No. 1 Virginia Falls 8-1 at Old Dominion
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April 29, 2014
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NORFOLK, Va. – The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team fell 8-1 to Old Dominion Tuesday evening in blustery conditions at Harbor Park in Norfolk, Va. Virginia (37-9) was ranked No. 2 nationally with a .985 fielding percentage coming into the game but committed a season-high four errors. UVa finished with just four hits in the game, which was played in a steady mist and winds blowing straight in at up to 30 mph.
Virginia starting pitcher Artie Lewicki (Sr., Wyckoff, N.J.) worked six innings, allowing four runs (two earned) and five hits. Lewicki (3-1) did not walk a batter and struck out six in taking the loss.
ODU starter Brett Harris (1-1) pitched five innings, giving up a run, three hits and one walk while striking out one to earn the win.
Virginia scored first in the second inning. Joe McCarthy (So., Scranton, Pa.) led off with a double and scored following back-to-back singles from Nick Howard (Jr., Olney, Md.) and John La Prise (So., Exton, Pa.). UVa then loaded the bases with one out, but a double play ended the threat, and the Cavaliers recorded just one more hit the rest of the game. La Prise finished with two of UVa’s hits.
ODU (27-18) took advantage of a pair of Virginia miscues to score twice in the third inning. With one out Tyler Urps singled. After Nick Walker reached on a fielder’s choice for the second out, Ben Slaton hit a dribbler down the first-base line that Lewicki mishandled for an error. P.J. Higgins then hit a high infield pop toward the right side of the infield; the ball blew back behind first base where La Prise dropped it near the line for an error, allowing two runs to score.
The Monarchs tacked on two runs in the sixth inning with a pair of two-out RBI hits. With one out Taylor Ostrich singled, and he scored on a two-out triple to right by Josh Eldridge. Connor Myers then hustled out an infield single to bring Eldridge home.
ODU scored four insurance runs in the eighth inning, all with two out on two-run doubles by Myers and Walker against reliever Connor Jones (Fr., Chesapeake, Va.).
Virginia heads into a weeklong break for final exams and is next in action May 7 at home against No. 22 Liberty.