The Virginia men's baseball team upset the No. 16 Richmond Spiders, 11-4, in spectacular fashion last night at Davenport field to stay undefeated at home and improve to 18-8 on the season. An explosive eight-run fifth inning performance from the Cavaliers gave them enough distance to outlast the visiting Spiders for their ninth consecutive win.
Virginia sophomore lefty Andrew Dobies pitched five strong innings against a solid hitting Richmond squad, giving up only six hits and two runs. Dobies struck out seven in the win and now is 6-0 on the year.
The Cavaliers had lost a doubleheader to the Spiders earlier in the season in Richmond, but Virginia has gained a lot of much needed experience since then.
"The club didn't have much of an identity when we played Richmond earlier in the year," Virginia coach Dennis Womack said. "I think we're beginning to mold into some type of identity."
Richmond (20-5) fell behind early after an error allowed Virginia junior outfielder Matt Street to sprint home for the 1-0 lead. Richmond junior catcher Adam Tidball tried to throw out Street who was stealing third, but third baseman David Thomas could not hold onto the ball as it rolled into the outfield. Street then sprinted home and gave Virginia the lead.
This was only the beginning of Street's night.
It was not until the fourth inning that Richmond reclaimed the lead. Two singles off Dobies gave the Spiders the 2-1 lead going into the bottom of the fourth. That, however, was the last time Richmond would lead the rest of the night.
Virginia managed to tie the game in the next half of the inning off a double steal and went into the fifth inning with momentum on their side.
In the bottom of the fifth with a runner on first, Street stepped up to bat with one out and the game tied.
After several pitches, it became a full count and the pressure was on.
Richmond sophomore pitcher Tim Rice "had been throwing the ball pretty well all game and made me look pretty stupid on some curve balls," Street said.
With one swing of the bat, Street crushed Rice's pitch to the gap in left-center field, scoring junior infielder Kyle Werman.
"Three-two count, he's been sitting on his curve ball a little bit so I knew he would come back with it," Street said.
This was only the beginning as Virginia scored eight unanswered runs in the bottom of the fifth with Street having two of his three hits in the inning. All together, the Cavaliers had seven hits in the inning and clinched the win, preserving their undefeated home record.
"Matt's at-bat was a key at bat," Womack said. "I thought offensively we just kept at it."
Womack was happy not only with Street's impressive display but also with his team's attitude.
"We're not really concerned too much about the stats except just what it is I can do to help our team score runs," Womack said.
Virginia will take the field again tomorrow as they face off against the Liberty Flames in a non-conference game at 7 p.m.
This is a major win for the Cavaliers, as they now are ten games over .500 for the first time since 1997.
"I seems like we hardly get any respect outside the state of Virginia, but hopefully people will start to take notice," Street said.
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