Daniel Pinero (So., Toronto, Ontario) hit a two-out, two-run single in the eighth inning to break a 6-6 tie and lift the UVA baseball team to an 8-6 win over Richmond Tuesday evening in the Cavaliers’ 2015 home finale at Davenport Field. In rallying from an early 3-0 deficit, Virginia (30-19) earned its 13th straight victory over the Spiders (26-21)
“It was a gutty team win,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said. “Certainly falling behind 3-0 in the first inning wasn’t the way we drew it up, but we’ve been there before and our guys hung in there and a number of those guys in the bullpen did a nice job. We took advantage of some of our opportunities and I was proud of our guys for picking each other up.”
In his final game at Davenport Field, senior Kenny Towns (Burke, Va.) went 3-for-3 to highlight Virginia’s 11-hit night. Pinero, Joe McCarthy (Jr., Scranton, Pa.) and Matt Thaiss (So., Jackson, N.J.) each added a pair of hits. Richmond finished with a dozen hits as each starter recorded at least one hit.
Virginia’s bullpen worked 8 1/3 innings to help the Cavaliers to the win as David Rosenberger (Jr., Bethlehem, Pa.), Kevin Doherty (Jr., Laytonsville, Md.), Adam Haseley (Fr., Windermere, Fla.) and Alec Bettinger (So., Woodbridge, Va.) pieced the rest of the game together. Bettinger worked out of a big jam in the eighth inning and pitched two innings total in earning the win to improve to 4-3 on the year. UVa starter Jack Roberts (So., Richmond, Va.) lasted just two-thirds of an inning, giving up three earned runs, four hits and a walk.
James Lively (1-2) took the loss for Richmond after allowing two unearned runs in the eighth inning. He worked two innings total. UR used four pitchers; starter Dan Martinson pitched two innings, allowing four earned runs, three hits and a walk.
Richmond started fast by sending eight batters to the plate in a three-run first inning. Roberts got the leadoff man out, but the next five Spiders reached base safely, with Matt Dacey and Tanner Stanley hitting back-to-back RBI singles before Jansen Fraser drove a sacrifice fly to right with the bases loaded to make it 3-0, prompting a pitching change.
Virginia took its first lead by scoring four runs in the second inning. The first four Cavaliers reached bases, with each coming around to score. Towns hit a leadoff single and after Pavin Smith (Fr., Jupiter, Fla.) walked, Robbie Coman (Jr., Lake Worth, Fla.) and McCarthy hit back-to-back RBI singles. A pair of wild pitches brought Coman around to score, and McCarthy came home when Ernie Clement (Fr., Rochester, N.Y.) hit a sacrifice fly to deep left field.
The teams exchanged runs in the third inning. Richmond tied the game on a fielder’s choice grounder from Fraser, but UVa grabbed the lead back when Smith hit a sacrifice fly to center field.
UR again tied the game in the fourth on an RBI grounder from Daniel Brumbaugh, but UVa forged back ahead in the fifth when Thaiss led off with a solo homer to right field, his team-leading ninth blast of the year. The Spiders tied the game in the sixth inning when Tyler Beckwith launched a two-out solo homer into the left-field bleachers.
UR got back-to-back singles from Fraser and pinch hitter Doug Kraeger to put runners at the corners to start the eighth inning against Haseley. Bettinger entered and struck out consecutive batters looking before getting Brumbaugh to ground out to end the threat.
McCarthy led off the eighth inning with a towering double that short-hopped the center-field wall. One out later, Clement reached on a throwing error by Dacey at third base. Haseley grounded out to first base to advance the runners and Pinero slapped the 1-1 pitch to right field, scoring McCarthy and Clement for an 8-6 UVa lead.
The Cavaliers wrap up the regular season Thursday through Saturday at North Carolina. The series opens at 7 p.m. Thursday in a game that will be televised by the ACC’s Regional Sports Networks (Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic in the Charlottesville area).
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