/
.
Baseball
Freshmen, Strong Pitching Key 8-2 Win over Rider in NCAA Regional
FULLERTON, Calif. Andrew Carraway (Jr., Marietta, Ga.) pitched seven strong innings, John Barr (Fr., Ivyland, Pa.) had a career-high four hits and Michael Schwimer (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) tied the Virginia single-season saves record as the third-seeded Cavaliers earned an 8-2 win over No. 4-seed Rider Saturday in an elimination game at the NCAA Fullerton Regional at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, Calif.
Virginia (39-22) advances to play Cal State Fullerton, the No. 5 national seed, at 7 p.m. ET Sunday. The winner of the 7 p.m. game will then play UCLA at 11 p.m. ET Sunday in the regional championship game. If necessary, a second championship game will be held at 11 p.m. ET Monday. All games from the Fullerton regional will be televised on ESPNU.
Carraway (4-3) pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career. He went seven innings, allowing two earned runs, six hits and one walk while striking out 10. Carraway tied career highs in innings pitched and strikeouts.
Michael Schwimer (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) tossed the final two innings to earn his 14th save, tying Casey Lambert’s 2005 mark for the most in a single season at Virginia.
Virginia’s freshmen combined for 10 of the Cavaliers’ 14 base hits, highlighted by Barr’s career-best four-hit night. David Coleman (Fr., Richmond, Va.) tied a career best with three hits, while Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) added two more hits after his three-hit day on Friday. David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) also had a pair of hits for Virginia.
Rider starting pitcher Jimmer Kennedy pitched 5.2 innings and gave up four earned runs, 10 hits, four walks and three strikeouts. He took the loss and fell to 7-5 this season.
Virginia took a 1-0 lead in the third inning on a Jeremy Farrell (Jr., Westlake, Ohio) sacrifice fly to score Greg Miclat (Jr., Concord, N.C.). The Cavaliers were robbed of more runs when center fielder Jon Leise made a sensational diving catch to end the inning with two runners on base.
The Cavaliers pushed their lead to four in the fourth inning. After Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) led off with a single and Barr doubled, Tyler Cannon (So., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) grounded out to score Valdes from third. Miclat followed with a single to plate Barr, and Coleman doubled to bring Miclat around from first and give UVa a 4-0 lead.
Rider (29-28) cut the lead in half with two seventh-inning runs. Mason Heyne hit a double to score Steve Galella, and Mo Williams followed with a sacrifice fly to plate Sean Olson. Carraway escaped further damage by striking out David Hayes and getting John Ralston to ground out with a runner on third base to end the inning.
Virginia took advantage of three Rider errors in the eighth inning to score four times, with the big blow a two-run single coming from Barr with two out.
Game Notes NCAA Fullerton Regional Game 3
– Virginia, making its fifth-consecutive appearance and eighth overall in the NCAA regional, is now 12-15 in the tournament.
– Virginia is now 4-0 all-time vs. Rider after playing the Broncs for the first time since 1987.
– Andrew Carraway tied career high with seven innings pitched and 10 strikeouts. He has pitched seven innings three times and last vs. Wake Forest on April 20. He also matched his strikeout high of 10, set April 6 at Florida State.
– Michael Schwimer matched the UVa single-season record for saves with 14. He ties the 2005 mark set by Casey Lambert.
– John Barr had a career-high four hits, topping his previous high of three set vs. Georgia Tech on May 15
– David Coleman tied a career high with three hits, matching the mark he set last Friday against Florida State in the ACC tournament.
– Virginia’s freshmen combined for 10 of the Cavaliers’ 14 hits vs. Rider and 14 of 22 in the tournament thus far (4 of 8 Friday).
– Phil Gosselin had two hits in the contest and now boasts a team-high five in the tournament.
– David Adams had two hits to give him 226 career hits and move past Chris Kughn (1987-90, 225) and into eighth place on the UVa career chart.
– Greg Miclat was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. It was his 19th career HBP, tying him for 10th on the UVa career list with Adam Robinson (1994-97).
– Jeremy Farrell had two RBI on a pair of sacrifice flies, giving him 54 for the season and moving him into a 13th-place tie on the UVa single-season ledger. He matches Jon Benick (1999).
– Greg Miclat competed in his 61st game of the season, tied for sixth-most in a single season at Virginia. Adams, Farrell and Tyler Cannon participated in their 60th games of the year, which is tied for ninth most.