RICHMOND, VA -- The Cavaliers overcame errors early in the game and took advantage of sloppy VCU pitching to win 8-1 at the Diamond in Richmond last night.
The crowd of 2,237 was a record high for the Rams (19-14, 5-6 CAA) and was the second week in a row Virginia (30-7, 10-5 ACC) has traveled to a game that broke the attendance record.
Virginia freshman starter Jeff Lorick gave up the lone run in the first inning. Virginia junior third baseman Patrick Wingfield committed an error, loading the bases. The Rams then scored when sophomore third baseman Chris Jackson put across junior Kwan Evans on a single to left field.
In the second inning, freshman shortstop Tyler Cannon committed Virginia's second error of the game on an errant throw to first.
"[Errors] are a concern of mine right now," Virginia coach Brian O'Connor said. "If we're going to have a championship team at the end of the year, we've got to play better defense than we're playing."
The Cavaliers cleaned up their defensive effort and didn't commit another error the rest of the game. After giving up the run in the first inning, Lorick settled down, pitching 4.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits with five strikeouts.
"It was great to see that our team didn't panic," O'Connor said. "We made an error in the first inning, but Jeff Lorick showed a lot of composure for a freshman...We're not perfect. You're going to make some errors at times. It was great to see guys step up and pick each other up as teammates, which is what's important."
In the third inning, Cannon led off with a double and later scored after consecutive bunts from sophomore Greg Miclat and senior Mike Mitchell.
In the fourth, a sacrifice fly from Cannon brought in Mitchell to take the 2-1 lead. Cannon had three RBIs on the night and said he was happy to contribute in any way possible.
With just the one-run lead, O'Connor decided to pull Lorick out of the game and turned to junior Michael Schwimer, who struck out the first two batters he faced and went on to pitch a perfect 2.1 innings.
In the sixth, Virginia started to take advantage of pitching errors by Ram starter Phillip Deane.
Sophomore David Adams, Wingfield, Cannon and Mitchell were all hit by pitches in the sixth, which allowed Virginia to put two more runs on the board, making the score 4-1, and put distance between the two teams.
Junior Brandon Guyer continued his hitting streak, which now stands at 22 games. Guyer went one for four on the night. This past weekend, Guyer, who normally holds the fifth spot in order, switched with cleanup hitter Adams, who has been struggling as of late. Last night, Adams turned things around, going two for three, with three runs. He says hitting fifth has taken the pressure off him and that Guyer deserves the cleanup spot more than he does.
When hitting fourth "you don't have to drop a bunch of bombs or whatnot," Adams said. "I think Brandon Guyer deserves it. He should've been up there earlier. He's tearing the cover off the ball."
The Virginia bullpen pitched the last 4.2 innings and gave up only two hits. Senior closer Casey Lambert came in for the 100th appearance of his career, a Virginia record for pitchers, and pitched a perfect ninth inning.
The Cavaliers reached their 30th win of the season faster than ever before -- in only 37 games. Last season, it took them 39 games.
Virginia returns home this weekend for a three-game series versus ACC foe Georgia Tech.
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