UVA Baseball: #10 ‘Hoos snatch defeat from jaws of victory, drop series opener at Pitt, 7-5

#10 Virginia wasted a 112-pitch outing from ace Henry Zatkowski, the issue being, first baseman Sam Harris misplaying a potential inning-ending double play into a game-tying double, ahead of a two-run homer from a Pitt batter who wouldn’t have gotten to the plate otherwise.

Then the Panthers got the save with a reliever throwing meatballs in the ninth to close out a 7-5 win.

This is the kind of game that reinforces that UVA (29-14, 12-10 ACC) isn’t worthy of hosting a Regional in June.

Yes, yes, for the fourth straight game, the ‘’Hoos had to play without their two projected first-round MLB Draft picks, shortstop Eric Becker and centerfielder AJ Gracia, meaning, the bottom of the order starts a lot sooner than we’re used to.

Even so, Virginia led 4-2 in the sixth, and it was 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth, when first-year head coach Chris Pollard rolled the dice in sending Zatkowski, at 106 pitches through seven, back out to start the eighth.

Zatkowski walked Kai Wagner on a borderline 3-2 pitch, and Pollard went to his ace in the bullpen, Lucas Hartman, who got Trey Fenderson to fly out to left for the first out, then induced a harder grounder to first off the bat of Joey Baran that should have been an inning-ending twin-killing.

Only, Harris whiffed on the grounder, and what was charitably ruled a doubled scored Wagner all the way from first.

After Sebastian Pisacreta flied out to left for out #2, Carter Dierdorf, who isn’t at the dish if Harris even gets one out on the Baran grounder, lined a 2-1 fastball over the fence in right for a two-run homer that made it 7-5 Pitt.

Virginia loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but Kyle Johnson lined a 3-2 pitch to Wagner, in no-doubles alignment at third, for out #2, and Zack Jackson, who had three hits, one of them a homer, on the night, whiffed on three pitches – taking two center-center 87-mph fastballs, then swinging through 87 up and out of the zone for strike three.

Hartman (8-1, 2.70 ERA) took the tough-luck loss – the tough luck being, his first baseman couldn’t make the play behind him.

Harris had one of the two UVA fielding errors on the night; the other, from RJ Holmes, who is in at short for Becker, led to an unearned run off Zatkowski in the second inning.

Feel bad here for the Z-Man: his final line was seven-plus innings, five runs/four earned, nine Ks, two walks.