No. 11 Baseball Downs NC State, 6-3
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. The No. 11 Virginia baseball team picked up its first series win over NC State since 2001 with a 6-3 victory over the Wolfpack Saturday afternoon at Davenport Field. UVa has taken the first two games of the series and goes for the sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday.
Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor won his 250th career game and became the third-fastest coach in ACC history to reach 250 wins. O’Connor reached the milestone in his 348th career game (250-97-1). Only Clemson’s Jack Leggett (338 total games) and Florida State’s Mike Martin (343) reached 250 victories faster while members of the ACC.
Virginia starting pitcher Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) fired 6.1 strong innings, allowing three runs (two earned), six hits and three walks. He struck out two and also picked off two baserunners. He earned the win and improved to 5-0 this season and 16-3 in his career.
Neal Davis (Jr., Baltimore, Md.) threw 1.1 innings out of the bullpen and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the seventh inning before Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) came on to record four straight outs to finish the game and notch his fifth save.
John Lambert (1-2) started for NC State and took the loss. He went 3.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned), five hits and three walks while striking out one.
The top two batters in UVa’s batting order had half of the Cavaliers’ 10 hits. Leadoff hitter Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) picked up three hits for his eighth three-hit game this season. Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) added two hits, including an RBI triple to score Parker in the eighth inning.
NC State (19-24, 7-16 ACC) put the leadoff batter on in each of the first three innings and cashed in with a run in the third inning. Drew Martin was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved to third one out later on a Devon Cartwright single. Pat Ferguson then hit a two-out single to score Martin.
Virginia (34-8-1, 13-7-1) rallied with a pair of runs in its half of the third. Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) drew a walk to lead off, then advanced on a groundout. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) followed with a walk and the two combined for a double steal. Catcher Pratt Maynard threw to second on the play and the ball bounced into center field, allowing Grovatt to score and Hicks to move to third. Hicks then came home on a Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) single to center.
The Cavaliers tacked on two more in the fourth inning. Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) led off with a single and moved up two batters later when John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) was hit by a pitch. Parker followed with a scorcher up the middle that bounced off the glove of second baseman Andrew Ciencin and into center field for a single to score Hultzen. Center fielder Kyle Wilson then threw the ball into the Virginia dugout while attempting to nail Barr at third, allowing Barr to come home and score.
NC State sliced the lead to one with two runs in the seventh inning. With one out, Martin singled to left. He scored when Wilson doubled off the wall in left-center field. Wilson moved to third on a grounder by Cartwright, who reached on a throwing error by Cannon. Davis came on in relief, and the Wolfpack attempted a double steal of second and home and got Cartwright in a rundown, but Cannon dropped the ball while reaching to tag the runner, allowing Wilson to score.
Virginia got a run back in the bottom of the seventh. Cannon drew a walk to lead off and after Alex Sogard came on in relief, Gosselin put down a sacrifice bunt. Grovatt then ripped a hanging pitch to right field to score Cannon and give UVa a 5-3 lead.
The Cavaliers used a two-out rally to tack on an eighth-inning insurance run. Parker legged out an infield single and Cannon rocketed a triple into the right-field corner to score the run.
The Cavaliers and Wolfpack play the final game of the series at 1 p.m. Sunday. Because of an event at John Paul Jones Arena, baseball parking only will be available in the Cage lot and Emmet-Ivy Garage.