Cavaliers Complete Sweep of #2 Tigers

by Press Release - Sun Mar 19 16:19:27 GMT-04:00 2006

Charlottesville, VA -

Virginia rallied from a 4-1 deficit to defeat #2 Clemson 7-4 on Sunday afternoon in front of 1,879 fans at UVa Baseball Stadium. With the win, Virginia swept the Tigers in the three-game series. Virginia improved to 19-4 overall and 4-2 in ACC play. Clemson dropped to 11-6 overall, including 0-3 in the ACC. It was the first time Clemson was swept in an ACC series since 2004, as the Tigers had the longest streak of not being swept in an ACC series.

Reliever Casey Lambert (2-1) earned the win, as he pitched the final 1.1 innings without allowing a baserunner to earn the win. Daniel Moskos (1-3) suffered the loss, as he allowed two runs in 1.1 innings in relief. Starter Stephen Faris, a native of Richmond, VA, pitched 6.1 solid innings as well.

The Cavaliers took a 1-0 lead in the first inning. Brandon Marsh hit a one-out, wind-aided triple to right field. After Sean Doolittle walked, David Adams' safety squeeze plated Marsh.

Clemson answered right back to take the lead in the second inning. Ben Hall drew a one-out walk, then two batters later, Stan Widmann blooped a single to center, moving Hall to third. After Widmann stole second, Adrian Casanova lined a two-out single to left-center, bringing home Hall and Widmann.

The Tigers added to their lead in the third inning. Brad Chalk led off with a walk. Two batters later, Tyler Colvin hit a wind-aided, two-run homer just over the fence in centerfield, giving Clemson a 4-1 lead. It was his first long ball since hitting four in the first four games of 2006. It also ended the Cavaliers' 13-game streak of not allowing a home run at UVa Baseball Stadium.

Virginia mounted a rally in the sixth inning to cut into the Tiger lead. Adams led off with a single up the middle. Two batters later, he went to third on Tom Hagan's single to left-center. Then Jeremy Farrell brought home Adams with a sacrifice fly to center.

The following inning, Greg Miclat led off with a walk on a 3-2 pitch that just missed the strikezone. After Miclat advanced to second on a wild pitch and Tim Henry grounded out, Marsh singled to right, advancing Miclat to third. Travis Storrer's throw to home missed the cutoff man, allowing Marsh to advance to second base. In came Moskos, and Doolittle walked on four pitches. Adams popped up for out #2, but Brandon Guyer came through with a two-run single to right-center, scoring Miclat and Marsh. The Tigers avoided further damage when Hagan lined out shortstop to end the inning.

In the eighth inning with the score tied 4-4, the Tigers tried to start a rally, however they could not catch a break. Travis Storrer led off with a single. Then on a full-count pitch to Ben Hall, home plate umpire Rick Darby rung up Hall on a called third strike, as Hall did not swing. Pinch-runner D.J. Mitchell was running on the play and was safe at second when neither middle infielder covered the bag, but he was called out when Darby ruled interference on Hall despite Hall not swinging at the pitch ruled to be a strike on the inner half.

With all the momentum, Virginia took the lead in the bottom of the eighth with three two-out runs. Beau Seabury drew a one-out hit-by-pitch and went to second on Miclat's sacrifice bunt. Then Henry came through with a two-out single up the middle that Widmann got a glove on but could not stop. Marsh then singled to right to score Henry, and came all the way around to score when the ball got by Mitchell.

Virginia outhit Clemson 14-6, led by a 4-for-5 day by Marsh. Henry, Adams, Guyer, and Hagan all had two hits apiece. Colvin and Widmann each had two hits to pace the Tigers.

Clemson will return home to host Elon in a two-game, midweek series beginning Tuesday at 7:15 PM.