It was another day and another easy victory for Virginia over a weak non-conference opponent. Behind the solid pitching of Pat McAnaney, Shooter Hunt, Alex Smith, Andrew Carraway and Michael Schwimer, the Cavaliers (24-5, 6-3 ACC) easily dispatched Norfolk State 13-2 Wednesday evening at Davenport Field.
"This was a rare week with two midweek games," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "It was a test for our pitching staff. Our guys came out with the right approach. We just needed to maintain positive momentum heading into this weekend's series at N.C. State."
Norfolk State (11-15) jumped out to an early 1-0 lead when first baseman Ernie Banks doubled down the right-field line, driving in T.J. Starkey who had led off the game with a double to left-center. McAnaney then settled down and surrendered only two more hits over three innings of work. He struck out two Spartans.
Virginia answered quickly in the bottom of the first inning when junior Tim Henry led off with a single to right field. With one out, Sean Doolittle hit a ground ball to first base that advanced Henry to second. Freshman second baseman David Adams then drove a single to left-center field, scoring Henry.
The Cavaliers broke the game open in the bottom of the second, putting five runs up on the scoreboard. Left fielder Tom Hagan led off with a walk, stole second and then advanced to third when Norfolk State pitcher Luke Foss balked. Freshman third baseman Jeremy Farrell singled to center to give Virginia a 2-1 lead. Farrell is second on the team in hitting with a .421 average.
Catcher Beau Seabury then advanced Farrell to second with a sacrifice bunt and shortstop Greg Miclat drove Farrell in with a single to left-center. Henry hit a groundball to Norfolk State shortstop T.J. Starkey and Starkey proceeded to throw the ball into Virginia's dugout when he attempted to gun Miclat out at third. Miclat advanced to score on the error. Brandon Marsh, whose team-leading batting average now stands at .488, then broke a 0-8 slump with a single to right-center that scored Henry.
"I felt a little more confident today," Marsh said. "It was nice. I just went up there and stayed aggressive. I hit some balls hard against Wake Forest that were caught and I was a little hesitant yesterday" against Coppin State.
Marsh advanced to second on the throw to the plate and was driven in by a Doolittle single to left field.
The Cavaliers would add single runs in the third, fifth and eighth innings as well as four in the sixth.
Wednesday's victory left Virginia 9-1 during its recent 10-game home stand. The Cavaliers travel to Raleigh this weekend for a three-game set with N.C. State. O'Connor will send Doolittle to the mound Friday, Jacob Thompson Saturday and Mike Ballard for Sunday's finale.
"It's going to be a challenging weekend for us," O'Connor said. But "I like our chances."
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