The Virginia baseball team managed to outlast the Richmond Spiders Wednesday night, coming up with a key mid-week victory at Davenport Field. The final score of the three and a half hour endurance-tester was 8-3, as the number 13 ranked Cavaliers continued their eight-game home winning streak, while improving their record to an impressive 35-10. Sophomore pitcher Michael Schwimer was credited with his third win on the season in the match.
Defense was an important deciding factor in the game, with the Spiders committing four crucial errors that resulted in a total of five runs for the Cavaliers while Virginia's flawless defensive play managed to keep them on top, despite four pitching changes.
"The good thing about pitching for U.Va. is that even when you are behind in the count, you know that your defense is going to make the plays," Schwimer said.
Virginia got out to an early lead, putting three unearned runs on the board in the first inning while Richmond's starter, Jason Bolinski struggled to keep the ball in the strike zone. He was only the first of eight pitchers for Richmond in the game, none of whom lasted for more than one and one-third innings. For the Cavaliers, freshman Shooter Hunt made his college debut last night, and managed to hold the Spiders to one run in the first four innings.
Freshman Andrew Carraway then took over in the fifth, but loaded the bases as Richmond fought hard to stay in the game. Sophomore Pat McAnaney was unable to bail out Carraway from a bases loaded jam, and two Spiders crossed the plate before the end of the inning. Coach O'Connor then decided to call on Schwimer, whose stellar performance eventually lead the team to victory.
Schwimer "has been outstanding the entire year," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "That fifth inning was a critical point in the ballgame, and we needed to stop the bleeding right there. He came in and got the big out, and then shut them down the rest of the way,"
Despite leaving 12 men stranded in the first seven innings, Virginia's offense showed their strength and perseverance, bouncing back from Richmond's fifth inning surge with freshmen Jeremy Farrell and Greg Miclat scoring runs off of the bat of junior Brandon Marsh in the bottom of the same inning.
Schwimer, with the help of a number of notable defensive plays in the field, 1retired eight straight batters in his three and one-third innings. The offense took some pressure off of the pitching staff in the eighth inning when freshman David Adams, after beating out a run-down to steal second base, managed to score his second run of the game on a throwing error. Virginia finished the game with a total of seven stolen bases, which proved to be an important factor in their win.
Following Adams's score, junior Beau Seabury then tacked on two more runs off Richmond pitcher Brian Alas, driving in sophomore Brandon Guyer and senior Tom Hagan, putting the Cavaliers ahead by five. Junior reliever Casey Lambert was brought in for the top of the ninth, and he ended the game with strong pitching, striking out the final two batters of the night.
The Cavaliers will travel to Maryland this weekend to face the Terrapins in ACC conference play.
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