Riding the strong arm of sophomore lefty Andrew Dobies, the Cavaliers cruised to 6-0 win against the Tribe of William and Mary yesterday afternoon to stay undefeated at home.
Dobies pitched a complete game shutout, a feat that has not be accomplished by Virginia since April 5, 2002, when Jeff Kamrath blanked Maryland in College Park. Dobies is now 4-0 on the season and the Cavaliers are 8-0 at home.
Virginia (10-8, 0-3 ACC) opened the scoring early against the Tribe (13-9) in the bottom of the first when junior first baseman Joe Koshansky ripped a shot through the right side. Koshanksy's hit brought sophomore infielder Mark Reynolds home where Reynolds made an acrobatic move to dodge Tribe sophomore catcher Mike DeCarlo and give Virginia the one run lead.
Both Dobies and the Tribe's junior right handed hurler Chris Ray pitched scoreless second and third innings. It was not until the bottom of the fourth that Virginia exploded for three runs.
Koshansky started the inning by singling to left field and was followed by freshman infielder Ryan Zimmerman who flied out to right field. A bunt by junior outfielder Matt Sweet advanced Koshanky to second and put Sweet safely at first. Junior second baseman Kyle Worman then reached first on an error by William and Mary's first baseman.
With the bases loaded and one out Ray faced Virginia sophomore catcher Scott Headd. Headd was walked by Ray, scoring another run and putting the Cavaliers up by two. Virginia junior outfielder Paul Gillispie then scored another run and reached base off a fielder's choice. A single by junior outfielder Matt Street knocked home another run for Virginia putting them up 4-0 going into the fifth inning.
"As soon as we started getting three, four, five runs, I had to start throwing it in there more precisely," Dobies said.
Koshanksy and Gillispie were both 3-for-4 for the Cavaliers in the shutout.
"A nice lesson in here is for a guy like Paul Gillispie," Virginia coach Dennis Womack said.
Virginia has been playing wounded over the past several games with freshman outfielder Tom Hagan out for the season with shoulder problems.
Having so many slots open gives other players the chance to step up and play.
"Paul just kind of kept his head up and kept working," Womack said. "We gave him an opportunity to play and he took advantage of it."
In the fifth inning, a single by Koshanky advanced Reynolds to third and gave Zimmerman a chance to add to Virginia's lead. Zimmerman reached based on a fielder's choice and drove home Reynolds increasing the lead to five runs.
Finally, a single to right center by Gillispie in the bottom of the eighth, brought home the sixth and final run for the Cavaliers.
"He [Gillispie] epitomizes for the most part what this team is about," Womack said. "Stay at it, stay at it."
Virginia will take on Duke in a three game home series this weekend to defend its undefeated home record.
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