Things are looking brighter than ever for the boys at Davenport Field.
In what was labeled as the Cavaliers' biggest series to date this season (29-7, 11-4 ACC), the Virginia baseball team swept No. 23 Clemson (18-13, 6-3) over the weekend for the first time since 1972.
Attacking the Tigers with a mixture of overpowering starting pitching, clutch hitting and an emerging lights-out closer, the three-game sweep pushed the Cavaliers' winning streak to a season-high nine games.
Virginia took the opener in front of 2,000 fans Friday night -- the first ever sellout at Davenport Field. Staff ace Andrew Dobies (6-0, 1.89 ERA) took the hill hoping to extend his dominating two-game stretch of complete game shutouts and delivered another solid outing for the Cavaliers. Dobies confounded Tiger hitters for seven innings only giving up one run and four Clemson hits before handing over the ball to freshman Casey Lambert to close out the game. Virginia won 5-1, thanks in part to team batting leader Ryan Zimmerman's first two triples of the year, both leading to U.Va. runs.
Saturday's double-header provided a perfect opportunity for the Cavaliers to gain substantial ground in the ACC standings. After handing the first-place Tigers their first conference loss of the year Friday, Virginia entered the day positioned at third place in the ACC.
Senior tri-captain Joe Koshansky (6-1, 2.59) took the ball for Saturday's first game, scattering six hits and three runs (only one of which was earned) through eight innings of work. Lambert closed out the 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save, and Virginia's 4-3 win clinched the series victory.
What happened in between Koshansky's last pitch and Lambert's first was a two-out, come-from-behind rally started by Zimmerman, fueled by the bat-wielding Koshansky and punctuated by a red-hot Matt Dunn.
Dunn went 4-4 in Saturday's opener, registering a double, a triple and the game-winning RBI. When the 5-foot-9-inch left fielder began the nightcap with another RBI single, he kept his hot bat scorching on a 13-24 (.542) tear dating back six games.
"You don't work hard for nothing," Dunn said. "It's paying off now. It's showing on the field; it's showing on our record; it's showing everywhere."
Expecting sophomore right hander Matt Avery (4-1, 2.47) to replicate the clinics put on by Dobies and Koshansky at the start of game three of the series seemed too much to ask, but Avery didn't just tread in his older teammates' wakes -- he swam circles around them.
Avery delivered the best performance of his collegiate career with an eight-game winning streak and the potential sweep of a first-place opponent on the line. He gave Lambert a much-deserved rest by going the distance for his first time in a Virginia uniform. Avery allowed one run on four hits in the 3-1 finale, striking out five and walking three.
Avery's only scare came in the fourth, when he found himself mired in a no-out, second and third jam that had already seen Clemson plate Herman Demmink for their first, and only, run of the game. Avery responded by striking out the side to extinguish the Tigers' last legitimate threat.
"Getting out of that inning was really big," Avery said. "It definitely gives you a confidence boost."
The boost fueled Avery -- a Matt Schaub look-a-like -- through the final five innings in just 17 batters.
"In my opinion, Matt really grew up a lot today," coach Brian O'Connor said. "He had been pitching well in that number two spot all year, but there was something about today that he took a step up. Confidence -- that's a big thing for a pitcher at this level."
Confidence is not something in short supply lately for any of the Cavaliers, let alone the pitching staff. Virginia's 11 ACC wins have already tied the school record, and with nine conference games remaining, this could be a season to remember.
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