The No. 9 Virginia baseball team rolled to a 15-6 win over James Madison Tuesday at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (16-6) piled up 17 hits and improved to 7-0 in midweek games this season while scoring in double figures for the sixth time.
“I didn’t particularly think our approach in the first three innings was that great, but we certainly flipped the switch and had a really great approach at the plate in the middle innings and toward the end of the ballgame,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “They ran a bunch of pitchers out there, but we had a lot of guys that squared the ball up. I’m proud of our guys.”
Justin Novak (So., Tokyo, Japan) racked up a career-high four hits, while Pavin Smith (So., Jupiter, Fla.) and Andy Weber (So., Aurora, Ohio) each picked up three. Every UVA starter scored at least one run.
Virginia starting pitcher Adam Haseley (So., Windermere, Fla.) worked five innings and gave up two earned runs, four hits and two walks while striking out four. He earned the win and improved to a league-best 5-0 on the year. The third of eight JMU pitchers, Mark Gunst (0-1) took the loss after allowing four earned runs in an inning of work.
JMU (9-11) scored in each of the first two innings to grab an early 2-0 lead. Chad Carroll led off the game with a solo homer to left field, and Bobby San Martin singled home Adam Sisk with one out in the second.
UVA got on the board in the third inning when Smith hit a two-out single to bring home Matt Thaiss (Jr., Jackson, N.J.). The Cavaliers then moved ahead with a pair of runs in the fourth inning. After a leadoff single, Cameron Simmons (Fr., Royersford, Pa.) moved to third on a Weber single and scored when Sisk errantly fired the ball into the infield from right field. Weber moved to second on the error and then advanced to third on a balk. He scored on a single to left by Novak.
Virginia pushed its lead to 7-2 by batting around and scoring four runs in the fifth inning. With one out and the bases loaded, Simmons singled up the middle and off of second base to score a pair. Weber then beat out a bunt single to score Daniel Pinero (Jr., Toronto, Ontario).
After JMU scored a pair of runs in the sixth inning on a two-out UVA error, the Cavaliers blew the game open in its half of the sixth, sending a dozen batters to the plate as part of a seven-run frame. UVA had six hits in the inning – four of which scored runs, capped by a two-run single to center from Thaiss.
JMU scored two runs in the top of the eighth, but UVA countered with a run in its half of the inning on an Ernie Clement (So., Rochester, N.Y.) RBI single to score Novak to cap the scoring.
Virginia hits the road Friday through Sunday (March 25-27) for a three-game series at No. 8 Louisville. It marks the Cavaliers’ first-ever trip to face UofL.
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