No. 1 Virginia Baseball Defeats William and Mary, 9-1

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The top-ranked Virginia baseball team scored in each of the first five innings and received a strong pitching performance from a trio of hurlers in a 9-1 win over William and Mary Tuesday at Davenport Field. Will Roberts (So., Richmond, Va.), Chad O’Connor (R-Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) and Shane Halley (So., Burke, Va.) combined to scatter four hits while striking out 13 Tribe batters.

Roberts (2-0) overcame some early control problems to pitch six strong innings. He allowed an earned run, four hits and five walks while tying a career high with eight strikeouts. O’Connor and Halley combined to retire the final nine batters in order.

Cole Shain (1-1) took the loss for William and Mary after allowing four runs (two earned), seven hits and four walks. He struck out two.

Virginia (13-3) finished with 14 hits. Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) continued his torrid hitting of late, going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBI. John Barr (Jr., Ivyland, Pa.) went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBI, while John Hicks (So., Sandy Hook, Va.) also had three hits. Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.), playing in his 200th career game, went 2-for-5 with a two-run triple.

William and Mary (9-6) took advantage of some early Roberts wildness to score a run in the first inning. Derrick Osteen drew a one-out walk, then moved to third on consecutive wild pitches. He scored on a Tadd Bower groundout to second base.

UVa countered with a run in its half of the first. Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) walked to lead off and moved to third after back-to-back singles by Cannon and Grovatt. He scored on when Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.) grounded into a fielder’s choice.

In the second, Stephen Bruno (Fr., Audubon, N.J.) was hit by a pitch with one out. Gosselin then walked and both runners moved up a base when right fielder Derek Lowe dropped Cannon’s fly ball. Grovatt followed with a sacrifice fly to score Bruno.

UVa added a run in the third. With one out, Hicks and Barr hit back-to-back singles. Kenny Swab (Jr., Kernersville, N.C.) reached and the runners advanced one base when Lowe dropped Swab’s fly ball. Bruno then hit a sac fly to push the UVa lead to 3-1.

The Cavaliers posted a run in the fourth when Grovatt hit a one-out double down the right-field line and advanced to third when Lowe misplayed the ball for an error. Two batters later, Hicks singled to score Grovatt.

After four straight innings of scoring one run, UVa broke loose for five in the fifth against William and Mary reliever R.J. Archer. Bruno reached on an error to lead off. Gosselin then walked and both runners scored when Cannon tripled down the right-field line. Grovatt followed with an RBI single, and Proscia then singled to right. Two outs later, Barr doubled deep to right-center to score Grovatt and Proscia and give UVa a 9-1 advantage.

Virginia travels to James Madison Wednesday for a 6 p.m. contest.