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No. 10 Baseball Mauls Maryland, 17-2
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The No. 10 Virginia baseball team racked up 19 hits overall and scored 12 runs in its first three trips to the plate in a 17-2 victory over Maryland Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers take the ACC series, two games to one.
Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) led the Cavaliers’ offense with three hits, including a home run, and a career-high five RBI. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) matched a career high with four hits, while John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) added three hits. Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) had the big hit of the day, a second-inning grand slam.
Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) made the first ACC start of his career and went 5.0 strong innings, allowing two earned runs, six hits, one walk and five walks. He earned the win and improved to 5-2 this year. The UVa bullpen was stellar as well, with Neal Davis (Jr., Baltimore, Md.), Will Roberts (Fr., Richmond, Va.), Sean Lucas (R-Fr., Fishkill, N.Y.) and Justin Thompson (Fr., Danville, Va.) combining to allow just two hits and two walks over the final four innings.
Maryland starter Matt Fullerton (3-3) took the loss and lasted 1.2 innings, giving up six earned runs, five hits and two walks while striking out two.
UVa (26-5, 8-5 ACC) jumped out to a 2-0 first-inning lead, thanks to a Gosselin sacrifice fly and an RBI single by Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.).
The Cavaliers then poured it on in the second inning, scoring seven runs all after the first two batters were retired. The seven-run outburst was UVa’s most runs in one inning in an ACC game since tallying seven at Wake Forest on March 10, 2007.
Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) started the rally with a two-out walk, the stole second base and scored on a Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) double. Gosselin walked, and Grovatt followed with his second RBI single of the day, which spelled the end of the day for Fullerton. Sander Beck came on in relief and walked Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) before Valdes took a 1-0 offering and blasted it over the wall in deep left-center field for his first career grand slam and his fourth home run of the year.
Virginia tacked on three runs in the third inning when Gosselin cranked a three-run blast to left-center. It was Gosselin’s fourth long ball of the season.
Maryland (14-17, 4-11) cracked the scoreboard in the fourth inning on a A.J. Casario sacrifice fly, and the Terrapins added a tally in the fifth inning when Gerry Spessard tripled and then scored on a Wilson wild pitch.
Virginia scored in its half of the fifth when Gosselin doubled to lead off, moved to third on a fly out and scored on a Proscia sacrifice fly.
UVa added three more runs in the sixth. Tyler Biddix (So., Richmond, Va.), John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) and Parker hit consecutive single to start the inning and score the first run. One out later, Gosselin singled to center field to score Barr, and Parker came home on the same play when center fielder Will Greenberg overran the ball for an error.
The Cavaliers posted their 17th run in the seventh inning when pinch hitter Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) drew a walk with the bases loaded.
Virginia next plays a two-game midweek series with Stony Brook Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games start at 6 p.m. at Davenport Field. UVa returns to ACC play next weekend, traveling to No. 3 Georgia Tech for a three-game series.