No. 14 Baseball Uses 10-Run Inning to Run Rule No. 4 UNC
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DURHAM, N.C. Behind a 10-run third inning and strong pitching, the No. 14 Virginia baseball team defeated No. 4 North Carolina, 11-1, in the ACC Baseball Championship Friday night in front of a crowd of 6,319 at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. The game was called during the eighth inning because of the tournament’s 10-run rule the first run rule at the event since 2006.<?xml:namespace prefix=”o” ns=”urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office”?>
Virginia, the tournament’s sixth seed, is 2-0 in Division B and can clinch a spot in the ACC Championship game with a win Saturday against No. 7-seed Duke. No. 1-seed Florida State already has clinched a championship-game berth out of the other division. North Carolina, seeded second, drops to 1-1 in the tournament.
Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) worked 6.1 innings, allowing one earned run, five hits and two walks while striking out six. The ACC Freshman of the Year improved to 8-1 this year and lowered his season ERA to 2.15. Robert Poutier (Sr., Yorktown, Va.) pitched 1.2 perfect innings in relief.
Five Cavaliers recorded two hits Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.), Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.), John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.), Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) and John Barr (So., Ivyland, Pa.). Every UVa starter scored at least one run.
The Cavaliers (41-12-1) tagged North Carolina ace Alex White (7-4) for eight earned runs and six hits in 2.1 innings. He walked two and struck out four. Virginia handed the All-American a loss for the first time in his six career starts against the Cavaliers.
White dominated in the first two frames, needing just 17 pitches to record six outs, including four strikeouts. UVa started the third inning with a double to left-center by Cannon. Valdes then singled up the middle to score Cannon and break the early deadlock. Barr flew out to deep center before the next six Cavaliers all reached base and each scored.
Parker singled to center and Gosselin followed with a bloop single to center to load the bases. Hicks singled to center to score Valdes, and Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) drew a walk to force in Parker. Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) followed with a single to right to plate Gosselin, and White then uncorked a wild pitch to score Hicks and give the Cavaliers a 5-0 advantage. After the wild pitch, White walked Hultzen, spelling the end of the Tar Heel right-hander’s evening his shortest outing since the 2007 College World Series against Rice.
Southpaw Brian Moran came on and struck out Cannon for the second out, but Valdes then worked a walk to force in a run after an 11-pitch at bat. Barr ripped a single to center to score Proscia and Hultzen, and Parker followed with a single through the right side to bring in Valdes. Gosselin wrapped up the offensive onslaught with a single to left to score Barr with the 10th run of the inning.
The 10-run inning was UVa’s first since Feb. 24, 2001, against Penn State. Virginia sent a season-high 15 batters to the plate and all nine Cavaliers in the lineup scored at least one run, while Valdes scored twice. UVa had nine hits in the inning eight were singles.
North Carolina (42-15) got on the scoreboard in the fifth inning on a solo home run to left field from freshman Levi Michael his 13th homer of the year.
The Cavaliers put up their final run in the eighth inning, loading the bases with none out before Scott Silverstein (Fr., Olney, Md.) coaxed a two-out walk to force in Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) and evoke the run rule.