Baseball Takes Two From Duke
Monday, May 11 2009 by Tim
After sitting in the stands through the torturous loss to Duke on Friday night at Davenport Field, I wasn’t exactly expecting much from the baseball team on Saturday or Sunday. It seemed the post-exam blues were hitting the Cavaliers hard. Freshman ace Danny Hultzen was struggling and while our bats were big enough to get lots of runners on base, they seemed virtually incapable of driving anyone home.
So there was little surprise on my face when I was told at the Tennis match that the Saturday score was Duke 8, Virginia 3 going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Little did I know that the fireworks were about to begin for the Cavaliers.
Beginning with that inning, the Virginia baseball team outscored Duke an amazing 19-1 over the next 24 hours and 10 innings.
A five run eighth inning got them within striking distance on Saturday. A lead-off home run to tie followed by a triple by the next batter gave Virginia exactly what it needed to win. After two walks, John Barr hit a bases loaded single to win the game.
On Sunday, there would be no need for a comeback. Jarrett Parker hit a grand slam and John Hicks hit a three run homer on the way to a 12-1 dismantling of the Duke bullpen.
Freshmen Hicks and Keith Werman (3 for 3) are quickly becoming fan favorites on this young Wahoo squad from what I can tell and both had very solid games.
Virginia faces VCU in mid-week action tomorrow (the Cavaliers beat the Rams 8-1 in Richmond last month) and then travels to Blacksburg for a Thursday/Friday/Saturday series against Virginia Tech. The conference standings are still very much up in the air at this point with Coastal Division leaders Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Virginia all playing ACC foes this weekend. A sweep of the Hokies would not guarantee anything, but it would go a long way towards a top seed in the ACC Tournament and a chance at hosting a regional.
The ACC tournament is May 20th through the 24th in Durham, N.C.
There’s some pictures up in the photo gallery from Sunday’s game against Duke as well as last Sunday’s lightning-delayed game against N.C. State for anyone who is interested.