Virginia Blanks UC Irvine 6-0 in Game 1 of Super Regional

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – In the opening game of the Charlottesville Super Regional Saturday afternoon, No. 1 national seed Virginia blanked UC Irvine 6-0 in front of 5,050 fans at Davenport Field. Danny Hultzen and Cody Winiarski combined for the shutout, the Cavaliers’ nation-leading 16th of the season.

Game two of the best-of-three series is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. at Davenport Field. The game will be televised by ESPNU.

Hultzen went 5.1 innings, allowing three hits, to pick up the win and improve to 12-3 this season. Winiarski pitched the final 3.2 innings, allowing just one hit, to record his first career save. Matt Summers took the loss for the Anteaters (42-17), allowing five runs on nine hits in six innings, to fall to 11-3 this season.

Jared King led Virginia offensively, going 3-for-4, including a 3-run homer. Chris Taylor and Steven Proscia each had two hits for the Cavaliers. Sean Madigan reached base three times to lead UC Irvine, drawing three walks.

The Cavaliers (53-9) took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the third. Keith Werman drew a leadoff walk and Taylor followed with a single. After both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt, Werman scored the game’s first run on an infield single by John Hicks. Taylor scored on Hultzen’s two-out single to right to make the score 2-0.

In the top of the fourth, there was a one hour-24 minute rain delay.

Following the delay, Virginia extended the lead to 5-0 in the bottom of the sixth. Kenny Swab and David Coleman each singled with one out. King followed with his three-run homer down the left-field line, his second homer of the season.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Cavaliers scored one more run to take a 6-0 lead. Hicks reached on a two-base error when his fly ball was dropped by the centerfielder. He came around to score on Swab’s two-out RBI single.

The winner of the three-game series will advance to the College World Series, beginning June 18 in Omaha, Neb.