Gosselin Triple Ignites UVa Rally, 6-4 Cavalier Win
Story Links
BLACKSBURG, Va. Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) hit a bases-clearing triple in the seventh inning to lift the No. 10 Virginia baseball team to a 6-4 victory over Virginia Tech Saturday at English Field. Virginia Tech won the series after taking the Thursday and Friday games.
Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) earned the win out of the bullpen and also had two hits and an RBI at the plate. Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) added three hits and finished the weekend 10-for-13.
UVa’s pitchers struck out 15 Hokies. Hultzen (7-1) and Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) combined to throw four perfect innings to finish the game. Hultzen, in his first career relief outing, pitched three perfect innings and struck out four, as he set the Virginia freshman strikeouts record with 80 (Jacob Thompson held the record of 77). Arico pitched the ninth and notched his eighth save.
Virginia Tech starting pitcher Mathew Price (3-4) tossed 6.1 innings, allowing six earned runs, 10 hits and one walk while fanning four. UVa starter Robert Morey (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) overcame a slow start to pitch five innings. He gave up four earned runs, 10 hits and one walk while striking out nine, but rebounded well after allowing three runs and five hits in the first inning.
Every UVa starter had at least one hit, as UVa totaled 13 in the game. Gosselin had four RBI, while Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) and Hultzen added a pair of hits.
Virginia Tech (32-21, 12-17 ACC) sent eight batters to the plate in the first inning while scoring three runs. Klint Reed led off with a double and scored one out later on a double by Anthony Sosnoskie. After an Austin Wates single, Michael Shaban singled in a run and Mike Kaminski also singled in one. Morey escaped a bases-loaded jam and further damage by inducing Buddy Sosnoskie to ground into a 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.
The Cavaliers (39-12-1, 16-11-1) cut a run from the lead in the third inning. With one out, Parker tripled down the right-field line and he scored on a groundout by Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.). Parker’s triple was his sixth this year second-most in a single season at Virginia.
The Hokies got the run back in the bottom of the third on a two-out solo home run by Kaminski his sixth homer of the year.
In the fifth inning, the Cavaliers loaded the bases with none out on consecutive singles by Cannon, Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and Werman hit a rocket that was caught in center field for a sacrifice fly.
The Cavaliers stormed back with four runs in the seventh inning. Cannon led off with a single and one out later moved up on a Werman bunt single. Parker walked to load the bases, and Gosselin followed with a triple into the right-field corner to clear the bases. Hultzen then hit a single to center to score Gosselin and give UVa a 6-4 lead.
Virginia moves into postseason play next week when it competes in the ACC Baseball Championship in Durham, N.C.
Fans can still purchase tickets to the tournament at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park. There are three options for purchasing tickets: 1) complete tournament packages; 2) team ticket packages; and 3) individual game tickets. The team ticket package is a new offering for fans this year. It includes a ticket to each of a team’s three pool play games between Wednesday and Saturday, May 20-23 in prime seating for that team at a discounted price. Online ticket information is available by clicking here.