Kevin Doherty (Sr., Laytonsville, Md.) hit a walk-off single to score Daniel Pinero (Jr., Toronto, Ontario) with one out in the 11th inning to lift the No. 8 Virginia baseball team to a wild 11-10 win over Monmouth Saturday afternoon at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (7-3) jumped out to a 9-0 lead before Monmouth (2-7) staged a furious rally to take a 10-9 advantage. UVA forced extra innings with a two-out run in the ninth inning.
“I told our team after the game that I’m proud of them,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “We can’t look at this game by what we did not do. Monmouth wasn’t going to go away. They battled, and that’s impressive about them. But I’m proud of our guys that when we gave the lead up, we didn’t go away either. We found a way to score a run. There are negatives to the game, but I think there are a lot of positives that we can draw as well.”
Virginia scored seven runs in the second inning and led 9-0 heading into the seventh inning before Monmouth scored three runs in the seventh and seven more in the eighth to take the lead. UVA tied the game on a Monmouth error with two outs in the ninth inning, and won in the 11th when Doherty stroked a tailing fly ball to center that a diving Christian Holland could not corral.
Bennett Sousa (So., North Palm Beach, Fla.) earned the win and improved to 1-0 with two scoreless innings of relief. Mike Brambilla (0-1) took the defeat after allowing the 11th-inning run.
UVA starter Daniel Lynch (Fr., Henrico, Va.) worked 6 1/3 innings, carrying a shutout into the seventh inning. He gave up three earned runs, four hits and two walks while striking out eight. Monmouth starter Anthony Ciavarella pitched two innings, giving up seven earned runs, eight hits and a walk.
Pinero matched a career high with four hits, going 4-for-4 and reaching base safely five times. He also drove in three runs and scored three times. Ernie Clement (So., Rochester, N.Y.) and Matt Thaiss (Jr., Jackson, N.J.) each added a pair of hits. Chris Gaetano recorded four hits for Monmouth, while Clay Koniencki drove in four runs.
Virginia used a seven-run second inning to bolt to a commanding early lead. With one out, Ryan Karstetter (Fr., Port Matilda, Pa.) singled home Pinero. With two outs, six straight Cavaliers reached base safely. Justin Novak (So., Tokyo, Japan) singled in Karstetter, and after a walk to Adam Haseley (So., Windermere, Fla.), Clement, Thaiss and Pavin Smith (So., Jupiter, Fla.) hit consecutive RBI singles. Pinero followed with a two-run double to make it a 7-0 game.
The Cavaliers tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth inning to push its lead to 9-0. With one out reliever Tyler Ksiasek walked Haseley and Clement before Thaiss hit a grounder to first baseman Shaine Hughes, who threw errantly to second, with Haseley coming around to score. Pinero later hit a sac fly to center to plate Clement.
Monmouth started its comeback with three runs in the seventh inning, getting a two-run single from Koniencki against Lynch before Robbie Alessandrine hit an RBI single against reliever Tyler Shambora (Jr., Venice, Fla.).
The Hawks then sent 12 batters to the plate against the UVA bullpen in a seven-run eighth inning to grab a 10-9 lead. With one out and a runner on base, Monmouth came up with four straight singles. Koniecki hit a two-run single to pull Monmouth to within 9-6. Aidan Favia hit an RBI single to make it 9-7 and knock Shambora from the game. Dan Shea tied the game against Doherty with a two-run single, and Gaetno followed with a run-scoring single to right to give Monmouth the lead.
Virginia tied the game with two outs in the ninth inning. Pinero led off with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice by Doak Dozier (Fr., Fort Worth Texas) and to third on a wild pitch. With two outs, pinch hitter Nate Eikhoff (Fr., Bristow, Va.) hit a slow grounder to second, where Sean Arnott made a sliding stop, but his throw to first was dropped by Kyle Ajjan, allowing Pinero to score.
Pinero was hit by a pitch to lead off the 11th, moved to second on a Dozier sacrifice and scored on the single to center by Doherty.
Virginia goes for the series sweep at 1 p.m. Sunday.
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