn-in infield to give Virginia a 3-1 lead.
One out later, Jeremy Farrell (Westlake, Ohio) singled and Patrick Wingfield (Winchester, Va.) followed with a walk to force Shunick from the game. Pinch hitter John Scaglione (Palm Beach Gardens, Fla.) came back from a 1-2 count to coax a walk and score a run against Andrew Taylor. Jeff Stallings then came on to pitch and Cannon laced a two-run single to give Virginia a 6-1 lead.
The Wolfpack (36-20) scored its lone run in the fourth inning. With one out and Ramon Carona on third base, Mike Roskopf lifted a fly ball to shallow center field. Tim Henry (Fairfield, Conn.) held the runner with the throw to the plate, but the ball short-hopped catcher Beau Seabury (Mount Vernon, Wash.) and trickled away, allowing Carona to come home.
The Cavaliers continue ACC Championship play at 4 p.m. Thursday against No. 7-seed Georgia Tech. Virginia plays No. 2-seed North Carolina at 1 p.m. Saturday. The team with the best record in the pool will play for the championship at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Virginia fans can preorder tickets for a NCAA Regional online onthe UVa Athletics Tickets Web site and by phone through the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 800-542-UVA1 (8821) or 434-924-UVA1 (8821).
NCAA Regional sites will be announced on Sunday, May 27 and the NCAA field will be announced Monday, May 28. The Virginia Athletics Ticket Office will be closed Monday for Memorial Day, but tickets can be purchased online.