Cavs pour it on
UVa scores nine runs in sixth to top Tigers
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
March 19, 2006

Jacob Thompson felt like he was auditioning for ESPN's television show "Dream Job" on Saturday.
Pitching at home in an Atlantic Coast Conference game for the first time in his career and against the second-ranked team in the country, the Virginia freshman threw seven strong innings and benefited from a long, two-out rally as the Cavaliers blasted Clemson, 10-2, in the second game of the three-game series.

Thompson (5-0) remained perfect on the season and helped improve Virginia's record to 18-4 overall and 3-2 in the ACC. Clemson (11-5, 0-2 ACC) has now lost eight of the last 10 meetings against UVa and five in a row at Davenport Field.

"This was a team win, and that is what's so great about it. When we win, we win as a whole team and everyone contributes," Thompson said. "Pitching in this park you have a great team behind you and you have great fans. You can't pick a better place to pitch in.

"It is a dream. I never thought it would be like this."

Thompson and Clemson starter Jason Berken battled pitch-for-pitch, inning-by-inning until the bottom of the sixth.

With two outs, a runner at third and the game tied 1-1, Berken walked Tim Henry on four pitches. Clemson coach Jack Leggett elected to go to his bullpen, and, for the second straight game, that proved costly.

After reliever Stephen Clyne walked Brandon Marsh, the hero of Virginia's 2-1 win on Friday, Sean Doolittle delivered a two-run single up the middle to put UVa up 3-1.

Brandon Guyer, Tom Hagan, Jeremy Farrell, Beau Seabury and Greg Miclat each followed with singles that drove in at least one run during the nine-run outburst that was aided by three Clemson errors.

"To have a big offensive day, you have to have multiple guys in your lineup get multiple hits," said Virginia coach Brian O'Connor. "When you do that, you are going to have a chance to have a high-scoring game."

It marked the second time in O'Connor's three-year tenure that the Cavaliers scored nine runs in an inning. Interestingly enough, the previous feat, which happened against Brown in 2004, also came with two outs.

"It is amazing in the game of baseball that you can go to the ballpark as a player, coach or fan and you can see something new every day," O'Connor said. "It just happens. Hitting is contagious. A couple of players get RBI opportunities and it just kind of feeds of each other.

"A number of those balls just found holes, and that's what happens when you battle and a number of things go your way."

The sixth inning rambled on so long, Thompson had to go into the bullpen to warm-up again.

"I'll do that any day," Thompson laughed.

O'Connor said it was an easy decision to send the rookie right-hander back out in the seventh.

"His pitch count was really low and we felt he was still in command of the game," O'Connor said. "He has such poise that he can handle those situations."

After a quick seventh, Thompson ran into some trouble in the eighth, allowing back-to-back singles to open the inning. Only one run scored, however, as reliever Shooter Hunt capitalized on a double play before giving up a two-out RBI single.

"I was hoping that he would get us through the eighth too because he only had 90 pitches going into the eighth inning," O'Connor said. "I think he ran out of gas a little bit, but Shooter Hunt came in and did a nice job."

For the game, Thompson threw 61 of his 104 pitches for strikes and scattered six hits and three walks, while striking out five batters.

Thompson, who said his best pitch was his slider, said he was trying to come right at the Tigers' hitters.

"Our coaches will not say anything if you get beat being aggressive," Thompson said, "but if you nit-pick around ? you have to give your team a chance to win."

O'Connor said the Danville native, who now boasts a 2.18 ERA, continues to impress the coaching staff.

"The kid has unbelievable poise for an 18-year-old young man," O'Connor said. "That is the way that he has pitched since he has been here. He's going to do some great things in our uniform, and he was really the story of the game.

"He kept us in the ball game to give us the opportunity to do what we did in the sixth inning."

Virginia will try to complete the sweep against today at 1 p.m.

"Every game is its own game. These first two games don't have any affect on [today's] game,' O'Connor said. "You play 30 ACC games, and they all mean the same. Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence right now."

EXTRA BASES: Through five ACC games, Virginia is batting .328 (58 for 177). The Cavaliers have also reached double-digits in hits in 16 of their last 18 games, resulting in an impressive team average of .354 for the year. ? Clemson enters today's series finale batting just .172 against Virginia's pitching staff. ? The Tigers, who entered the series as the top-rated fielding team in the ACC, made four errors in a game for the first time since the opening month of the 2005 season. ? Virginia will send Mike Ballard (3-1, 1.93 ERA) to the mound today at 1 p.m. Clemson counters with Richmond native Stephen Faris (1-0, 1.80 ERA). "We have a senior, veteran captain on the mound, and we will expect that he comes out and gives us a chance to win early in the ball game," O'Connor said.

 

Football adds its third recruit
UVa Roundup
From staff reports / Charlottesville Daily Progress
March 19, 2006

Virginia gained its third early football commitment Saturday when Max Milien, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound running back from Yorktown High School in Arlington announced he will sign with the Cavaliers' Class of 2007.
Milien, who chose UVa over Virginia Tech, Maryland and Marshall, rushed for 1,475 yards and 20 touchdowns last season as a junior. He also caught 24 passes for 414 yards and four more scores.

For more details on this recruit, see Monday's edition of The Daily Progress.

MEN'S LACROSSE AIMS FOR 8-0 START: The undefeated Virginia men's lacrosse team shoots for its eighth consecutive victory today.

The second-ranked Cavs visit the Baltimore area to play No. 19 Towson (2-2) at 1 p.m. at Johnny Unitas Stadium. WINA (1070-AM) radio will broadcast the game live, which will also be televised at 5 p.m. on tape delay by ESPNU.

Coach Dom Starsia's teams have won five in a row against the Tigers, including a 14-3 home romp last season.

The Cavaliers are the top scoring team in Division I, averaging 15.5 goals per game. Senior attacker Matt Ward is third nationally for individual scoring with 15 goals and 10 assists. Sophomore attacker Ben Rubeor has contributed 13 goals and seven assists despite missing two games with an ankle injury.

Garrett Billings leads all freshmen with 11 goals and five assists. Also among the top 20 national scorers are midfielders Matt Poskay (15 goals and one assist) and Kyle Dixon (seven goals and nine assists).

Charlie Glazer has won 67 of 95 faceoffs to lead the ACC with a 70.5 percentage. He also leads the ACC in ground balls, averaging 5.43 a game.

In other ACC men's lacrosse results on Saturday, top-ranked Maryland (4-1) dominated Maryland-Baltimore County 9-4 and third-ranked Duke (6-1) rallied to beat North Carolina 11-8. The Tar Heels (2-6) were unable to hold an early 6-0 lead.

VIRGINIA SWIMMER EXCELS IN NCAA:

In Athens, Ga.; Virginia senior record-setter Brielle White swam to fourth place in the final of the 200-yard breaststroke at the 2006 NCAA Women's Swimming and Diving Championships.

In the team scores, the Cavs shared 23rd place with a three-day total of 34 points.

White, in her final college event, established an ACC record of 1:55.67 in the 200 backstroke.

On Friday night, White set an ACC record (52.76 seconds) with her third-place performance in the 100 backstroke. White ends her UVa career as a three-time first-team All-American in the 100 backstroke and one first-team AA honor in the 200.

Virginia senior Rachael Burke placed 14th in the 1,650-yard freestyle final, Her time of 16:24.18 earned her honorable mention All-America accolades. For the fourth consecutive year, Burke gained All-America honors in the mile.

Cavalier senior Katie Gordon competed in prelims of the 200 backstroke and finished 34th with a season-best time of 2:00.62. Sophomore Anna Steenrod competed in 100 breaststroke and finished 38th with a time of 1:04.52.

CAVALIERS AND HOKIES SPLIT DOUBLEHEADER:

In Blacksburg, after losing the first game 4-1 on a no-hitter Saturday, the Virginia softball players bounced back to beat Virginia Tech 4-3.

Today at 1 p.m. Virginia (14-8, 1-1 ACC) plays the Hokies (18-7, 1-1) in the last game of the weekend series.

In Saturday's first game, Virginia scored its lone run when Meghan O'Leary walked in the third inning and stole second base. She came home on a throwing error.

Beth Walker boosted Tech with a three-run double in the third.

Angela Tincher (9-2) pitched a no-hitter for the Hokies and she struck out 18 Cavaliers and walked seven.

In the second game, Virginia rallied from a 2-0 deficit.

In the fourth inning with two outs, Erin Horn smacked an RBI single and Brooke Sorber came through with a two-run, pinch-hit double. Pinch runner Jackie Greer scored the winning run in the sixth on Sorber's RBI single.

Horn (5-2) pitched a complete-game victory.
 

Too many blown chances for UVa
By Whitelaw Reid / Daily Progress staff writer
March 19, 2006

It's rare to hear an ovation when the home team blows a chance to tie the game in the final seconds, but that's what happened to the Virginia women's lacrosse team on Saturday afternoon at Klockner Stadium.
North Carolina's Meg Freshwater, a Charlottesville native who attended St. Anne's Belfield, had quite a cheering section on hand; and it erupted when Freshwater broke up a final UVa scoring chance with less than 15 seconds remaining, sealing a 10-9 UNC win.

"She came up with a great defensive play, knocked down the ball and came up with the turnover," said North Carolina coach Jenny Levy. "She's been doing a great job for us."

Fifth-ranked Virginia had numerous scoring chances in the last four minutes. The Cavaliers, who zinged passes deep in North Carolina territory, seemed on the brink of tying things up when Freshwater, a sophomore attacker, made her play from about 15 feet in front of the Tar Heels' net.

"I was able to read the pass, and luckily I got the interception," said Freshwater, who also scored a goal. "I'm so excited because all of my friends and family are here. It was great to be back in Charlottesville."

Things weren't as warm and fuzzy on the Virginia sideline. The Cavaliers came into the game riding a four-game winning streak, having outscored their opponents 58-29 in the process.

However, against eighth-ranked North Carolina, Virginia (6-2) squandered a plethora of point-blank chances.

"I thought the entire game we were a couple of steps off," said Virginia coach Julie Myers, a former teammate of Levy's at Virginia in the early 1990s. "We really didn't connect well together. We made some big plays, but then we weren't able to string it together and sustain any kind of momentum.

"Carolina did just enough to win. They gave us a lot of opportunities. It was just a day where we weren't on. We weren't in sync. We had blown opportunities against a hot goalie."

That goalie would be Kristen Hordy, who turned away 16 Virginia shots, including several down the stretch.

Melissa McCarthy and Brooke Dieringer each had a goal and two assists to lead North Carolina. Christina Juras and Stephanie Scurachio chipped in with two goals apiece.

Virginia was led Tyler Leachman. The senior attacker, named the national player of the week by insidelacrosse.com after her performance against Boston College last Saturday, had three goals and an assist.

Early in the second half, Leachman scored two consecutive goals and assisted on Nikki Lieb's goal as Virginia tied the game at 7.

"She's been through a lot of tight games and has really helped us win them," Myers said. "I don't think, in the long run, we did enough to deserve to win today ? [but] she's a big-time player. She's got the most experience, has a great stick and the will to win."

Leachman's third goal of the game with 8:10 left gave Virginia a 9-8 lead, but North Carolina answered with goals by Erica LaGrow and Juras to go up 10-9 at the 4:47 mark. That set the stage for Freshwater's hometown heroics.

Myers wasn't pleased with her team's final offensive sequence.

"Everybody was just standing and hoping for Tyler to get it done," she said. "We talked and practiced all week that they were going to swarm that ball, and we had to keep it moving and keep the attack going. I don't think we had enough players willing to take a 1-on-1 today. It was just Tyler who was trying to get it done."

Virginia lost despite winning the groundball battle (28-23) and out-shooting North Carolina (32-19).

"[Hordy] did make some good saves," Leachman said, "but I think down the stretch they gave us a lot of opportunities. We just needed to put some more balls in the goal."

Leachman said Virginia needs to move on quickly. The Cavaliers play at William & Mary on Tuesday night.

"They've been doing very well," Leachman said of the Tribe. "They upset Boston University, so we're in no way underestimating them. We've got to be ready for them."

Added Myers: "We're hoping this [loss] is kind of uncharacteristic. We haven't really played like that in quite a while. We'll watch some film on Monday and get ready for William & Mary. We just have to do the basic things much, much better."

 

Cavs rip Tigers, extend winning streak to four
Virginia scores nine in sixth; Thompson boosts mark to 5-0
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Mar 19, 2006
COLLEGE BASEBALL
VIRGINIA 10 CLEMSON 2

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Brian O'Connor didn't suffer through a sophomore slump at the University of Virginia. And now, in his third season as the Cavaliers' baseball coach, O'Connor might have his best team yet.

In 2004, U.Va. advanced to the NCAA tournament for the first time in eight years and finished 44-15. For an encore, the Cavaliers went 41-20 and returned to the NCAAs in '05.

O'Connor's latest group is 3-2 in the ACC and 18-4 overall after crushing second-ranked Clemson 10-2 before 1,869 at Davenport Field yesterday. Freshman right-hander Jacob Thompson scattered six hits in seven innings and improved to 5-0.

It was the fourth straight victory for the Cavs, who knocked off No. 1 Georgia Tech last Sunday and conclude their three-game series with the Tigers today (1 p.m. start).

"If we're going to continue to push forward, we need to continue to recruit great players," O'Connor said. "We recruit against the likes of Clemson and North Carolina and Georgia Tech and the best in our league, and it's important to show that we can really compete with those teams."

Clemson, unlike U.Va., has rich tradition in baseball. Few statistics, then, reflect Virginia's recent transformation as well as this one: In a series in which the Cavaliers trail 100-35, they're 8-2 against the Tigers under O'Connor.

"You just have to give O'Connor credit for what he's done with the program -- where it was a couple years ago and where it is now," said Clemson senior third baseman Herman Demmink, a Clover Hill High graduate.

In the series opener Friday night, U.Va. edged Clemson 2-1 when junior Tim Henry scored on classmate Brandon Marsh's sacrifice fly in the ninth. After 5½ innings yesterday, the score was 1-1, and another tense finish seemed imminent. But then came one of the more improbable sequences in U.Va. baseball history.

Freshman Jeremy Farrell led off Virginia's sixth with a single then advanced to second on junior Beau Seabury's sacrifice bunt. Another sacrifice, this one by freshman Greg Miclat, moved to Farrell to third.

Henry and Marshall each drew a walk to load the bases. Then came the fireworks. Sophomore Sean Doolittle started a scoring spree that didn't end until U.Va.'s 13th batter of the inning, Henry, struck out. Doolittle had a two-run single, as did sophomore Brandon Guyer and, in his second at-bat of the inning, Miclat.

The Tigers (0-2, 11-5) limped back to their dugout having surrendered nine runs -- all with two outs -- in the sixth.

"That's nuts," said Tom Hagan, who went 3 for 4 with two RBI yesterday.


 

Virginia quiets Clemson againCavs’ solid pitching and nine-run sixth inning keep Tigers winless in ACCBy JIM FURLONGSpecial to The StateCHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — When some of Clemson’s baseball players attend church services this morning, coach Jack Leggett hopes they hear a sermon emphasizing resilience.
The Tigers also might want to pray for an offensive resurrection.
Virginia’s pitchers dominated Clemson’s hitters for the second game in a row Saturday, and the Cavaliers erupted for nine runs in the sixth inning to roll to a 10-2 victory at Davenport Field.
Second-ranked Clemson, who lost 2-1 to Virginia on Friday night, dropped to 0-2 in the ACC. In 18 innings against four Cavaliers pitchers the Tigers have scored three runs on 11 hits.
Virginia, which beat top-ranked Georgia Tech in Atlanta last Sunday, has won eight of the past 10 meetings against Clemson.
The Cavaliers (18-4, 3-2 ACC) aim for a sweep today when the rivals complete their weekend series with a 1 p.m. start.
“We just have to relax and play and not panic,” said Leggett, whose teams were a combined 30-5 in ACC opening series before Friday. “... I wish we were hitting better, but we are not swinging the bats that well right now. But we have faced pretty good pitching.”
Virginia freshman right-hander Jacob Thompson, who showed steady poise in his sixth college start, boosted his personal record to 5-0 with seven strong innings. Freshman reliever Shooter Hunt blanked the Tigers in the last two innings before 1,869 spectators on a sunny, chilly day.
“(The Cavaliers) are executing very well, and their pitchers are doing a very good job of keeping our hitters off balance,” Clemson senior third baseman Herman Demmink said. “Give them credit for what they are doing. We are hitting a lot of balls in the air and not putting pressure on their defense.”
Leggett and his players endured a lengthy bottom of the sixth when the home team, with two outs, had nine consecutive batters reach base. After Clemson right-hander Jason Berken pitched five solid innings, he and relievers Stephen Clyne and P.J. Zocchi were bombarded.
With the game tied 1-1, the Cavaliers loaded the bases with two outs, thanks to a single and two walks.
Doolittle, who is also Virginia’s regular first baseman, grounded a sharp single up the middle to score two runs. After Clyne, who did not retire a hitter, issued another walk, Brandon Guyer grounded another two-run hit up the middle.
Four more Cavaliers added RBI hits, and Clemson catcher Adrian Casanova dropped a throw at the plate, allowing another run to score.
Virginia’s nine runs in the inning were more than any opponent had scored against Clemson in a full game this season.
“I can’t remember that as a player or as a coach,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor, who team is 13-1 at home. “But that can happen when you battle ... and the baseball gods look down on you.”