Two weeks ago, sophomore pitcher Robert Morey’s role in ACC play was as a seldom-used middle reliever.
The past two weekends, however, Morey has been the Sunday starter, and yesterday against Boston College he threw the best game No. 13 Virginia has seen from its starting pitching staff this season. Morey struck out 12 Eagles in 7 2/3 shutout innings to lift Virginia to a 2-0 win and to its first series victory on the road since its conference season opener against Wake Forest. The Cavaliers also triumphed 8-3 in Friday’s opener against Boston College, but fell 9-6 Saturday.
“This is a huge series win on the road,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “I think at the end of the year [Boston College will] be one of the top eight teams in this league ... This gives us some space [in the Coastal Division].”
The shutout in the game three clincher was the first in ACC play for Virginia since April 29, 2007 against Maryland. After Morey left with two outs in the eighth having thrown 109 pitches, sophomore reliever Kevin Arico delivered a four-out save, his fourth of the year.
Morey had his fastball, curveball and slider in full force, as he did not allow a hit until a two-out single in the fourth. Through the first 2 1/3 innings, the Eagles only managed to put the ball in play once, on a sacrifice bunt following a leadoff walk in the first inning. Morey went on to strike out the next six batters.
“[Morey] was right there with all of his pitches,” sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt said. “That’s what we needed today.”
Freshman Danny Hultzen, meanwhile, was the hero in Virginia’s victory Friday. With the score knotted at one and two runners aboard for the Cavaliers in the fourth, Hultzen clubbed a breaking ball at his knees well beyond the 366-foot mark of the right-centerfield wall for the first home run of his career and his first extra-base hit in ACC play.
That was the first of two bombs Hultzen knocked this weekend, as he hit an eerily similar three-run homer to right-centerfield on a low-and-inside fastball in the first inning of Saturday’s losing effort.
“Low and in is my favorite pitch,” Hultzen said. “The past couple days, [I got] two of them and I was able to capitalize.”
Hultzen also made his usual Friday start on the mound. Though he did not have his best command, consistently going deep into counts, he ground through 4 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on six hits.
Hultzen left the fourth with Virginia leading 4-2 but in a jam, as Boston College put runners on second and third with one out with its best hitter, junior catcher Tony Sanchez, ready to bat. Sophomore pitcher Tyler Wilson replaced Hultzen, though, and sent Sanchez — who entered the series hitting .387 with 12 home runs, both team highs — back to the dugout on three consecutive fastballs. Wilson’s third heater screamed over the outside corner at Sanchez’s knees, as the Boston College hitter’s bat remained firmly on his shoulder.
Wilson then grounded out sophomore cleanup hitter Mickey Wiswall to end the threat.
“Coach Oak [O’Connor] came in and said, ‘Make your pitches against this guy,’” Wilson said. “‘We’re going to get these guys right here, come in, score some runs and win this ball game.’”
The sophomore went on to finish off one of the best outings of his career, throwing the final 4 2/3 innings, while allowing one run on three hits to secure the game-one victory.
“I thought [Wilson’s] fastball was good today,” O’Connor said, “and at the end of the game, he was not going to be denied, and that was great to see.”
The Cavalier bullpen was not so fortunate Saturday, as junior relief pitcher Matt Packer struggled on the mound.
Packer entered with two outs and a 5-5 score in the seventh, and induced a groundout to retire the side. After Virginia took the lead with a run in the top of the eighth, however, Packer was pummeled in the bottom half of the inning for four runs on three hits and two walks. The Cavaliers were shut out in the ninth to complete the Eagles’ lone victory of the series.
The loss dropped Packer, the national 2008 ERA leader, to 1-4 and inflated his 2009 ERA to 5.47. The defeat also added to a disturbing statistic for the Cavalier bullpen — in all seven losses and one tie in ACC play, the Virginia starting pitcher left the game with either a lead or a tie score.
“[The players] keep coming back after difficult losses,” O’Connor said. “It’s human instinct to [get frustrated], but I know they have a lot of confidence in their teammates ... It just so happens that we have a chance to win every ball game, and most teams can’t say that. We have, and so [a tough loss] does frustrate you.”
Virginia will hit the road again Tuesday night for a matchup against VCU at the Diamond in Richmond.
Notes:
Sophomore centerfielder Jarrett Parker had one of his toughest series in a Virginia uniform, going 1-for-12 with one walk and 10 strikeouts this weekend, including 0-for-5 with five strikeouts Friday. After Friday’s dismal performance, O’Connor moved Parker out of the leadoff spot for the first time all season — he hit seventh Saturday and ninth Sunday ... Parker’s one hit, though, was a big one, as he stroked an RBI-double in the seventh for Virginia’s second and final run. “He showed us what he’s made of,” O’Connor said ... O’Connor put sophomore Phil Gosselin in the leadoff spot Saturday and junior Tyler Cannon in that role Sunday. O’Connor said he likes the right-handed Gosselin to lead off against left-handed pitchers and the switch-hitting Cannon to lead off against right-handers ... Sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt reached base in seven of his 13 trips to the plate during the series, going 4-for-10 with three walks ... Senior starting pitcher Andrew Carraway went 6 1/3 innings in Saturday’s loss, giving up five runs on nine hits and one hit batter.
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