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No. 1 Cavaliers Win Opener at Boston College, 17-0
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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Danny Hultzen (Jr., Bethesda, Md.) and Shane Halley (Jr., Burke, Va.) combined to one-hit Boston College as the top-ranked Virginia baseball team cruised to a 17-0 victory over Boston College Friday at Eddie Pellagrini Diamond at Commander Shea Field in Chestnut Hill, Mass. UVa recorded its 13th shutout of the season, building on its ACC record.
The offense exploded for 18 hits, tying a season high. All nine UVa starters recorded at least a hit and a run each. Kenny Swab (Sr., Kernersville, N.C.) went 3-for-5 with five RBI. Steven Proscia (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.) went 3-for-6 with an RBI; with that RBI Proscia secured sole possession of the UVa career RBI record with 168, breaking the record held by Sean Doolittle (2005-07).
Hultzen (9-1) worked seven innings and allowed just an infield single, a walk and hit batter while striking out eight. UVa’s all-time leader in strikeouts, Hultzen moved into 10th place on the all-time ACC strikeouts list with 342. He improved to 29-3 in his career. Halley tossed two perfect innings to wrap up the win.
Boston College (15-25, 6-15) used nine pitchers in the game. Starter Andrew Lawrence (2-2) pitched the first inning, giving up a pair of runs (one earned), a hit and a walk. He also hit a batter. BC’s Garret Smith picked up the Eagles’ lone hit, an infield single on a slow roller in the fourth inning.
UVa plated a pair of runs in the opening inning. Chris Taylor (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) led off with a single and moved to second when John Barr (Sr., Ivyland, Pa.) was hit by the 3-2 pitch. After a groundout advanced the runners, Proscia grounded to third base, and Smith’s throw to the plate was wild, allowing Barr to score in addition to Taylor. Proscia was credited with an RBI on the fielder’s choice as he broke the UVa RBI record.
UVa added a run in the second when Taylor cranked a two-out single to center, plating Reed Gragnani (So., Richmond, Va.) from second base.
The Cavaliers sent eight batters to the plate in a four-run third inning. John Hicks (Jr., Sandy Hook, Va.) led off with a double and scored one out later on single by King. Swab followed with a run-scoring double and then came home on a double to right-center from David Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.). With two outs Keith Werman (Vienna, Va.) slapped a single to left to plate Coleman and push the lead to 7-0.
In the fourth inning UVa got a two-out single from Proscia before Jared King (Jr., Radford, Va.) coaxed a walk. Swab then launched a double to left-center to score both runners. UVa added a run in the fifth on a Barr single to plate Werman, who reached on a one-out error.
The first five Cavaliers that stepped to the plate in the sixth inning reached base, with four scoring. Proscia legged out a leadoff double, then scored on a King single. After Swab singled and Coleman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Gragnani singled to advance the runners one base and score a run before Werman launched a double over the head of the right fielder, scoring two to stretch the advantage to 14-0.
UVa added three final tallies in the ninth inning, getting a run-scoring single from pinch hitter Ryan Levine (So., Hackensack, N.J.) before Tyler Biddix (Sr., Richmond, Va.) and Swab hit back-to-back sacrifice flies.
Virginia and Boston College will play game two of the series at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.