The UVA baseball team picked up a 5-4 win over No. 9 Miami Friday evening in front of 3,589 fans at Davenport Field. In snapping a nine-game Miami win streak, the Cavaliers (23-14, 8-11 ACC) got clutch, two-out hitting while the bullpen worked six innings after starting pitcher Nathan Kirby (Jr., Midlothian, Va.) exited after just three innings with a strained left lat muscle.
“That was our best team win of the season,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Miami has a good ballclub and has lot of guys back from their team last season. It was just a total team effort and I’m really proud of them. They grinded it out.”
Virginia finished with 11 hits and scored four of its five runs with two outs. Joe McCarthy (Jr., Scranton, Pa.) finished 3-for-4 and is now is 5-for-7 in his two games since returning to the lineup Wednesday after missing 11 weeks following back surgery. Robbie Coman (Jr., Lake Worth, Fla.) had two hits and two RBI, while Matt Thaiss (So., Jackson, N.J.) also recorded a pair of hits. Miami (29-10, 14-5) picked up nine hits, including a pair of extra-base hits from Christopher Barr.
David Rosenberger (Jr., Bethlehem, Pa.) earned the win out of the UVa bullpen after allowing one run over 2 2/3 innings in relief of Kirby, who worked three sharp innings and allowed two hits and a walk before leaving the game. Josh Sborz (Jr., McLean, Va.) pitched the final 2 1/3 innings to notch his 10th save. Miami starter Thomas Woodrey (4-2) took the loss after allowing four earned runs, nine hits and a walk over 6 2/3 innings.
Virginia took the early lead with a run in the third inning as Adam Haseley (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) drew a one-out walk and scored when Daniel Pinero (So., Toronto, Ontario) doubled to left-center. The Cavaliers upped their lead to 2-0 in the fourth when Kevin Doherty (Jr., Laytonsville, Md.) singled to right-center to score McCarthy.
Miami pulled to within 2-1 in the fifth inning on an RBI groundout from Carl Chester, but Virginia countered in the bottom of the inning when Coman ripped a two-out, two-run double down the left-field line, bringing home Pavin Smith (Fr., Jupiter, Fla.) and McCarthy, who slid in just before the tag at the plate.
The Hurricanes scored two runs in the seventh inning, getting a one-out RBI triple from Barr and an RBI single from pinch hitter Johnny Ruiz against Alec Bettinger (So., Woodbridge, Va.). A UVa error on a potential double-play ball prolonged the inning, but Bettinger got Garrett Kennedy to fly out to center and Sborz entered and induced a foul out to first base from George Iskenderian to end the threat.
Virginia continued its propensity for key two-out hitting in the eighth inning as it tacked on a crucial insurance run. Thaiss led off with a single to left field. Pinch runner Thomas Woodruff (Sr., Clifton, Va.) stole second base and scored with two outs as Haseley hit the 1-2 pitch from Michael Mediavilla to right field for a double.
Miami put its first two runners on base in the ninth inning as Barr doubled and Jacob Heyward reached on a Pinero fielding error. Sborz buckled down though and retired the next three batters. Ricky Eusebio bunted the runners to second and third, and Kennedy knocked in Barr with a grounder to Ernie Clement (Fr., Rochester, N.Y.) at second base. Iskenderian grounded out to second to end the game.
Game 2 of the series is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. WINA 1070-AM and VirginiaSports.com will have the live audio broadcast. The radio broadcast also will air across select stations on the Virginia Sports Radio Network:
Charlottesville – WINA 1070 AM
Richmond – WRNL 910 AM
Martinsville – WHEE 1370 AM
Staunton – WTON 94.3 FM
Mt. Jackson – WSVG 790 AM
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Chris Graham
