UVA Baseball closes out exhibition schedule

In the final game of the UVA Baseball Orange and Blue World Series, Orange scored two runs in the top of the seventh to come away 8-6 victory in eight innings over Blue at Disharoon Park on Friday.

An infield hit from Will Allocca (Richmond, Va.) broke a 6-6 tie and plated Jimmy Sullivan (Wethersfield, Conn.) in the two-run seventh. Sullivan led off the frame with a triple to center field and finished the day 2-for-4 with three runs scored. The Cavaliers tacked on an unearned run in the frame to make the score 8-6.

Orange reliever Stephen Schoch (Laurel, Md.) pitched a pair of scoreless innings to record the six-out save. Schoch retired six of the seven batters he faced and struck out the final Blue hitter of the night to seal the victory.

A three-run homer by Logan Michaels (DeForest, Wis.) in the top of the first sparked a four-run outburst for Orange in the top of the first. Junior Alex Tappen (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) added an RBI double in the opening-inning rally. Tappen was one of two multi-hit performers for Orange, collecting two hits in three at bats.

Trailing 6-2 going into the third, Blue made it a three-run game when Christian Hlinka (Frenchtown, N.J.) hit an opposite field, solo homer in the fourth inning. Blue tied the game in the fifth plating three runs without recording a hit. The rally was aided by three walks and two hit-by-pitches by Orange pitchers.

Freshman Kyle Petri (Lighthouse Point, Fla.) was credited with the win for Orange after tossing scoreless innings in the fifth and the sixth. He struck out two and walked one. Orange starting pitcher Blake Bales (Schoolcraft, Mich.) went a game-high four innings and struck out three batters in the no-decision. He retired seven-straight batters before allowing the homer to Hlinka, one of two earned runs surrendered by the righty.

The Cavaliers will open up the 2020 season in Pensacola, Fla. with a three-game series against Oklahoma.