Playing in the Durham Bulls Athletic Park over the weekend, No. 10 Virginia won two out of three in an ACC series against Duke. Cavalier junior ace Connor Jones tossed eight scoreless frames and picked up his third victory as Virginia defeated the Blue Devils, 6-0, Friday.
The Cavaliers stranded three runners in scoring position before finally plating their first run in the fourth inning. Freshman designated hitter Nate Eikhoff drove in junior catcher Matt Thaiss, who’d reached on a walk and advanced on a wild pitch, with a single into right field.
Virginia scratched across three more runs in the fifth on a mammoth Thaiss home run that gained instant attention on social media. Jones continued to deal, producing yet another 1-2-3 effort in the bottom of the inning. Freshman right fielder Doak Dozier’s sacrifice fly in the sixth drove in the sixth Cavalier run.
Coach Brian O’Connor called upon senior pitcher Kevin Doherty in the ninth. The Laytonsville, Md. native allowed a one-out double to left, but preserved the shutout by recording a strikeout and inducing a routine fly ball.
O’Connor handed the ball Saturday to freshman pitcher Daniel Lynch, a talented lefty already drawing comparisons to Virginia alum and Seattle Mariner Danny Hultzen. Lynch struggled over his three innings of work, allowing four runs, three earned, on four hits.
The Cavaliers trailed 4-1 after four innings. Sophomore center fielder Adam Haseley’s single had followed up a leadoff walk and two productive groundouts in the third to plate Virginia’s lone run. The Cavaliers tied it up in the fifth.
Sophomore second baseman Ernie Clement singled home sophomore third baseman Justin Novak, and Thaiss continued his hot streak, slapping a two-run double to right. Junior pitcher Tyler Shambora, who had struggled on the mound in 2016, put up three zeros in relief of Lynch.
Virginia loaded the bases in the seventh, and two Blue Devil mistakes enabled the Cavaliers to take the lead. Clement scored and Thaiss advanced to third on a wild pitch. Sophomore shortstop Daniel Pinero took third on a throwing error following Doherty’s sacrifice fly to right. Freshman infielder Ryan Karstetter made Duke pay with a two-out RBI single that likely wouldn’t have plated Pinero had he stood on second.
Junior pitcher Alec Bettinger struggled to close things out in the ninth, surrendering a two-run home run that cut Virginia’s lead to 7-6. Refocused, Bettinger struck out the next batter he faced and then induced a grounder to end the threat.
Duke spoiled a Cavalier sweep Saturday, thanks in large part to senior starting pitcher Brian McAfee. The former first team All-Ivy member at Cornell hurled a complete game shutout. Meanwhile, Virginia sophomore pitcher Tommy Doyle gave up two runs on two hits and a passed ball in the first inning. He responded, matching his counterpart over the next five innings, but allowed a final run on two hits in the seventh. Set down in short order again in the ninth, the Cavaliers could only tip their caps to McAffee.
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