'Hoos Shake Off Ugly Loss to VMI
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April 17, 2010
8:12 p.m.
CHARLOTTESVILLE — Moments after the final out was recorded Wednesday night in UVa’s 12-3 loss to VMI, Brian O’Connor addressed his players in Lexington.
The Cavaliers’ seventh-year baseball coach was not a happy man — “The veins in my neck were coming out,” O’Connor cracked Saturday — and he let his players know it.
“I wasn’t upset that we lost the game,” O’Connor said Saturday night at Davenport Field. “I don’t get upset when we lose games. It’s how we play the game.”
He’s had no complaints on that front this weekend. In the opener of a pivotal three-game series, UVa beat Virginia Tech 4-2 on Friday night before a sellout crowd of 4,219 at Davenport.
The Cavaliers clinched the series victory Saturday, pounding the Hokies 8-2 before another packed house.
Virginia (12-5, 29-8) will try to complete the sweep in Sunday’s finale, which starts at 1 p.m. That game, too, is sold out.
In the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll, the Wahoos are No. 1. The Hokies are No. 29.
Junior right-hander Robert Morey settled down after a shaky start and got the win Saturday. Morey (5-2) allowed five hits, struck out three and walked three before Tyler Wilson took over to begin the eighth.
“I think in a lot of ways it was his best outing,” O’Connor said, “because he pitched through the seventh inning.”
Virginia’s bullpen should be fresh Sunday. Closer Kevin Arico, who pitched the ninth Friday night, wasn’t needed Saturday. Wilson handled the final two innings for UVa in Game 2.