Virginia Completes Sweep of Marist, 10-2

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.-Derek Fisher (Fr., Rexmont, Pa.) had two hits and four RBI, including a three-run home run, and Reed Gragnani (Jr., Richmond, Va.) added three hits to lead the Virginia baseball team (11-5-1) to a 10-2 win over Marist (3-7) Wednesday evening (March 14), at Davenport Field.

Virginia starting pitcher Barrett O’Neill (Fr., Ashland, Mass.) (1-0) gave up two runs (one earned) on seven hits through five innings. After allowing runs in the first two frames, the Red Foxes were unable to cross the plate again.

Nick Howard (Fr., Olney, Md.), Nathaniel Abel (Fr., Haymarket, Va.) and Joel Effertz (Jr., Ladysmith, Wis.) combined for four scoreless innings of relief.

Marist starter Evan Davis took the loss (0-1), lasting three innings, with four runs, four hits allowed and two strikeouts.

The Red Foxes took a 1-0 advantage in the first inning after a Cavalier error led to a Nick McQuail sacrifice fly, scoring Jake Berry. UVa countered with a Mike Papi (Fr., Tunkhannock, Pa.) RBI single that scored Gragnani and tied the game at one.

Marist’s Alec Petrone’s RBI double down the left field line scored Mark Stuckey and gave the Red Foxes a 2-1 advantage in the second, but for the second day in a row, Fisher hit a home run in the third inning. Today’s long ball, a three-run shot that drove in Stephen Bruno (Audubon, N.J.) and Jared King (Radford, Va.) and gave the Cavaliers a 4-2 lead, was hit off the scoreboard in right-center field.

The Cavaliers broke the game open in the fourth to extend the lead to 7-2. The first five batters reached base, culminating with a two-run double by Bruno that hopped over third base.

In the fifth, Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) singled to score Colin Harrington (Jr., Johnstown, Pa.), who had moved to second after a sacrifice bunt by Nate Irving (Fr., Yonkers, N.Y.).

Pinch hitter Thomas Woodruff (Fr., Clifton, Va.) added a RBI double to left-center that scored Gragnani in the eighth.

The Cavaliers travel to Tallahassee, Fla., this weekend to face Florida State in a three-game series. Saturday’s matchup is at 8 p.m., and Monday’s game at 7 p.m., will be broadcast live on ESPNU, while Sunday’s afternoon contest is at 2 p.m., will be streamed live on ESPN3.