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No. 28 Virginia Baseball Edges VMI in 11 Innings, 6-5
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The No. 28 Virginia baseball scored single runs in the eighth and ninth inning to send its Tuesday night game with VMI to extra innings, then won it in the 11th inning on a John Barr (Fr., Ivyland, Pa.) single, coupled with a VMI throwing error, as the Cavaliers prevailed, 6-5, at Davenport Field.
Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) led off the 11th with a double to left-center field. Corey Hunt (So., Charlottesville, Va.) came on to pinch run, and one out later, Barr hit a tough grounder deep in the hole at second base. The throw to first was errant and allowed Hunt to scamper home with the winning run.
Virginia (35-17) owned an early 3-1 lead, only to see the Keydets (26-23) rally to take a 5-3 lead in the fifth inning. From there, VMI managed just two more hits against the stingy UVa bullpen, which went 6.2 innings and allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out eight. Robert Morey (Fr., Virginia Beach, Va.) captured the win and went to 2-0 after pitching a scoreless 11th inning.
Michael Bowman (3-5) took the loss for VMI and gave up two unearned runs and four hits in 2.1 innings. VMI starter Matt Murrer went four innings and allowed three earned runs and five hits while striking out a pair.
Greg Miclat (Jr., Concord, N.C.) went 3-for-4 with three RBI for Virginia. Valdes, Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) and Patrick Wingfield (Sr., Winchester, Va.) each had two hits for the Cavaliers.
Virginia manufactured a run in the first inning, as Miclat led off with a double, moved to third on a groundout and scored on a David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) groundout. VMI came right back and scored in the second inning on a passed ball.
The Cavaliers put up two in the second inning on a two-run Miclat single, but VMI came right back with a run in the third on an RBI grounder by Mike Roberts that was booted for an error.
VMI put up three in the third to knock UVa starting pitcher Jake Cowan (Fr., Roswell, Ga.) from the game. Roberts hit an RBI single to score the first run and later scored when reliever Neal Davis (So., Baltimore, Md.) uncorked a wild pitch. Jordan Ballard then slapped a single to right field to score Tanner Biagini and give VMI a 5-3 lead. Cowan went 4.1 innings and allowed five runs (four earned), five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.
It stayed that way until the eighth inning. Adams walked to lead off the inning. With two outs, he stole second. When the throw went into center field, Adams took third. Center fielder Justin Hess then held onto the ball too long, and Adams broke for the plate and beat the throw.
Virginia then tied the score in the ninth inning. Wingfield reached on an error to lead off. Pinch runner Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) then stole second and later scored on a Miclat single.
Virginia wraps up the regular season with a key three-game ACC series against No. 25 Georgia Tech. The Cavaliers and Yellow Jackets, who are tied for fifth place in the conference, will face off at 6 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.