#8 UVA baseball defeats George Washington, 7-1

The No. 8 UVA baseball team went on the road and picked up a 7-1 victory over George Washington Tuesday afternoon at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park in Arlington, Va. It marked UVA’s first trip to northern Virginia since the 2004 season.

Virginia starter Derek Casey (Jr., Mechanicsville, Va.) pitched six strong innings, giving up a run and seven hits while striking out five as he earned his first decision of the year. Alec Bettinger (Sr., Woodbridge, Va.) and Chesdin Harrington (So., Montpelier, Va.) limited GW to one hit over the final three innings to finish off the win.

Cameron Simmons (So., Royersford, Pa.) led UVA with three hits. Jake McCarthy (So., Scranton, Pa.) went 2-for-4, scored three runs and stole his NCAA-leading 11th base of the season as part of a big day. Pavin Smith (Jr., Jupiter, Fla.) hit a two-run home run for the Cavaliers (12-1).

George Washington (3-10) used seven pitchers in the game. Starter Shane Sweeney (0-1) worked 1 2/3 innings, allowing two runs, two hits and two walks in taking the loss.

Smith gave UVA the early lead with a long two-run home run in the first inning. The blast over the right-center field wall was Smith’s fourth of the year.

UVA tacked on a run in the third as McCarthy drew a leadoff walk, then stole second base despite GW pitching out, and later scored on a Simmons single to right-center. GW countered in its half of the inning on a Mark Osis RBI single, but Casey evaded further damage by getting Bobby Campbell to line into an inning-ending double play.

Virginia manufactured another run in the fourth as Cayman Richardson (Fr., Mechanicsville, Va.) was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a balk and third on an Ernie Clement (Jr., Rochester, N.Y.) sacrifice bunt before scoring on a McCarthy single through the drawn-in infield.

McCarthy produced another run for a 5-1 lead in the eighth as he doubled down the left-field line, then came around to third as Osis fumbled the ball in left field and kept rolling home as Osis slowly got the ball back into the infield. Sliding home without a throw to the plate, McCarthy was credited with a double while Osis was scored a two-base error.

Virginia added a pair of runs in the ninth on a two-run pinch-hit single from Andy Weber (So., Aurora, Ohio).

Virginia opens ACC play this weekend (March 10-12) at No. 10 North Carolina. Game 1 has been moved up to a 3:30 p.m. start (originally 6:30 p.m.)