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No. 3 Baseball Rallies for 8-3 Win at No. 25 Miami in 11 Innings
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March 24, 2014
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CORAL GABLES, Fla.– The No. 3 Virginia baseball team scored six runs in the 11th inning in an 8-3 victory over No. 25 Miami Sunday night at Alex Rodriguez Park in Coral Gables, Fla. The Cavaliers (18-4, 6-2 ACC) evened the series with the Hurricanes (13-11, 5-3) at a game apiece; the rubber game is slated for 7 p.m. Monday and will be televised by ESPNU.
Branden Cogswell (Jr., Ballston Lake, N.Y.) racked up his first career four-hit game, going 4-for-7, while Brandon Downes(Jr., South Plainfield, N.J.) added three hits, including a home run. Every UVa starter recorded at least one hit as the Cavaliers piled up 16 hits.
UVa reliever Connor Jones (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.) worked three scoreless innings to earn the win and improve to 2-0. Whit Mayberry(R-Sr., Alexandria, Va.) got out of a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the 11th inning to earn his first save.
Virginia starter Josh Sborz(So., McLean, Va.) pitched a career-long seven innings while striking out a career-best 10 batters in a dominating performance. He gave up just a hit, two walks and a hit batsman during his stint. The hit and walks all came in a three-batter span in the fifth inning.
Enrique Sosa (0-1), the fifth of seven Hurricane pitchers, took the loss after allowing four runs (three earned) in the 11th inning. Miami starter Andrew Suarez matched Sborz all evening, giving up two earned runs and nine hits in 6 2/3 innings. He struck out three.
After retiring the first 13 batters in order, Sborz walked back-to-back batters, Zack Collins and Alex Hernandez, with one out in the fifth inning, and Johnny Ruiz doubled both runners home with a blast to center.
Virginia tied the game in the seventh inning. Downes led off with a long home run to right-center, his fourth blast of the year. Nate Irving(Jr., Yonkers, N.Y.) singled on the next pitch and moved to second on a passed ball with one out. With two outs and facing a 2-2 count, Cogswell singled through the right side of the infield, bringing Irving around from second.
UVa had its chances from the sixth through 10th innings but stranded 10 base runners before breaking through in the 11th by sending 10 batters to the plate in a six-run inning.
UVa loaded the bases with none out against Sosa before Howard chopped a ball in front of the plate for a single, scoring Cogswell to break the deadlock. Facing Danny Garcia, Joe McCarthy (So., Scranton, Pa.) drew a walk to bring in Daniel Pinero (Fr., Toronto, Ontario). A passed ball allowed Mike Papi (Jr., Tunkhannock, Pa.) to score. Two outs later, Robbie Coman (So., Lake Worth, Fla.) ripped a single to left field, scoring a pair of runs. Kenny Towns(Jr., Burke, Va.) followed with a ground-rule double to left off Sam Abrams to give UVa an 8-2 lead.
Howard took the mound in the bottom of the 11th inning and was uncharacteristically wild, issuing his first three walks of the season; the third forced in a run with none out. Mayberry came in and struck out Collins and induced a 4-6-3 double play from Hernandez to end the game with no further damage.
The teams finish the series at 7 p.m. Monday in a game that will be televised by ESPNU and streamed on the WatchESPN app. WINA 1070-AM will have the local radio broadcast, while VirginiaSports.com also will have the audio broadcast through a Cavaliers Live subscription.
A link to live statistics will be located on VirginiaSports.com. The audio and live stats also can be accessed through the Virginia Sports app, which is available through iTunes.