UVa. holds off Clemson, 6-3

The Virginia baseball team received a strong start from left-hander Scott Silverstein (Sr., Olney, Md.) and four RBI from Jared King (Sr., Radford, Va.) in posting a 6-3 victory over Clemson Friday evening at Davenport Field.

Game 2 of the series has been moved up to an 11 a.m. start Saturday because of the threat for inclement weather. Free public parking for baseball, men’s lacrosse and track & field will be available in the University Hall, JPJA and McCue parking lots as well as the Emmett/Ivy Garage.

Silverstein (2-2) worked 6.0 innings, allowing an earned run, five hits and four walks while striking out three to earn the win. Justin Thompson (Sr., Danville, Va.) tossed the final two innings to notch his third save.

King went 3-for-4 at the plate with four RBI to pace the UVa offense. Colin Harrington (Jr., Johnstown, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with three runs scored.

Clemson starter Kevin Brady (1-2) was knocked from the game in the third inning. In 2.1 innings he gave up three runs (one earned), four hits and a walk while fanning a pair. Reliever Mike Kent stymied the Cavaliers for much of the latter portion of the game, pitching 5.1 scoreless innings before allowing three runs in the eighth.

Virginia (13-8-1, 3-4 ACC) took advantage of a leadoff error to score a pair of first-inning runs. Chris Taylor (Jr., Virginia Beach, Va.) reached on a throwing error by third baseman Richie Shaffer to start the inning. He moved to third on the next pitch when Harrington singled and scored on a Stephen Bruno (Jr., Audubon, N.J.) sacrifice fly.

UVa tacked on a run in the third, loading the bases with none out before King hit a sacrifice fly to plate Harrington.

Clemson (11-9, 3-4) broke through in the fifth inning. With one out Steve Wilkerson singled to right. Jason Stolz then bunted his way on, and Wilkerson took an extra base when no one covered third. That proved key when Shaffer hit a sacrifice fly to right.

After struggling against Kent for five innings, UVa used a two-out rally to add an insurance run in the eighth inning. Taylor ripped a single up the middle, stole second and scored when Harrington launched a triple over the head of center fielder Tyler Slaton. King later hit a two-run single to push the lead to 6-1.

The Tigers made some noise in the ninth with a solo home run from Brad Felder and an RBI single from Stolz, but Thompson struck out Shaffer to end the threat.