Cavaliers Drop Second Game of MLB4 Collegiate Tournament

Box Score | Box Score (PDF) | Highlights

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – No. 17 TCU (1-1) scored the first seven runs and never looked back in an 9-4 victory over Virginia (0-2) on the second day of the MLB4 Collegiate Tournament at Salt River Fields.
 
Making his collegiate debut, Virginia starting pitcher Mike Vasil (Wellesley, Mass) worked two clean innings in which he fanned three batters before TCU broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third. The Horned Frogs 1-2 batters, Porter Brown and Josh Watson, each plated a run with RBI doubles to highlight the scoring in the frame. Brown and Watson finished the night with four hits apiece.
 
In what turned into be a four-run fourth inning also spelled the end for Vasil who gave way to junior Paul Kosanovich (Temple City, Calif.) with two outs in the inning. Kosanovich worked the next 4.1 innings allowed, three earned runs and struck out three batters.
 
The Cavaliers got on the scoreboard with a three-run fifth inning. The first three Cavalier batters walked before Jack Dragum (Mechanicsville, Va.) scored on a wild pitch. Two hitters later, Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Pa.) delivered a two-out single that scored a pair of runs and pulled within four runs.
 
Virginia found itself down 9-3 after a TCU insurance run in the bottom of the eighth inning and put three runners in the top of the ninth. A Horned Frog fielding error allowed pinch-runner Drew Hamrock (Roswell, Ga.) to score all the way from first base.
 
Senior Cameron Simmons (Royersford, Pa.) went 2-for-5 with a pair of singles while shortstop Tanner Morris (Crozet, Va.) went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
 
The Cavaliers will play the final game of the inaugural MLB4 Collegiate Tournament on Sunday, squaring off against No. 24 Cal State Fullerton at 5 p.m. EST. Virginia will send junior righthander Noah Murdock to the mound and he will be opposed by freshman righty Michael Knorr.
 
Additional Notes
• Making his first start behind the dish, Logan Michaels (DeForest, Wis.) threw out a runner attempting to steal in the fourth. Virginia catchers have caught three of the four runners attempting to steal in the first two games.
• Dragum (Mechanicsville, Va.) made his first collegiate start at second base making several key defensive plays including a double play in the first inning. He walked and scored one of four Cavalier runs.
• Vasil, Dragum and Hamrock all made their collegiate debuts in the contest. Kosanovich, a junior college transfer made his first appearance in a Virginia uniform.