The Virginia baseball team had a productive weekend, taking two of three games from Miami, last year's runner-up in the College Baseball World Series. This comes on the heels of a series win against then-No. 1 UNC and an 11-1 victory against Richmond.
In Friday's game, sophomore starter Jacob Thompson went 8innings, throwing 114 pitches that helped achieve an impressive 4-1 victory. He gave up only one run and struck out 10.
"This is how we've been playing as of late," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said, "I hope that this is the kind of team that we are. Our players are playing very aggressively in all facets of the game -- pitching, defense, base-running, swinging the bats offensively -- it's a great overall win."
O'Connor was also pleased with Thompson's outing, as he helped lead the Cavaliers to a win in the first of a three-game set against the Hurricanes.
"Jacob Thompson pitched as good tonight as I've seen him pitch in his career," O'Connor said Friday. "That's what a Friday-night starter needs to do against a good opponent is pitch deep in to the ballgame and give his team a chance to win."
Sophomore centerfielder Blake Tekotte went two for four and scored Miami's only run in the game.
In Saturday's game, freshman pitcher Matt Packer contributed another solid outing for Virginia, going 5 1/3 innings. Sophomore Andrew Carraway and senior Casey Lambert went the rest of the way to combine on a five-hit shutout. The win marked the first time in 168 games that Miami has been shut out.
Sophomore leftfielder Brandon Guyer went 2 for 3 and drove in a run for the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers, however, were unable to complete the series sweep Sunday, falling to the Hurricanes 4-2. Miami's deadly 3-4-5 hitters did the most damage, with sophomore Yonder Alonso, freshman Mark Sobolewski and senior Roger Tomas each driving in a run.
"You got to know that, especially after you take two games from anybody in the conference, the Sunday game they're going to come ready to play," junior pitcher Sean Doolittle said Sunday after the game. "You got to be able to have your best day, even if you've won the past two games."
Despite the loss, Doolittle pitched well for Virginia, allowing two runs and two hits in six innings of work. He also led off the eighth inning with a solo home run. Senior right fielder Tim Henry went 1 for 4 and drove in the other run for the Cavaliers.
Virginia also made a few crucial mental mistakes that, in a close game, cost them the chance to score runs that might have won them the game. Sophomore David Adams was thrown out at third in the fourth inning by Miami senior catcher Richard O'Brien when he hesitated to return to the base after taking a large lead before the pitch.
"I just told them that we didn't deserve to win today because we didn't play the game the right way," O'Connor said. "I spoke about those kind of things, those little things, getting picked off bases and not executing when you have opportunities to drive runs in."
Virginia's next game will be against George Mason at Davenport Field Tuesday. O'Connor has not yet decided who will start.
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