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Monmouth Defeats Virginia, 6-4, to Avoid Sweep
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March 6, 2016
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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Monmouth averted a series sweep with a 6-4 win over the No. 8 Virginia baseball team Sunday afternoon at Davenport Field. Virginia (7-4) had its four-game win streak snapped, but took the series, two games to one.
“I told the team yesterday that Monmouth is a tough ballclub, and they were going to fight and wouldn’t go away. Certainly they didn’t,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “They came out and earned that victory today. We didn’t execute defensively and we did some things inconsistently that we haven’t done this year. We had a lot of hits, but we couldn’t get the clutch hits and that’s to their credit.”
Virginia finished with 13 hits, as Ryan Karstetter (Port Matilda, Pa.), Daniel Pinero (Jr., Toronto, Ontario), Pavin Smith (So., Jupiter, Fla.) and Matt Thaiss (Jr., Jackson, N.J.) each had a pair. Virginia left 11 runners on base. Monmouth (3-7) recorded 11 hits, with Chris Gaetano, Shaine Hughes and Grant Lamberton each accounting for three.
Virginia starting pitcher Tommy Doyle (So., Vienna, Va.) took the loss and fell to 1-1 after allowing four earned runs, eight hits and two walks over six innings. He struck out six. Monmouth starter Ricky Dennis (1-1) picked up the win after giving up two earned runs, eight hits and a walk over six innings. Justin Andrews worked the final three innings to notch his first save.
Virginia jumped to a 1-0 lead in the second inning thanks to a pair of freshmen. With two outs Karstetter doubled to left, and he scored when Nate Eikhoff (Bristow, Va.) blooped a single to left-center.
Monmouth countered with a three-run third inning. With one out, the Hawks singled three straight times. Christian Holland’s single scored Lamberton to tie the game, and with two outs and the bases loaded, Gaetano doubled to right on an 0-2 pitch to plate a pair of runs.
UVA used another two-out rally in the third inning as Thaiss, Smith and Pinero hit consecutive singles to cut the Cavaliers’ deficit to 3-2. Monmouth got that run back in the fifth inning as Hughes hit a leadoff double and scored on a bloop single to left by Gaetano.
Monmouth scored a pair of runs in the eighth to push its lead to 6-3. Gaetano led off with a single and Ryan Bailey followed with a double against David Rosenberger (Sr., Bethlehem, Pa.). One out later, facing reliever Jack Roberts (R-So., Richmond, Va.), Sean Arnott walked to load the bases and Lamberton followed with a single through the drawn-in infield to score a run. Holland then walked to force in a run.
UVA took advantage of a Monmouth miscue to score with two outs in the eighth. Doak Dozier (Fr., Fort Worth, Texas) singled with to lead off the inning. Two outs later, Andy Weber (Fr., Aurora, Ohio) singled to right and when the ball was misplayed by Gaetano, Dozier came around to score.
The Cavaliers threatened with two outs in the ninth as Smith reached on a dropped fly ball and Pinero walked, but Dozier struck out looking to end the game.
Virginia finishes its 10-game homestand with a two-game midweek series against Wagner on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both games start at 4 p.m. The Cavaliers begin ACC play next Friday through Sunday at Duke.