The top-ranked Virginia baseball team scored eight runs in the first two innings and never looked back in coasting to a 12-0 victory over Radford Tuesday evening at RU Baseball Stadium in Radford, Va. With the shutout win the Cavaliers broke the ACC single-season record for shutouts with their 12th shutout of the year; the record was held by the 1977 Clemson and 2005 Virginia teams.
David Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) went 4-for-4 to highlight a strong offensive performance by the Cavaliers (37-3), who piled up 16 hits in the contest. Chris Taylor (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) led off the game with a home run and finished 3-for-5 with three RBI, while Jared King (Jr., Radford, Va.) added three hits and a pair of RBI. John Hicks (Jr., Sandy Hook, Va.) hit a three-run home run.
Four Virginia pitchers combined on a two-hitter. Virginia starter Cody Winiarski (Sr., Franksville, Wis.) worked seven strong innings, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out six. He improved to 5-2 this season. Corey Hunt (Sr., Charlottesville, Va.), Aaron Stull (So., Croatan, N.C.) and Shane Halley (Jr., Burke, Va.) combined to blank the Highlanders (21-15) over the final two innings.
Radford starter Cassidy McDaniel (1-3) faced only six batters before getting removed. He worked one-third of an inning, allowing five earned runs and three hits in taking the loss.
Virginia jumped out fast with a first-pitch blast to left field by Taylor to lead off the game – his first career home run. John Barr (Sr., Ivyland, Pa.) was then hit by a pitch, and Hicks walked. One out later Danny Hultzen (Jr., Bethesda, Md.) singled to right to plate Barr, and King followed with a two-run double to left, spelling the end of the day for McDaniel. Coleman ripped reliever Brad Wimmer’s first pitch back up the middle for a single, scoring King to give UVa a 5-0 edge.
UVa continued to pour it on in the second, getting back-to-back one-out singles from Taylor and Barr before Hicks launched a towering three-run home run to left-center field. It was Hicks’ fourth homer of the year.
Virginia tacked on a pair of runs in the sixth inning when Taylor cranked a two-run double to right-center field, scoring Coleman and Reed Gragnani (So., Richmond, Va.). UVa completed its scoring in the ninth inning on a two-out, two-run triple by Gragnani.
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Chris Graham
