Roberts Pitches No. 10 Baseball to 4-1 Win Over VCU

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. Will Roberts (Fr., Richmond, Va.) pitched seven innings of two-hit, shutout baseball to propel the No. 10 Virginia baseball team to a 4-1 victory over VCU Tuesday evening at Davenport Field.

The game was a pitchers’ duel throughout, as Roberts (4-0) out-dueled VCU starter Phillip Deane, who threw a complete game and allowed just three hits. In his career-high seven innings, Roberts faced only three batters over the minimum and struck out six. In eight innings, Deane (2-5) gave up four runs (three earned), three hits and two walks with one strikeout.

Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to notch his seventh save. With just nine hits between the two teams, the game lasted only two hours, 14 minutes.

Despite recording a season-low three hits, Virginia (38-10-1) took advantage of a walk and two hits by pitch to score three of their four runs. The Cavaliers used timely hitting to score in the first inning. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) walked with one out. On a hit-and-run, he scored from first base on a long single to left-center by Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.).

In the third, UVa benefited from a VCU error to score again. With one out, Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.) singled and stole second base. He scored when Hultzen lifted a fly ball to left fielder Matt Leskiw, who dropped the ball, allowing Parker to tally the game’s second run his school-record 67th of the year.

UVa tacked on a run in the sixth inning. Gosselin drew a leadoff walk and stole second. He scored one out later on a Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) single to right field. The Cavaliers then pushed their lead to 4-0 in the seventh inning when John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.) grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.

VCU (20-23) broke through for a run in the eighth inning against UVa reliever Neal Davis (Jr., Baltimore, Md.). Leskiw and Nate Furry hit consecutive singles to start the inning and put runners at first and third. Richard Gonzalez then grounded into a double play to score the run and break up the shutout.

The game was UVa’s final regular-season contest at home. The Cavaliers finished another successful season at Davenport Field with a 29-6 home mark, including a 21-1 record in non-conference games.

Virginia wraps up the regular season with a three-game ACC series Thursday through Saturday at Virginia Tech. The teams will play at 5:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.