Virginia Downs Navy 6-0 in NCAA Regional Opener

CHARLOTTESVILLE – In the opening game of the Charlottesville Regional, Virginia defeated Navy 6-0 on Friday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers, the No. 1 national seed, opened regional play with a win for the fifth time in the past six years.

Will Roberts picked up the win for Virginia, striking out a career-high 14 batters in a complete game four-hit shutout. He improved to 11-1 this season. Ben Nelson, who allowed six runs on nine hits in 6.1 innings, took the loss to fall to 6-6 this season.

Danny Hultzen led the Cavaliers offensively, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs. John Hicks and Chris Taylor added two hits each for Virginia. Greg Dupell led Navy (33-24-1) with two hits.

The Cavaliers (50-9) took the early lead with two runs in the bottom of the first. After the first two batters were retired, Hicks started the rally with a double. Steven Proscia followed with a walk and both scored on Hultzen’s triple down the right field line.

Virginia doubled its lead with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Taylor led off the inning with a double and scored on Hultzen’s two-out single to center. Kenny Swab followed with a RBI single to center that scored Proscia.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth as the Cavaliers added a run. Keith Werman and Taylor drew one-out walks and John Barr’s single that followed drove in Werman

Hicks added one final run as he led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run off the left field pole, his seventh homer of the season.

Virginia will meet the winner of the East Carolina-St. John’s game at 6 p.m. on Saturday. Navy will meet the East Carolina-St. John’s loser in an elimination game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.