No. 1 Virginia Baseball Sweeps Doubleheader with Duke

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team swept a doubleheader with Duke Sunday at Davenport Field, winning a 3-2, 11-inning nailbiter in the opener before rolling to an 18-4 victory in the nightcap. In earning its sixth straight ACC series win and fourth conference weekend sweep, Virginia improved to 36-3 overall and 16-2 in the ACC, while Duke fell to 20-19, 4-14 in the conference.

Steven Proscia (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.) went 5-for-8 with a homer and three RBI in the doubleheader as he wrapped up a great week in which he went 12-for-21 (.571) with a pair of homers and eight RBI. John Barr (Sr., Ivyland, Pa.) went 4-for-8 with four doubles and five RBI in the twinbill.

Game 1
John Hicks (Jr., Sandy Hook, Va.) singled to drive in Barr for the game-winning run in the 11th inning as the top-ranked Virginia baseball team outlasted Duke, 3-2, in game one.

Branden Kline (So., Frederick, Md.) earned the win and improved to 3-0 after pitching 3.1 innings of scoreless relief while striking out six. Virginia starting pitcher Tyler Wilson (Sr., Midlothian, Va.) was brilliant, firing a career-high 7.2 innings with 10 strikeouts. He allowed just two hits and two earned runs; he started the game by retiring the first 16 batters.

Wilson’s stellar outing somewhat overshadowed a great outing by Duke starter Dennis O’Grady, who worked 7.0 innings, giving up two earned runs and six hits. Marcus Stroman (1-2) worked out of jams in all four innings that he worked before allowing the winning run in the 11th; he tossed 3.2 innings, giving up a run and five hits.

Proscia (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.) went 3-for-4 with a solo home run to lead the Cavaliers’ offensive output. UVa finished with 11 hits, while Duke had four.

UVa staged a two-out rally in the 11th to earn the win. Barr doubled to left-center with two out and Hicks followed with a single to left-center to easily score Barr with the deciding run.

Virginia took advantage of a two-out walk to score the game’s first run in the second inning. Jared King (Jr., Radford, Va.) worked a walk with two outs, then stole second. He scored when David Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) singled up the middle.

UVa added a run with one out in the sixth when Proscia hit a solo home run just inside the left-field foul pole. It was Proscia’s fourth long ball of the year.

Duke knotted the score in the eighth on a two-out, two-run double by pinch hitter Mark Tatera off Kline, who had just entered in relief of Wilson.

UVa squandered bases-loaded, no-out opportunities in the eighth and 10th innings. The Cavaliers went 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position in the first game.

Game 2
UVa’s bats came out blazing in the 18-4 win in the nightcap. The Cavaliers finished with 17 hits, including seven doubles.

Barr went 3-for-3 with three doubles and five RBI. Proscia went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Coleman knocked in three runs.

In his first weekend start since 2009, Will Roberts (Jr., Richmond, Va.) worked five innings, allowing three runs (two earned), eight hits and no walks while striking out five. He earned the win and improved to 8-0 this season.

Ben Grisz (1-2) allowed seven earned runs and five hits in 2.1 innings in taking the loss for Duke. Jeff Kremer had four hits for the Blue Devils.

Duke scored in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by David Perkins. Virginia countered with two in the bottom of the inning on an RBI double from Hicks followed by a run-scoring groundout by Proscia.

The Blue Devils knotted the score in the second on a Jordan Betts single to score Joe Pedevillano.

Virginia blew the game open in the third inning, sending 13 batters to the plate in a nine-run inning. After the first two batters reached, Barr cranked a double down the left-field line to score two and break the 2-all tie. He then scored on a Proscia single to center. Grisz left the game with runners on second and third, but reliever David Putnam struggled with his control, hitting Jared King with a pitch before walking Coleman and Reed Gragnani (So., Richmond, Va.) to force in two runs.

Drew Van Orden relieved Putnam and gave up a safety squeeze to Keith Werman (Jr., Vienna, Va.). Chris Taylor (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) then popped up on the infield, but Van Orden dropped the fly, allowing a run to score to give UVa a 9-2 lead. Barr shot a double up the left-center field gap to plate two more runs and push the Cavaliers’ advantage to 11-2.

The Devils sliced a run from the lead in the fourth inning on a Betts RBI double, but Virginia countered with five more runs in its half of the fourth, highlighted by a two-run double by Coleman and a run-scoring double by Barr – his third double of the day.

Duke got a run in the sixth on an RBI double by Will Piwnica-Worms, and UVa answered with a seventh-inning run on a King sacrifice fly. The Cavaliers added a final run in the eighth on a Ryan Levine (So., Hackensack, N.J.) double to score Rob Amaro (So., Bensalem, Pa.).

Virginia travels to Radford for a 6 p.m. Tuesday contest before returning home to battle Richmond at 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Cavaliers will take on NC State next weekend in a three-game ACC series at Davenport Field.