No. 1 Virginia Claims 9-3 Baseball Decision

Tuesday, April 8

Harrisonburg, Va.

6 p.m.

James Madison University

11-18

Virginia

28-5

Virginia

James Madison

4/9/2014 2:11:00 AM | Baseball

Box Score

Photo Gallery Baseball vs Virginia- April 8, 2014

HARRISONBURG, Va., Apr. 8, 2014 – Outfielders Joe McCarthy and Mike Papi each drove in four runs in the heart of the lineup and five Virginia pitchers limited James Madison to four hits in a 9-3 win in a non-conference baseball game on Tuesday evening at Eagle Field at Veterans Memorial Park.

UVA improved to 27-5 and swept the two-game season series. JMU fell to 11-18. The game was played in front of a sellout crowd of 1,632, the second-best recorded attendance in program history.

Alec Bettinger picked up the win to improve to 4-0 after working through three walks and two hits allowed in four innings. Artie Lewicki tossed three hitless innings in relief.

Junior Ben Garner (Burke, Va./Paul VI) took the loss after allowing two runs on a home run in the first. He exited after the final out was recorded on a ball hit hard off his wrist. Sophomore Kevin Feehan (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax) worked a scoreless sixth and redshirt freshman Luke Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va./Great Bridge) allowed one run in the final three frames.

McCarthy went 4-for-5 with four RBIs on a two-run home run and a pair of doubles. Papi also hit a two-run home run and had a pair of RBI groundouts. Third baseman John La Prise was 3-for-3 with two walks and two runs while center fielder Brandon Downes was 2-for-2 with two walks.

Redshirt sophomore shortstop Kyle Weston (Penn Laird, Va./Spotswood) drove in two runs with a ninth-inning double for JMU. Freshman designated hitter Josh Wyatt (Eden, Md./James M. Bennett) added an RBI triple. Senior right fielder Tyler Gregory (Dothan, Ala./Houston Academy) was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Virginia grabbed the lead in the first inning as shortstop Daniel Pinero walked on four pitches and scored on McCarthy's two-out blast to right center to make it 2-0.

JMU put two on with one out in the second. A deep fly to center was unable to advance the lead runner to third as Downes made a strong throw to the infield. Freshman left fielder Ky Parrott (Herndon, Va./Herndon) then singled to load the bases but again Downes' arm kept the lead runner from advancing. That proved key as a foul pop up stranded the bases loaded on the next batter.

The Cavaliers picked up a run in the fourth as McCarthy led off with a double and advanced to third on a balk with no outs. Howard's sacrifice fly to right plated McCarthy for the 3-0 lead.

Virginia compounded JMU walks in the fifth like it did in the first. After Pinero's leadoff walk, he came around to score on Papi's no-doubt shot to right, his sixth of the year, to make it 5-0.

The Cavs loaded the bases with no outs in the sixth on a leadoff single and a pair of walks. Papi's fielder's choice grounder to first drove in a run to make it 6-0. McCarthy followed with a two-run double laced to right to make it 8-0.

UVA loaded the bases again in the seventh on three consecutive singles and scored on Papi's RBI groundout to make it 9-0.

Virginia appeared poised to record its fourth shutout in five games as JMU had two hits and four walks offensively until the ninth inning w