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No. 1 Virginia Baseball Takes 11th Straight, Downs VCU, 10-5
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team defeated VCU, 10-5, Tuesday night at Davenport Field, running its winning streak to 11 games as it enters a nine-day break for final exams. Virginia upped its record to 40-9, marking the earliest the Cavaliers have hit the 40-win plateau.
Virginia’s offense continued to click as the Cavaliers scored in double figures for the fifth straight game and the ninth time during the 11-game win streak. Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) homered, tripled and drove in three, while Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) and Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.) each had two hits.
Branden Kline (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) overcame a rocky second inning to pitch a career-best six innings and earn the win for UVa. Kline (4-0) allowed four runs and five hits in the second inning, but retired the final 13 batters he faced from that point. He walked one and struck out five.
Michael Graham (4-4) took the loss for VCU after giving up seven earned runs and seven hits in three innings.
Virginia got off to a hot start with a three-run first inning. Gosselin led off with a home run – his sixth homer of the season and his first to lead off a game. With two outs, Proscia singled to center, and he scored when Parker tripled off the Blue Monster in center field. It marked his sixth triple of the year and his school-record 16th career triple, which also ranks 15th in ACC history. John Hicks (So., Sandy Hook, Va.) then doubled just inside the third-baseline to bring Parker around and give UVa a 3-0 lead.
VCU (23-20-1) responded with four runs in the second inning, with all the damage coming after two were out. Brent Mikonis hit a solo home run to left field to start the rally. Paul Nice then singled and Nathan Furry drew a walk, and both advanced on a Kline balk. M.L. Morgan singled in both runners and moved to second on the throw to the plate, and he scored on a single to center by Matt Leskiw.
The Cavaliers used a two-out rally of their own to forge ahead in the third inning. With two out Proscia legged out an infield single, and Parker followed with a long home run to right-center for his seventh home run of the season.
Virginia tacked on four runs in the fourth inning. John Barr (Jr., Ivyland, Pa.) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and moved to second on a Kenny Swab (Jr., Kernersville, N.C.) single. Both runners advanced on a passed ball and scored on a Stephen Bruno (Fr., Audubon, N.J.) double to left. After Gosselin advanced Bruno with a groundout to second, Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) drew a walk. Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) singled to score Bruno and move Cannon to third, and Proscia hit a sacrifice fly to center to complete the four-run frame and open the lead to 9-4.
VCU got its final run in the eighth inning on a solo home run by Morgan. The Cavaliers tacked on their final score in the bottom of the eighth when Cannon singled to plate Gosselin.
After the nine-day exam break, the Cavaliers will play host to No. 24 North Carolina May 14-16 at Davenport Field.