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UConn holds off late UVA rally, wins 10-9 to even series

Chris Graham
baseball
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Fifth-ranked Virginia got the tying run to third base in the bottom of the ninth, but was unable to knot the score, in a 10-9 loss to UConn at Disharoon Park on Saturday.

Two runs came across in the bottom of the ninth on an a two-out, UConn error. Logan Michaels and Alex Tappen (came around to score on fly ball to right field off the bat of Devin Ortiz.

UConn reliever Caleb Wurster overcame the defensive miscue in right field by inducing a game-ending pop up.

Wurster pitched the final 2.2 innings and did not allow an earned run while striking out four. The lefty was credited with his first victory of the season.

The Huskies scored eight runs in their final four turns at the plate to help even the three-game series at 1-1. The Virginia pitching staff aided the Huskies late game success by issuing 11 total walks on the afternoon, three with the bases loaded.

“It was a tough, hard-fought game,” UVA coach Brian O’Connor said. “It wasn’t a pretty game with the walks on both sides. I felt like if we were able to get a shutout inning somewhere towards the back part of the game, we’d have a chance to win the game. Every time we got on the scoreboard even when we took the lead in the fifth, we gave it right back to them in the sixth.”

UConn captured its first lead of the series with a two-run fourth inning on a two-out RBI single by Chris Brown. The Huskies nine-hitter drove in a game-high four runs in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate.

Junior Zack Gelof gave Virginia its only lead of the afternoon with one swing of the bat in the fifth inning. With two outs and the bases loaded he found the gap in right center that cleared the bases and gave Virginia a 5-4 advantage.

It proved to be was short-lived after UConn plated four runs in the sixth. The Huskies scored two runs on bases loaded walks and another on a hit by pitch with the bags full.

The Cavaliers battled back in the seventh with their own four-run rally. Tappen delivered a big hit in the frame with an RBI single through the left side that scored Marc Lebreux. Later in the inning, Gelof tied game at seven by scoring on one of two passed balls in the frame.

Virginia starting pitcher Griff McGarry pitched four innings and struck out nine batters in his first outing of the year. Beginning with the fourth batter of the first inning, the righthander struck out five of the next six batters he faced including the side in the second on 16 pitches. McGarry was charged with two runs and did not factor in the decision.

The rubber game between the two teams is slated for Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACCNX. The Cavaliers will start righthander Mike Vasil on the mound and he will be opposed by righty Jimmy Wang.

The contest can also be heard on WINA 1070 AM/98.9 FM and WINA.com

 

Chris Graham

Chris Graham

Chris Graham is the founder and editor of Augusta Free Press. A 1994 alum of the University of Virginia, Chris is the author and co-author of seven books, including Poverty of Imagination, a memoir published in 2019, and Team of Destiny: Inside Virginia Basketball’s Run to the 2019 National Championship, and The Worst Wrestling Pay-Per-View Ever, published in 2018. For his commentaries on news, sports and politics, go to his YouTube page, or subscribe to his Street Knowledge podcast. Email Chris at [email protected].