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Wright State Knocks Off No. 1 Virginia Baseball, 2-1
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Wright State scored the go-ahead run in the sixth inning on a squeeze bunt and made it stand in a 2-1 win over the No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team on Friday at Davenport Field. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Cavaliers.
The contest was a pitchers’ duel throughout, with starters Danny Hultzen (So., Bethesda, Md.) of Virginia and Alex Kaminsky of Wright State battling for seven innings before the bullpens took over.
Kaminsky (1-1) pitched seven strong innings while allowing just one earned run, seven hits and a walk while fanning seven. Greg Robinson then came on in the eighth inning and pitched two scoreless frames to earn his first save.
Hultzen (2-1) was equally exceptional, working seven innings and allowing two runs (one earned), five hits and no walks while striking out nine. It marked just the second loss in Hultzen’s career (11-2). Tyler Wilson (Jr., Midlothian, Va.) blanked the Raiders over the final two innings.
Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) and Franco Valdes (Sr., Miami, Fla.) each had a pair of hits for UVa (6-2). Tristan Moore led the Raiders (3-5) with three hits.
In the first inning the Cavaliers jumped out to the early lead. Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) led off with a double to left-center and scored two outs later on a single to left by Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.).
UVa, which came into the game with three errors through seven games this season, committed three Friday. The first led to Wright State’s third-inning run. Gerald Ogrinc grounded to shortstop Tyler Cannon to lead off the inning, but the throw was short and skipped past first base for an error. After a Cameron Fagg sacrifice and a R.J. Gundolff strikeout, Jake Hibberd singled up the middle to plate Ogrinc and tie the game. The Raiders went on to load the bases before Hultzen struck out Casey McGrew looking to end the threat.
The Raiders grabbed the lead in the sixth inning. Moore and Quentin Cate started the inning with consecutive singles. McGrew then reached on a fielder’s choice, moving Moore to third, and Garrett Gray followed with a well-executed suicide squeeze bunt to score Moore.
UVa had a key opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth, as Grovatt singled to lead off and promptly moved to second on an errant pickoff throw. He moved to third on a deep flyout by Proscia, but Kaminsky rebounded to strike out Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) on a 3-2 pitch, and Cannon was thrown out by a half-step on a slow grounder to shortstop to end the threat.
Wright State loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but Wilson rebounded to strike out Gray looking and then forced Ashe to pop out to shortstop to end the inning.
Virginia next plays at 3 p.m. Saturday when it entertains Dartmouth. Wright State and Dartmouth open play tomorrow with an 11:30 a.m. contest at Davenport Field. Sunday, UVa will play twice, taking on Dartmouth at 11:30 a.m. and Wright State at 3 p.m.