Virginia won the Charlottesville Regional with a 13-1 victory over East Carolina in the championship game Sunday night before 5,050 fans at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers, the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed, advance to the NCAA Super Regional round for the third consecutive season as they also recorded their school-record 52nd victory of the season.
Virginia will play the winner of the Los Angeles Regional, either UCLA or UC Irvine, in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend. Dates and times will be announced on Monday night.
The Cavaliers scored their 13 runs on 17 hits as six starters had at least two hits, led by Chris Taylor and Steven Proscia with three each. Taylor had a game-high four RBI and Keith Werman scored three runs after reaching base five times. John Wooten led the Pirates by going 3-for-4 and driving in their only run of the game.
Tyler Wilson (8-0) got the victory for Virginia, allowing one run on seven hits in 6.1 innings, striking out seven. Zach Woods (2-3) took the loss for East Carolina, allowing five runs in 1.2 innings.
Virginia (52-9) took the lead in the top of the second with five runs, all scored with two outs. Proscia led off the inning with a single and David Coleman drew a two-out walk. Proscia came around to score on Jared King’s RBI single. After Werman was hit by a pitch to load the bases, Taylor drove in Coleman and King with a single up the middle. After a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third, John Barr’s single through the right side brought in Werman and Taylor for a 5-0 Cavalier lead.
The Cavaliers added to their lead with four runs in the top of the fourth. Werman walked and Barr reached on a fielder’s choice before John Hicks drove them both in with a two-out double to the right-centerfield gap. Proscia followed with a double to the left-centerfield gap that scored Hicks. Danny Hultzen’s single up the middle drove in Proscia to make the score 9-0.
East Carolina (41-21) scored its run in the bottom of the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by Ben Fultz and Wooten made the score 9-1.
Virginia extended its lead to 10-1 in the top of the sixth. Barr led off the inning with a triple down the right field line and scored on Proscia’s sacrifice fly.
The Cavaliers made the score 12-1 in the top of the seventh with another two-out rally. After the first two batters of the inning were retired, King singled and Werman was hit by a pitch. A wild pitched advanced the runners and both scored on Taylor’s single up the middle.
Virginia added one run in the top of the ninth. Taylor reached on a fielder’s choice after Werman singled. He eventually came around to score on Mitchell Shifflett’s infield single for the Cavaliers’ 13th run of the night.
Hultzen, who batted .643 (9-14) in the regional in addition to winning his start on the mound on Saturday, was named the Most Outstanding Player of the regional. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by six Cavalier teammates: Hicks, Taylor, Proscia, Barr, Coleman and Will Roberts. East Carolina’s Wooten, Fultz and Chase McDonald, along with Matt Wessinger and Jimmy Brennan of St. John’s rounded out the team.
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Chris Graham
