Edited by Chris Graham
[email protected]
The No. 1-ranked Virginia baseball team racked up 15 hits in an 8-4 victory over NC State Saturday night at Doak Field at Dail Park in Raleigh, N.C. The series is now tied at one apiece, with the rubber game set for 1 p.m. Sunday.
The top four in the Cavaliers’ batting order combined for 10 hits Saturday, with Dan Grovatt (Jr., Tabernacle, N.J.) and Steven Proscia (So., Suffern, N.Y.) each notching three hits. Proscia went 3-for-3 and reached base in all five of his plate appearances. Phil Gosselin (Jr., West Chester, Pa.) and Keith Werman (So., Vienna, Va.) each had two hits, and Gosselin scored three times out of the leadoff spot. Stephen Bruno (Fr., Audubon, N.J.) added a pair of hits out of the nine-hole for UVa.
Robert Morey (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) started for Virginia and worked 6.2 innings, allowing four earned runs, eight hits and three walks while striking out five. He earned the win to improve to 4-1 this season. Branden Kline (Fr., Frederick, Md.) worked out of a seventh-inning jam and then pitched the final two innings to record his second save.
NC State starting pitcher Cory Mazzoni (3-2) worked six innings and gave up six runs (five earned), 12 hits and one walk with eight strikeouts in taking the defeat.
Virginia (23-5, 8-3 ACC) scored a run in each of the first three innings, while NC State (17-10, 4-7) tallied a run in the first inning and two in the second, and the teams remained tied until the sixth inning, when Virginia scored three times to break the deadlock.
In the first, UVa scored as Gosselin led off with a single and one out later, Grovatt and Proscia hit back-to-back singles to score the run. NC State countered with a run in its half of the first, as Kyle Wilson led off with a walk and scored with two out on a Danny Canela single.
Virginia scored a run in the second, as John Hicks (So., Sandy Hook, Va.) and Bruno hit back-to-back doubles to start the inning. NC State answered with a pair of runs in the second on a two-out, two-run double by Wilson.
Virginia then knotted the score in the next inning. Proscia led off with a double and moved to third on a Jarrett Parker (Jr., Stafford, Va.) groundout. Tyler Cannon (Sr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) then grounded to first, and Proscia, with a slide around catcher Pratt Maynard, touched the plate just before the tag to score the run.
NC State had a golden opportunity to take the lead in the fifth, putting runners at first and third with one out, but Canela grounded into a 4-6-3 double play to squelch the threat.
The Cavaliers broke the tie in the sixth inning, scoring three times after two were out. Gosselin started the rally with a single and moved to third on a Werman single. Grovatt then ripped a single up the middle to plate Gosselin and move Werman to second. Proscia walked to load the bases, and Parker was hit by a pitch to force in Werman. Cannon then grounded to shortstop Matt Bergquist, who bobbled the ball for an error to allow Grovatt to score UVa’s sixth run.
UVa added a pair of runs in the seventh. With one out, Bruno singled and moved to second when Gosselin was hit by a pitch. One out later, Grovatt singled to score Bruno and move Gosselin to third. Gosselin then scored on a Felix Roque wild pitch to give UVa an 8-3 lead.
NC State struck back with a two-out RBI double from Dallas Poulk in the bottom of the seventh. The Wolfpack then loaded the bases before Kline struck out Andrew Ciencin on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning.
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