With two outs, it seems that the Virginia offense can do no wrong.
Scoring nine of its combined 16 runs with two men gone, the No. 7 Cavaliers picked up two wins in a midweek doubleheader yesterday, defeating Canisius 11-3 and Wagner 5-2 to remain the only undefeated team in the nation.
With a series against No. 4 Miami looming this weekend, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor noted the temptation to overlook two lesser-known teams, particularly in a rare Wednesday doubleheader.
“I’ve got kids who [have] got exams tomorrow and have papers due and things like that, and you come out here and you’re on this baseball field from 2:00 in the afternoon until 11:00 at night,” O’Connor said. “They’re entitled to maybe not have a high level of energy some days, but what’s important is you’ve got to find a way to win.”
The various two-out rallies for Virginia (18-0, 4-0 ACC) included seven runs scored with two outs against Canisius and two against Wagner. The Cavs came up with particularly clutch two-out hits against Wagner — sophomore first baseman Phil Gosselin knotted the game at two apiece in the third with a line drive up the middle, and sophomore John Hicks lined a single to left-centerfield in the sixth to give Virginia a 3-2 advantage.
The day before against Marshall, the Cavaliers scored all five of their runs with two outs in a 5-4 victory, continuing a trend that has persisted throughout the season.
“Championships are won with two-out hits,” sophomore rightfielder Dan Grovatt said. “Pretty much every game we’ve had at least a couple big-two out hits.”
With junior closer Matt Packer still unavailable after throwing three innings of relief Tuesday, sophomore Kevin Arico picked up his second save in two days and the second of his career against Wagner, earning the two biggest outs of the game in an eighth-inning jam. Arico entered with runners on first and second and no one out in the eighth, with Virginia leading 4-2. After a sacrifice bunt advanced both runners into scoring position, Arico fanned senior catcher Chris Drechsel and sophomore rightfielder Seth Boyd to end the inning.
Just a little more than 24 hours earlier, Arico preserved a 5-4 lead with a little more than an inning of scoreless relief to earn his first career save.
“I’ve always felt good about the poise Kevin Arico’s had since he’s arrived on campus,” O’Connor said. “That was important to see, because throughout the year, it gives you a little bit of flexibility.”
In the bottom half of the eighth, freshman third baseman Steven Proscia made Virginia’s lead a little healthier, leading off with a solo shot to extend the lead to 5-2.
In addition to Arico, Virginia also saw outstanding performances from freshmen pitchers Shane Halley and Sean Lucas. The two combined for more than three innings of scoreless relief, with both pitchers finding a big out each with a runner in scoring position. With the score knotted at two, Halley entered in the third with one out and a runner on second, and struck out his first batter and popped up the second to end the inning. Lucas then relieved Halley to begin the seventh with the score 4-2; with one out and a runner on third, Proscia fielded a groundball and gunned down the runner at home for the second out, and Lucas earned a 4-3 groundout to end the threat.
Offensively, as if Virginia had not seen enough contributors to its 11.4 runs per game coming into the afternoon, its first two runs in the nightcap against Wagner were scored by two players with a combined 18 at-bats and two starts. Former Virginia football player sophomore John Bivens made his first start of the season at designated hitter and earned a walk in his first at-bat with one out in the second inning. He then stole second and advanced to third on Drechsel’s throwing error and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Franco Valdes, giving Virginia a 1-0 advantage.
After Wagner responded with two runs in the top of the third, freshman Keith Werman, in his third start of the season at shortstop, led off the bottom half of the inning with a lined shot to left-centerfield. Werman moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore centerfielder Jarrett Parker, took third on a passed ball and scored on Gosselin’s liner up the middle.
“I think we’ve got depth this year on this team like we’ve never had in my six years here,” O’Connor said, adding, “The hardest job I have is deciding which nine guys you’re [going to] write into that lineup every day.”
Virginia’s starter against Wagner, junior lefthander Jeff Lorick, struggled with his command in his third start of the season. Lorick gave up two earned runs, both in the top of the third inning which featured two walks, two hits and a wild pitch. The junior was relieved with one out in the third after throwing 65 pitches.
Prior to the tight win against the Seahawks, Virginia survived several rallies by Canisius in a game that was closer than the eight-run margin would indicate. The Golden Griffins hung with the Cavaliers through the first half of the game, scoring three runs against senior starting pitcher Robert Poutier and trailed just 5-3 through four innings.
“That team won 41 games last year and had the majority of their team returning,” O’Connor said. “The way they swung the bats offensively, you just never felt comfortable.”
Backed by three-plus innings of scoreless relief by sophomore Tyler Wilson, however — including a strikeout and a fielder’s choice to end a bases-loaded threat in the sixth — the Virginia offense put away Canisius with three runs in its half of the fifth and a run each in the seventh and the eighth. Freshman Justin Thompson closed out the game in his third appearance of the season.
Grovatt extended his hitting streak to 18 games this season and 20 dating back to last year, going 4-for-8 in the two games. The slugger went 3-for-4, stole two stolen bases and scored a career-high four runs against Canisius.
The Cavaliers’ home series against Miami this weekend will be their first against two consecutive top-five opponents, as they then travel to Chapel Hill the following weekend for a series against North Carolina.
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