Tyler Wilson (Sr., Midlothian, Va.) pitched seven shutout innings and David Coleman (Sr., Richmond, Va.) homered and drove in five runs as the top-ranked Virginia baseball team defeated Virginia Tech, 9-3, Saturday afternoon at English Field in Blacksburg. Virginia (27-2, 10-1 ACC) now has won eight straight games and also has clinched its fourth straight ACC series this year.
Wilson (4-0) pitched seven innings, giving up five hits and two walks (one intentional). He struck out 10, marking his second straight double-figure strikeout performance and the third of his career. Wilson did a great job of working out of jams, as Tech went 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position against him.
Virginia Tech starter Marc Zecchino (2-4) worked 5.2 innings, allowing seven earned runs, nine hits and a walk in taking the loss. He struck out 11.
Virginia’s five- through seven-hole hitters provided the majority of the offensive punch with nine of the Cavaliers’ 14 hits. Coleman went 4-for-5 with a double, home run and five RBI. Steven Proscia (Jr., Suffern, N.Y.) went 3-for-5, while Kenny Swab (Sr., Kernersville, N.C.) was 2-for-3. All three scored a pair of runs each.
Virginia opened the scoring in the second inning. Proscia hit a one-out single and stole second. Swab drew a walk. Coleman then ripped a double off the top of the left-center field wall to plate Proscia.
Virginia Tech (14-15, 1-10) had plenty of opportunities over the first three innings, and the Cavaliers aided the cause by committing four errors (UVa was tied for No. 1 nationally in fielding percentage entering the week). In each instance Wilson was able to escape further trouble. He struck out six batters over the first three frames, and the Hokies left five runners on base during that time.
Coleman again came up big in the fourth inning. Proscia and Swab hit back-to-back one-out singles, and Coleman launched a three-run home run over the right-center field wall for his first round-tripper of the year, giving UVa a 4-0 edge.
Virginia padded its lead with a three-run sixth inning. With one out Swab and Coleman hit consecutive singles. Reed Gragnani (So., Richmond, Va.) followed with a grounder through the right side of the infield. When right fielder Chad Pinder went down with an injury during the play, Gragnani made it to second for a double while both runners scored. One out later Manny Martir came on in relief and allowed a single up the middle by Chris Taylor (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) to plate Gragnani and stretch the lead to 7-0.
The Hokies put together a two-out rally in the eighth against reliever Shane Halley (Jr., Burke, Va.), getting singles from Jake Atwell and Chad Morgan before Tyler Horan went the other way and got a ball up in the 20 mph wind blowing straight out to left for his second homer in as many days. The long ball cut the UVa lead to 7-3.
Virginia got two runs back in the ninth inning on a Virginia Tech error and Coleman’s fourth hit of the day, a single to plate Jared King (Jr., Radford, Va.). Justin Thompson (Jr., Danville, Va.) pitched the final 1.1 innings to seal the win.
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Chris Graham
