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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The Virginia baseball team was down to its final strike in the ninth inning but rallied with a run in the ninth and another in the 10th to down Boston College, 5-4 in 10 innings, Saturday at Davenport Field. The Cavalier freshmen stepped up, as Dan Grovatt (Fr., Tabernacle, N.J.) hit the tying single on a 3-2 pitch in the ninth and Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) singled in the winning run in the 10th to give Virginia its 16th-consecutive home victory.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Neal Davis (So., Baltimore, Md.) earned his first win of the season by tossing two innings of scoreless relief. Boston College’s Chris Kowalski (0-1) was saddled with the loss.
Both starting pitchers threw well. Virginia’s Pat McAnaney (Sr., Syracuse, N.Y.) pitched 6.2 innings and gave up two runs (one earned), six hits and two walks while striking out eight. Boston College’s Dan Houston went eight innings and gave up three earned runs, 10 hits and four walks while fanning seven.
Tyler Cannon (So., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) led the Cavaliers with a 3-for-4 effort, while Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) had two hits, including an RBI double. Tony Sanchez paced the Eagles with three hits.
Trailing 4-3, Virginia (18-4, 4-4 ACC) started its rally in the bottom of the ninth. Greg Miclat (Jr., Concord, N.C.) was hit by a pitch to lead off. He advanced on a sacrifice and wild pitch. With two outs, Grovatt hit the 3-2 pitch into right field to tie the score.
In the 10th inning, Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) reached on an error with one out. Corey Hunt (So., Charlottesville, Va.) pinch ran and advanced on a sacrifice. He scored when Parker hit the first pitch through the right side of the infield.
Virginia jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) single to score Miclat, who had walked with one out and then stole second.
Boston College tied the score in the fifth inning on an Eric Campbell, but Virginia countered with a run in the sixth on a Gosselin double to Farrell, who had doubled on the previous pitch.
The Eagles took the lead in the seventh against reliever Jake Rule (Sr., Waynesboro, Va.), scoring two runs with two out on an RBI single from Campbell and a double from Robert Anston.
UVa rallied to tie the score in the eighth on a Valdes single, only to see the Eagles come right back with a run in the ninth on a Sanchez single.
The series concludes with a 1 p.m. game Sunday.