Home #4 Virginia blows late lead in loss to #23 Coastal Carolina
Sports

#4 Virginia blows late lead in loss to #23 Coastal Carolina

Contributors

virginia baseball#23 Coastal Carolina rallied against the Virginia bullpen to knock off the fourth-ranked Cavs, 5-4, in the finale of the Caravelle Resort Tournament on Sunday.

Alec Bettinger (0-1) took the loss, giving up an eighth-inning run on a two-out RBI single by Billy Cooke.

Starter Tommy Doyle put in a quality start for UVA (2-1), giving up two runs on four hits in six innings, striking out six and walking two.

Doyle gave up a two-run homer in the first to G.K. Young that put Coastal (2-1) up 2-1.

The ‘Hoos rallied for three in the fifth, on a two-run homer by Adam Haseley and an error on a grounder by Daniel Pinero that allowed Ernie Clement to score.

It would remain 4-2 Virginia into the seventh. Reliever Bennett Sousa walked the first two Chanticleers before being lifted for Kevin Doherty, who was a strike away from getting out of the inning with no damage, but Michael Paez went the other way with a 1-2 slider and blooped a two-run single into left, tying the score.

Bettinger pitched himself into trouble in the eighth with a pair of walks, but was also a pitch away from getting out of the inning before Cooke took a 3-2 pitch into left to score the go-ahead run.

Virginia was able to get a rally going in the ninth, with singles by Andy Weber and Ernie Clement putting runners on the corners and one down for Matt Thaiss, but Thaiss grounded into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

Andrew Beckwith (1-0) got the win in relief for Coastal Carolina, scattering five hits over four and a third scoreless innings, striking out three without issuing a walk.

Contributors

Contributors

Have a guest column, letter to the editor, story idea or a news tip? Email editor Chris Graham at [email protected]. Subscribe to AFP podcasts on Apple PodcastsSpotifyPandora and YouTube.