The No. 10 UVA baseball team (15-5, 4-1 ACC) won both games in Friday’s double-header over Wake Forest (12-9, 1-4 ACC) at Davenport Field.
The Cavaliers took the first game 4-0 then followed with a 6-4 win in the second game to clinch the series. UVA finished with 17 hits on the day to 12 for Wake Forest. Virginia totaled 10 extra-base hits, four coming in game two.
“It was amazing total collective team effort today,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Our pitching in the second game was spectacular. We’ve been playing good defense all year and if you’re going to have good pitching certainly you have to be able to pick up the ball and throw it across the infield and play well in the outfield and I think that we did all of those things.”
Sophomore Adam Haseley (Windermere, Fla.) led UVA with two triples, three doubles and two singles in the two games. Haseley scored four runs on seven hits with a RBI.
“That was certainly Adam’s best day collectively in a Virginia uniform since he has been here,” O’Connor added. “He was completely locked in today and he certainly has that ability to roll out seven hits in a double-header.”
The Cavaliers were outhit by the Demon Deacons, 7-6, in the first game but Wake Forest left 10 runners on base. Haseley recorded three hits, while sophomore Pavin Smith (Jupiter, Fla.), junior Daniel Pinero (Toronto, Ontario) and freshman Cameron Simmons (Royersford, Penn.) each had one hit.
Junior Connor Jones (Chesapeake, Va.) earned the win, pitching 7.1 scoreless innings with nine strikeouts. Jones allowed just six hits and two walks. Parker Dunshee recorded the loss for Wake Forest, pitching eight innings and giving up four runs, three earned.
Pinero hit a double to lead off the second inning and advanced to third on a long fly ball to center field by freshman Ryan Karstetter (State College, Penn.). A sacrifice bunt from freshman Nate Eikhoff (Bristow, Va.) brought Pinero home to give the Cavaliers a 1-0 lead. Jones retired six-straight batters, including four strikeouts in the second and third innings.
The Cavaliers added two runs in the fourth to take a 3-0 lead after a leadoff double by Smith, then Pinero reached on an error and advanced to second. Pinero was brought home by a sacrifice fly from Karstetter. Haseley hit a double to leadoff the fifth, then advanced on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Ernie Clement (Rochester, N.Y.) and scored on a sacrifice fly from Smith to give UVA a 4-0 lead.
Senior Kevin Doherty (Laytonsville, Md.) and junior Alex Bettinger (Woodbridge, Va.) combined for the final 1 2/3 innings on the mound to seal the win for the Cavaliers.
In the second game, UVA jumped out to an early 1-0 lead after a Pinero double scored Clement in the third. Wake Forest countered with three runs, including a two-run home run by Joey Rodriguez, to take a 3-1 lead in the fourth.
In the bottom of the inning, Virginia was just short of hitting for a cycle with a single, double and triple. Simmons led off the inning with a double, and then scored after a single by Novak. Haseley hit a triple to right field to score Novak. Clement followed with a double to plate Haseley and give UVA a 4-3 lead.
The Demon Deacons tied the game after a triple and a wild pitch in the sixth inning. UVA responded once again with a triple from Haseley who scored after junior Matt Thaiss (Jackson, N.J.) advanced to second on a throwing error.
Junior Tyler Shambora (Venice, Fla.) came on in relief and earned the win in 4.0 scoreless innings. Shambora the first six batters he faced. Senior David Rosenberger (Bethlehem, Penn.) pitched 5.0 innings to open the game. John McCarren recorded the loss for Wake Forest.
The Cavaliers tallied 11 hits to five for Wake Forest in the second game.
Virginia and Wake Forest will conclude the series tomorrow at 11 a.m. before the Cavaliers host James Madison in a mid-week contest on Tuesday, March 22.
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Chris Graham
