No. 14 Virginia pulls away late to earn series split with VCU

No. 14 Virginia scored six runs in the seventh inning and came away with a 12-6 win over VCU on Wednesday at Disharoon Park.

The Cavaliers (34-12) came from behind twice in the contest, trailing 2-0 in the second and 5-4 after five innings. Alex Tappen put UVA in front for good with an RBI single up the middle that scored Casey Saucke in the sixth.

Virginia added some insurance in a big way, sending 11 batters to the plate in a six-run, seventh inning, the 25th time this season the Cavaliers have scored five or more runs in a single inning.

Tappen collected four hits, all singles, in a 4-for-5 effort at the plate. With the go-ahead single in the sixth, he recorded his 60th RBI of the season, only the 13th Cavalier ever to compile 60 RBI in the same season.

After VCU (25-18) scored two runs in the top of the second, the Cavaliers responded with a four-spot in the bottom half of the frame. Ethan Anderson tied the game with one swing, a two-RBI double down the left field line. The next batter, Saucke, launched the first pitch he saw into the right centerfield gap that allowed Anderson to score from second base.

VCU scored the game’s next three runs and took a 5-4 lead on an RBI groundout from Logan Amiss. Sophomore Tyler Locklear scored the go-head run after recording his first triple of the season and only the fourth against UVA this season in the at bat prior.

Saucke scored the tying run in the sixth after reaching on the second of his two doubles on the afternoon. He moved over to third on a wild pitch and came into score on an RBI groundout from Griff O’Ferrall.

Chris Newell provided the initial insurance in the seventh with a solo homer over the right field wall, his 11th homer of the season, to give UVA a two-run advantage.

Saucke followed up a batter later with a two-run homer that traveled 415 feet to left center. Saucke finished the day 3-for-5 with three runs scored, two doubles, a home run and three RBI.

Reliever Paul Kosanovich was credited with his third victory of the season, matching a season-high with three innings pitched. He took over in the fifth and shut down a VCU offense that scored in three-straight innings. He allowed two hits and fanned a pair, improving to 3-0 on the year.

Postgame: UVA coach Brian O’Connor

“After a little bit of a sluggish start in the game, from a pitching and defensive standpoint, I didn’t think we played well, in those two areas in the first part of the game. We had the big four-run inning, I just didn’t think we were pitching it and playing defense like we needed to. Paul Kosanovich came in and candidly, calmed the game down. That’s what a good veteran does. He threw strikes, gave us three strong innings, stranded some runners and gave us a chance to have a couple of big innings. The next 10 days can be challenging for a team. Virginia is an excellent school academically and their focus needs to be on their schoolwork, their exams and their papers. Sometimes this game leading into next week can be a challenge because they’re so focused on being successful academically. I’m just proud of our guys that we found a way to have a positive game, a positive outcome, going into the exam break.”