Baseball Halted by No. 27 Virginia 14-6

Tuesday, March 6

Harrisonburg, Va.

4:00 PM

James Madison University

5-6-1

Virginia

7-4-1

Virginia

James Madison

3/6/2012 11:00:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va., March 6, 2012 - Virginia sent nine batters to the plate in consecutive innings in the sixth and seventh, turning a 6-5 deficit into a 13-6 advantage en route to a 14-6 victory over James Madison on Tuesday afternoon at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

UVA, ranked 27^th by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), improved to 7-4-1 after dropping three of its previous four games. JMU saw a three-game winning streak end, falling to 5-6-1.

The Cavaliers took advantage of three early JMU errors to grab a 3-0 lead through three innings. The Dukes then took advantage of free bases from Virginia to plate six runs in the fourth to take the lead. However, the Cavs maintained offensive pressure, scoring two in the fifth to pull within a run before breaking through with back-to-back four-run innings batting around the order in the sixth and seventh.

Seven different members of the starting lineup posted multiple hits in Virginia's 17-hit attack. Right fielder Mike Papi and first baseman Jared King each posted three hits with two RBIs. Center fielder Brandon Downes drove in four runs with a pair of hits, including a triple. Shortstop Chris Taylor tripled and homered. Third baseman Stephen Bruno singled, doubled, was hit by a pitch twice and scored four runs. Left fielder Colin Harrington had two singles, a walk, a hit by pitch, a sacrifice fly, two RBIs and two runs scored.

After JMU's six-run fourth, Austin Young shut down the Dukes the next three innings with no hits and four strikeouts to earn the win in relief. He was one of five Virginia pitchers that teamed to limit JMU to four hits in the game.

Freshman Cody Miller (Westlake, Ohio/Padua Franciscan) took the loss for JMU, entering in the sixth with a 6-5 lead and allowing four runs. Freshman left-hander Aaron Hoover (Centreville, Va./Westfield) started and allowed three runs, two earned, on five hits in four innings.

Four Dukes had one hit apiece, including two-run singles by freshman shortstop Chad Carroll (Oakton, Va./Oakton) and redshirt freshman first baseman Ryan Kilmon (Virginia Beach, Va./Kellam) along with a two-run double by senior pinch hitter Evan Scott (Haymarket, Va./Battlefield).

Things started inauspiciously for the Dukes as back-to-back errors on the first two batters of the game led to an early run for the Cavaliers. Virginia continued to string together three more singles, the last by King being a potential double play to shortstop, but the hard-hit ball took a high bounce off the turf and into center field to score the second UVA run.

In the third, King tripled with one out when a diving attempt by senior right fielder Ian Haynes (Danville, Va./Tunstall) came up empty. With the infield playing in, a sharp ground ball was shared by a diving Carroll at shortstop, but he was unable to make the throw home as Virginia went up 3-0.

UVA starter Artie Lewicki was cruising allowing just one hit until the bottom of the fourth. With two outs in the inning, junior catcher Bradley Shaban (Midlothian, Va./Cosby) got things started with a walk on an 11-pitch at bat. Sophomore third baseman Conner Brown (Richmond, Va./G