The No. 8 Virginia baseball team has built its sterling 27-3 record by finding a way to win, no matter the circumstances. Tuesday against Liberty, that meant four pitchers combining for a one-hit shutout while the team’s offense floundered. Facing another in-state foe Wednesday, the Cavaliers (27-3, 9-3 ACC), overcame an uneven outing by freshman starter Trey Oest, a rash of hard-luck double plays and a powerful showing by the Virginia Military Institute (14-18, 5-4 Big South) offense to escape with an 8-6 victory at Davenport Field.
Coach Brian O’Connor’s young team has garnered national recognition by winning at an astounding clip. That success has been a product not only of consistency but also of making adjustments as needed. A matchup against a VMI pitching staff with an abysmal 4.53 ERA on the season and a freshman starter making his second career appearance was the perfect medicine for the team’s offensive woes.
Virginia followed a three-hit dud against the Flames Tuesday by taking out their frustration on Keydet pitchers early, scoring three runs apiece in the first and third innings. VMI freshman starter Lucas Cash surrendered three runs on four hits — both higher than Virginia’s nine inning production against the Flames — in his lone inning of work.
“It’s important that our offensive club didn’t get discouraged based on the last couple of games and certainly they did not,” O’Connor said. “They came out and performed really well tonight.”
Keydet sophomore reliever Andrew Woods slowed things down with a quick second inning, but the Cavaliers figured him out in the third. Three straight batters notched base hits before an error by Keydet sophomore shortstop Drew Bryan on a tailor-made double-play ball scored sophomore outfielder Brandon Downes for a 5-3 lead. A bunt single by sophomore third baseman Nick Howard loaded the bases, and sophomore outfielder Mike Papi came around to score on one of four Cavalier double plays in the first six innings alone.
The six quick runs were a welcome sight for Oest, who had an up-and-down outing overall. He struck out seven but also allowed a run to score in each of his first three frames, including a game-tying home run to senior outfielder Rob Dickinson. Oest was occasionally dominant, however, recording his first four outs via strikeout while relying primarily on the stellar location of his high-80s fastball.
“I was in and out of grooves throughout the game and I was just trying to stay in that groove,” Oest said. “They gave me the run support that I needed and that’s the only way that I was able to get the win tonight.”
Oest returned for the sixth inning despite his pitch count approaching triple digits. He recorded just one out in the frame while allowing a pair of hits before departing. Redshirt junior righty Whit Mayberry set down Keydet freshman third baseman Ray Lopez looking, but VMI followed with back-to-back RBI singles to reduce the deficit to 6-5.
“I thought Trey had a solid outing; it was good to see him pitch into the sixth inning,” O’Connor said. “He shows flashes of brilliance and typically for most freshman pitchers like he is, there’s inconsistencies.”
Once again, the offense bailed out the pitching staff by adding an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. Senior second baseman Reed Gragnani squandered a lead-off single by Howard by grounding into a double play, but Virginia mounted a two-out rally. Sophomore catcher Nate Irving walked and sophomore second baseman Branden Cogswell reached on an error, bringing up redshirt senior Jared King. King, who struck out three times against the Flames Tuesday, delivered a clutch RBI double, scoring Irving from second.
“I think … our pitchers maybe didn’t have their best stuff tonight but they could rely on us to kind of pick them up,” King said. “I think that was really big for us.”
VMI fought back with a run in the eighth to cut the deficit to 7-6, but the Cavalier offense responded swiftly. Freshman outfielder Joe McCarthy, who went 2-for-4 while reaching a base for the 30th straight game to begin his career, came to the plate with runners on the corners and one out. McCarthy’s flair to left was too shallow to plate Irving from third, but Downes picked him up with a key two-out hit to add an insurance run. Junior reliever Kyle Crockett pitched a quiet ninth inning, notching two strikeouts to help Virginia improve to 9-0 in midweek games.
The Cavaliers will look to build off their midweek showings in an ACC road series against Wake Forest in Winston-Salem this weekend. The Demon Deacons rank No. 11 in the ACC with a 4.25 ERA, but redshirt senior lefty Austin Stadler is the reigning co-ACC Pitcher of the Week after an 11 strikeout performance.
“It’s going to be a grind,” King said of the Cavaliers’ upcoming ACC away matchups. “Any time that you’re on the road in this conference … they’re always going to be white-knuckle games, so it’s going to be a great test for us this next month. I’m excited to see how our guys respond.”
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