It was the top of the fourth, and Virginia freshman pitcher Kevin Arico had worked the count full on Navy freshman leadoff hitter Jonathan Wright. Arico walked off the mound and stared into the outfield. Tied 4-4and facing the Midshipmen's most potent offensive threat in Wright, a .438 hitter, Virginia needed an out. Arico, in just his fourth inning as a college pitcher, paced around the mound some more. The home plate umpire gave two quick claps and nodded toward Arico, urging him to toe the mound and move the game along. The freshman slowly retreated to the top of the hill, found the ball in his glove, took a deep breath and stared toward sophomore catcher Ryan Smith for the signal. He returned to the stretch, nodded, paused and began his windup. Arico reared back and fired a devastating breaking ball that Wright could only watch as it snaked its way over the inside corner to end the inning. Pumping his fist, Arico raced off the mound and back into the Virginia dugout on his way to a well-deserved win after the Virginia offense surged to a 11-5 final score.
"One of the biggest things is, collect yourself together ... It's a critical pitch to make," Arico said of the 3-2 pitch that ended the top of the fourth. "It has to be a strike."
After the first batter Arico faced in the inning, the freshman had every reason to be rattled. With no outs and runners on first and second with the Cavaliers leading 4-2, Virginia coach Brian O'Connor pulled senior starter Robert Poutier in favor of Arico. With freshman Nick Driscoll at the plate, however, things went haywire. First, on a double-steal attempt, Smith launched a throw into center field with nobody covering second, scoring one runner and leaving the other on second. Driscoll then slapped a single to right-center field, scoring the second runner, and landed on second after an errant throw home. Just like that, the score was tied.
Facing the next three batters, however, Arico showed poise unbecoming of his rookie status and struck out the side, an effort capped by his battle with the dangerous Wright to end the threat.
Arico "is very, very mature beyond his years," O'Connor said. "That's a tough situation. We weren't handling the ball very well defensively, and here you are out on the mound trying to get outs, but fortunately he hung in there and kept the game in check."
That was all Virginia needed from its young pitcher, as the veterans took over in the bottom of the inning to give Arico a cushion. Senior Patrick Wingfield got things rolling when he reached on a textbook bunt down the third-base line that received no throw. After Wingfield advanced on a fielder's choice, sophomore Tyler Cannon singled through the right side of the infield to score Wingfield. After Cannon stole second, junior David Adams singled to left, scoring Cannon. With freshman Dan Grovatt at the plate, Adams stole second and took third on a low throw that scooted past second base and into center field. After Grovatt struck out, junior Jeremy Farrell added to the surge, doubling to right-center, allowing Adams to trot home for the third and final run of the inning.
All told, Virginia had five hits in the inning from five of the six veterans in the lineup as the team regained a lead it would never lose.
"That's why they call them veteran players," O'Connor said. "They can recognize when the team needs them. At that point, when Navy had tied the game 4-4, they stepped up and responded, and that's what you want your leaders to do."
On the game, Adams and Farrell both had big days, as Adams hit a perfect 4-4 with a walk and collected four RBIs, while Farrell went 2-3 with two walks and drove in three.
On the mound, Virginia had a shaky start from Poutier, as he allowed five hits and was charged with four runs in three-plus innings. The rest of the staff, however, kept the Midshipmen at bay, allowing just one unearned run and two hits in the last six innings.
After this two-game home midweek sweep against Radford and Navy, Virginia next travels to Duke for its second ACC series this weekend.
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