1 vote for a QB race to last till August
Aaron McFarling

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- Virginia should leave it open. Really.

Fling that door to the starting quarterback job wide, wide open and let Scott Deke step through it, if only to mingle with the other guys inside between now and Aug. 30.

Coach Al Groh has said all along that it is open, and he reiterated that stance after Saturday's Spring (don't call it a Game) Festival at Scott Stadium.

Here's hoping he's serious. Because Deke looked the best of all of them on this day, and it wasn't even close.

"But it's just the Spring Game!" you say.

Festival.

"Right," you say. "It's just the Spring Festival! Merely one performance! Don't read too much into it."

Valid points, all. This was 68 minutes of scrimmage-style football with no punts, no field goals and no clock. They didn't even keep score this year. As usual, there were mix-and-match lines in front of the quarterbacks. Numerous starters on both sides of the ball sat out because of injury.

That said, Deke still looked the best. That still matters. Because let's face it: If this offseason has been any indication, there will be no perfect world for UVa in 2008. There's going to be plenty of adversity, plenty of challenges. Performance under less-than-ideal circumstances should count, more so this year than any.

Questions abound, starting with an obvious one: Who would start the Festival at QB after Jameel Sewell's academic troubles left the team without a bona fide starter? The Cavaliers answered that by -- no kidding -- playing "guess a number between 1 and 50." Whoever got closest among the top three quarterbacks -- Peter Lalich, Deke and Marc Verica -- would be anointed the starter in the scrimmage.

"Scott Deke picked it on the first one," Lalich said. "He got it. He picked the actual number on the first one."

The number was 27.

"Got lucky," Deke said. "Just came into my head."

It was Deke's day. The senior from Pacific Palisades, Calif., led the team out to the 35-yard line and immediately began completing passes. When he was finished, he'd connected on 17 of 23 throws for 160 yards and two touchdowns. More importantly, he looked like he knew what he was doing and where he wanted to throw the ball.

Despite never throwing a pass in his four seasons at UVa, he was accurate. He was poised. He even made a nice move with his feet to elude pressure and get the ball off for a 42-yard strike to Matt Snyder, who made a spectacular catch.

"Definitely with age, I think comfort comes," said Deke, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound right-hander whose father, Daryl, played golf at VMI. "It wasn't my first rodeo by any means. Every day I still get really excited. I don't get nervous, per se. I just get anxious to do well.

"We just wanted to go out as quarterbacks and show the Virginia fans what the offense was capable of."

Verica completed 17 of 25 passes for 110 yards and a TD, a solid day for the sophomore.

The sophomore Lalich, meanwhile, struggled. The former high school All-American -- and the player with the most game experience -- did not look comfortable Saturday. He completed just 6 of his 18 passes for 72 yards.

He was intercepted three times, although two of them weren't really his fault. The first was a nice sideline pass that got wrestled out of the receiver's hands by the defender. The third was tipped and picked.

The second? Well, that was a legitimate mistake, a dump-off pass to nobody in particular, the kind of play UVa can't have this fall.

"Those things don't matter to the team right now, this spring," Lalich said, when asked about the first INT. "We've got a long way to go."

Asked how he felt about Groh saying all three QBs were even, Lalich said, "I don't have anything to say about that."

And his personal performance in the Festival?

"I don't have anything to say about that, either," he said.

Lalich can take solace in Groh's post-Festival assessment, which is the only one that really matters. The coach stood behind the quarterbacks throughout the scrimmage and watched how they progressed through their reads, and he said he was pleased with all three.

"They made good decisions," Groh said. "They ran their team well. ... Each one of them made some throws up the field that have to be made. I thought they were all pretty much in the same circumstance.

"If you look at numbers, you can't get the picture on that in the Spring Game [pretty sure he meant to say 'Festival,' but he gets a pass]. You don't know what line they were in. You don't know what receivers they had in there. So if you're trying to form any conclusions based on that, you're fooling yourself."

Fair enough. No need to form any conclusions in April other than one: Deke deserves a good, long look this August.
 

Cavaliers shift focus to their passing game
Sunday, Apr 13, 2008 - 12:07 AM

Cavaliers shift focus to their passing game
In Cedric Peerman and Mikell Simpson, Virginia has two of the ACC's finest tailbacks. But with Peerman held out as a precaution and Simpson limited to one carry, the offensive focus in U.Va.'s spring game yesterday at Scott Stadium was the passing game.

In recent years, running backs and tight ends have caught many of the passes thrown by Virginia quarterbacks. Yesterday, though, the receiving corps played a leading role. Nine wideouts had at least one reception.

"All we really did was run our offense and hope that the quarterback threw the ball to the guy who was open," eighth-year coach Al Groh said. "Clearly, more of those [receivers] were open."

Former Matoaca High star Kris Burd had a game-high seven catches for 64 yards. Burd, a freshman, had to redshirt last season after having back surgery in August.

"He's one of those young players who's done a nice job," Groh said. "He probably is not yet in the first three, so unless it's a circumstance where we play four wide receivers, he's still got some ground to cover to get ahead of one of those other three guys" -- Kevin Ogletree, Maurice Covington and Cary Koch.

"But Kris has had a very positive spring," Groh said, "and his play today did reflect what he's done during the spring."

After watching from the sideline last season, Burd said, he was ecstatic to be back on the field in front of a crowd.

"It's like an out-of-body experience being out there with the team," Burd said.

Injured list
Peerman, who's coming off foot surgery, wasn't the only Cavalier to sit out the spring game. Others held out for medical reasons were linebackers Clint Sintim and John Bivens (Prince George High), offensive tackles Eugene Monroe and Lamar Milstead, offensive guard Patrick Slebonick, safety Corey Mosley (Henrico High) and defensive end Sean Gottschalk (Deep Run High). All are expected to be cleared in time to play this season.

Team captains chosen
The team captains for 2008 are Peerman, Sintim, cornerback Vic Hall and tight end John Phillips. Peerman, Sintim and Phillips are rising seniors, and Hall will be a junior this season.

Also announced yesterday were the winners of the Rock Weir Award, given each spring to the team's most improved players. Phillips and offensive tackle Landon Bradley shared the award for the offense, and outside linebacker Denzel Burrell was honored from the defense.

Bradley, a freshman, redshirted last season. Burrell, a rising junior who played primarily on special teams last season, is a candidate to replace Jermaine Dias in the starting lineup this fall.

Quite a catch
Former Deep Run High standout Matt Snyder had the longest reception of the spring game, a 42-yarder thrown by quarterback Scott Deke, who'd narrowly avoided being sacked. Snyder, a freshman walk-on who plays receiver, redshirted last season. U.Va. is recruiting Snyder's brother Jake, a junior defensive end at Deep Run. -- Jeff White

 

Try as they might to disguise the fact, Cavaliers look like they’ll struggle in ’08
Posted to: Bob Molinaro
Bob Molinaro
Virginian-Pilot columnist
© April 13, 2008
CHARLOTTESVILLE

THE CROWD INSIDE Scott Stadium on Saturday was minuscule and the spring scrimmage definitely had a casual feel to it. Neither the time nor a score was flashed on the big board at the north end of the field, as the offense and defense squared off for 86 plays in a rapid 63 minutes.

Virginia calls its no-frills scrimmage a football festival, and to add a touch of theatrics to an otherwise uninspired occasion, the players ran onto the field through a cloud of manufactured fog.

Now we know that the Cavaliers can produce smoke.

But where are the mirrors?

Smoke and mirrors are what it’s going to take, it seems, if U.Va. is to successfully adjust to a major transition period.

Too pessimistic for April? Perhaps.

But since surprising people with their 9-4 season, the Cavaliers have unexpectedly lost seven players – five to academic woes, and another two who attracted the attention of the police.

The misadventures are costing U.Va. key contributors, most notably defensive end Jeffrey Fitzgerald and last year’s starting quarterback Jameel Sewell, both academic casualties. Also absent are two experienced defensive backs: Chris Cook (academic issues) and Mike Brown (arrested on a larceny charge).

Saying goodbye to NFL draft prospects Chris Long, U.Va.’s best defensive player, and Branden Albert, its top offensive lineman, is one thing, but the damaging offseason surprises have sacked U.Va. for a significant loss of continuity.

“That’s well behind us,” U.Va. coach Al Groh said of the unsettled past few months. “Look, the ’07 season’s behind us, too. We’ve moved on from those games and from many of the circumstances since then.”

At the press session following the scrimmage, the media half-heartedly played along with the notion that the intrasquad scrum revealed anything about the team.

In truth, little was learned about any facet of U.Va.’s game, including the poise and precision of quarterbacks Peter Lalich, Marc Verica and Scott Deke.

“Quite a few of our veteran players,” Groh noted, “just made token appearances.”

One of the vets, inside linebacker Antonio Appleby, started 13 games last season behind Long and Fitzgerald. What will next season be like without them?

“We’ve taken a next-man-up mentality,” the senior from Virginia Beach said. “It was great playing with those guys, but all we can do is look to the future.”

The future includes an Aug. 30 game against visiting Southern California. It was your basic mismatch before U.Va. began losing players.

“Without being Pollyanish about it,” Groh said, “you take on the problems and you move forward. Any kind of coaching, in any situation, is perpetual problem solving.”

Between now and the end of August, he’ll try to come to grips with an obvious dilemma.

Asked about his quarterbacks, Groh’s polite non-answer was, “I saw pretty much the same out of all three of them.”

It’s what you’d expect him to say, but if he actually believes it, U.Va. may be in trouble.

Last season, Sewell was mercurial and scatter-armed, but his legs helped him escape trouble. And he had that U.Va. defense, led by Long, to bail him out.

The ACC is a weak conference that, as U.Va. demonstrated last year, offers ample opportunity for flawed teams who stay the course. Those ’07 memories will help keep the Cavaliers positive.

“Whatever the situation is,” Groh said, “unless it’s euphorically good or demonstrably bad, I just plow ahead.”

Still, next season, he may want to bring along a few mirrors.

 

Cavaliers get back on target
By Bart Isley
Published: April 14, 2008

After two straight sub-par shooting performances against Boston College and Georgetown, Virginia’s women’s lacrosse team went to work, running through a long series of shooting drills during practice.
The results are already showing.
Virginia torched Johns Hopkins early and buried six of its first eight shots en route to a 17-6 victory over the Blue Jays.
“We knew today that shooting was going to be really important in trying to set that tone and our attackers did a great job of making their early shots count,” said Virginia coach Julie Myers.
Ashley McCulloch led the way for the Cavaliers’ attack, pouring in five goals while also dishing out one assist.
The junior, who leads Virginia in scoring on the season, converted in nearly everyway imaginable, including a one-timer on a curl from behind the goal delivered by Blair Weymouth that opened Virginia’s scoring.
“Sometimes she kind of settles back there and is more looking to assist on a goal,” Weymouth said. “But today she came out with a vengeance, she wanted to score.”
Brittany Kalkstein and Kaitlin Duff each posted hat tricks while Weymouth knocked in a pair of goals. Seven Cavaliers had an assist each in the win, which was Myers’ 100th in Charlottesville as a head coach and the 400th in the program’s history.
The improved shooting (the Cavs knocked down 48.6 percent of their shots) came on the heels of a 28 percent performance against Georgetown in an 8-7 loss and a 29.3 percent outing in a win over Boston College.
After the Georgetown loss, Myers stepped up the emphasis on shooting each day during workouts.
“We definitely practiced a lot more on shooting, that’s been out focus for the last week,” Weymouth said. “It probably still will continue to be because we’re better shooters than that.”
The Cavaliers seemed to know exactly how to counteract the Blue Jays’ pressure defense, constantly finding the open cutter or safety valve while building a 9-0 lead. In one minute and three seconds early in the first, Virginia’s offense scored four goals.
“In practice, our defense did exactly what they did on defense against us today,” Weymouth said. “We knew they were going to pressure out and that we needed to find that opposite and open girl and we just executed.”
The Cavaliers’ gameplan on the defensive end was just as solid. Virginia wasn’t caught off-guard by anything the Blue Jays did, doubling and playing the passing lanes perfectly on Hopkins’ series of stack plays.
On the stack, the Blue Jays bunched several players about 15 yards from the goal and isolated an attacker to the side of the goal who either drove to the cage or looked for one of the players cutting out of the bunch for an easy goal.
“We had some good film on Hopkins so we were able to really get our defense ready,” Myers said.
“If you struggle defending a stack then they’re going to be their bread and butter, but I think our defenders did a really nice of defending their stack well and then frustrating them from there.”
Virginia will take on George Mason Wednesday in the regular-season finale. After that the Cavaliers will wait until April 24-27 to host the ACC tournament.

Cavaliers overwhelm JHU for 400th program win
Myers records 100th win at Virginia as players grab early lead with fast-paced game plan
Ryan Williams, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

After a recent failed attempt to attain their program's 400th win against Georgetown, the No. 4 Cavaliers'? new game plan paid off, allowing Virginia to knock off No. 16 Johns Hopkins at Klöckner Stadium Sunday and to reach the milestone.

The 17-6 victory also marked Virginia coach Julie Myers' 100th win as a Cavalier coach and elevated Virginia to 11-3 (4-1 ACC).

Having played three straight slow-paced matches dictated by the opposing defenses, Virginia came into this game looking to get and capitalize on fast-break opportunities. This plan, instituted by Myers, worked like a charm.

With nearly seven minutes elapsed in the first half?, the Cavalier offense netted four goals in a 63-second span, all on quick-scoring chances, to take a six-goal lead. All four goals were scored by different players, as the Cavaliers found open teammates and made the most of their chances.

"I think our team did a great job in transition in particular," Myers said. "I think the way that Hopkins traps, if you're able to get through those first two levels of the trap, you have some wide-open opportunities on the fast-break. Our girls did a great job of really nailing those opportunities."

Junior midfielder Ashley McCulloch, who leads the Virginia offense in both points and assists on the season, contributed an assist? and five goals of her own. McCulloch was quick to divert the attention from herself toward the game plan and her teammates.

"I think today one of the things we wanted to focus on was our fast breaks and not settling it in attack," McCulloch said of the squad's mentality for the game. "I think on fast breaks we were open and really took it to them."

McCulloch was just one of many players to find the scoring column for the Cavaliers on the day. The Cavaliers got off to a 9-0 start before Hopkins (6-7, 0-1 American Lacrosse Conference) netted its first goal with eight minutes remaining in the first half. The Blue Jays were able to score twice more before the half finished?, and Virginia led 10-3 at halftime. That small flurry of goals wasn't enough to gain momentum though, as the Cavaliers scored 7 more in the second half, to Hopkins' 3.

After a tough loss to Georgetown last week, Virginia needed to come out fast and gain the upper hand. The team did that not only with its fast-scoring offense, but a strong defense.

"It's huge -- the fact that we came out really strong and scored 9 goals unanswered," senior goalkeeper Kendall McBrearty said of her defense and the win. "It was just huge to come out off our last game where we were flat and play strong and stick it to them. The fact that our defense could hold them off every time that they came down and every time they tried to score and keep the momentum going was huge."

McBrearty was clearly excited about her team's performance, which she exhibited in goal and during the final three minutes of the game while she stood watching from the sidelines. Junior goalkeeper Sara Hairfield came in and made two tough saves in those final three minutes.

"When I was a first-year I was on the sideline, and being a goalie, I know I just scream about everything," McBrearty said of her enthusiasm. "When I come out, I try to sustain that and just encourage everybody because they're getting their time to shine, and you want to be positive."

McBrearty added that she loves to watch Hairfield play.

"She's great," McBrearty said. "She's such a hard worker and to go in and make those two saves, it was huge."

The Virginia squad also celebrated this win because it achieved a program milestone: The win marked the 400th in the history of Virginia women's lacrosse as well as Myers' 100th win as a coach in Charlottesville.



 

Virginia ends on perfect note
By Whitey Reid
Published: April 14, 2008

When you crush an opponent, you’re not supposed to be the one weeping.
However, Somdev Devvarman admitted he may have shed a few tears on Sunday afternoon.
Devvarman, along with teammates Treat Huey and Ted Angelinos, were playing the final regular-season matches of their careers.
All three won in straight sets in leading No. 1-ranked Virginia to an impressive 7-0 win over Wake Forest in front of a record 859 fans at the Snyder Tennis Center.
“It was definitely an emotional day because this thing has just meant so much to me,” said Devvarman, who has helped turn UVa into one of the top programs in the country. “It’s just been such a good journey.
“It’s sad that it’s coming to an end, but we still have two big tournaments ahead of us.”
On Friday, in suburban Orlando, Virginia (25-0,
11-0) begins play in the ACC Tournament where it will be the heavy favorite. UVa then hosts the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament starting May 9.
After a lethargic performance in Friday’s win over N.C. State, Virginia coach Brian Boland seemed very pleased with his team’s effort on Sunday.
“I think having 36 hours to get healthy was the big difference for us today, and I think it showed,” said Boland, whose team didn’t drop a single set. “We played really well right from the start of doubles. The guys had a lot of energy and enthusiasm.”
In No. 1 singles, Devvarman was able to ward off a pesky Steven Forman, 6-4, 6-4.
“He was pretty good,” Devvarman said. “He had a good serve. I was disappointed that I lost my serve in the second set, but I came back, strung together a few good points there at 4-all and held serve after that to close the match out. I was very happy about that.”
Huey, who defeated Cory Parr, 6-0, 6-3 in No. 2 singles, said everybody wanted to play better following the N.C. State performance.
“After the match, [Boland] really got into us — just got into our faces,” Huey said. “Then we had a great practice [on Saturday] and came out and were a lot more mentally tough and focused.”
Angelinos took care of Jonathan Wolff, 6-4, 6-4.
The Cavaliers opened the match by sweeping the doubles point.
At the No. 1 position, Devvarman and Huey topped Cory Parr and Steven Forman 8-6.
Angelinos and Lee Singer clinched the opening point with their 8-4 win over Wolff and Jason Morgenstern at No. 3 doubles. Dominic Inglot and Michael Shabaz completed the sweep with a tiebreaker win over Mariusz Adamski and Carlos Salmon at No. 2.
Devvarman said the team was pumped up from the start.
“We knew it was our last regular-season match here and were very excited,” he said. “The way we performed today was really special.”
Added Huey: “The crowd was great today, just awesome and everyone came out and played great. We’re looking to build on it next week in the ACC Tournament.
“I feel like we have a lot more tennis to play and some goals that we really want to reach.”

Senior day sweep makes undefeated season reality
Seniors go out in style with 7-0 sweep of No. 30 Deacons, earn first-round bye
Sean Bielawski, Cavalier Daily Associate Editor

Perfection was the theme of the day for the men's tennis team Sunday afternoon: a perfect atmosphere at the Snyder Tennis Center on a day that honored one of the most accomplished senior classes in Virginia tennis history and a perfect 7-0victory for top-ranked Virginia against No. 30 Wake Forest, all capping off a undefeated? regular season.

The Cavaliers (25-0, 10-0 ACC) came out ready to play from the start and did not drop a set against the overmatched Demon Deacons (16-9, 7-4 ACC).

"It was a great way to end the regular season," coach Brian Boland said. "To finish the season 25-0 is an unbelievable accomplishment. I'm really proud of the team. You have to really sit back and reflect on how difficult that is."

Virginia set the tone early by sweeping the doubles point for the second match in a row.

"Our doubles has improved a lot," Boland said. "We've put a lot of time into it, and I think we are gelling a lot better. We are playing with a great deal of energy."

The No. 45 team of senior Teddy Angelinos and sophomore Lee Singer cruised to an 8-4 victory at the No. 3 doubles position, while junior Dominic Inglot and freshman Michael Shabaz won a hard-fought 9-8 (4) match at the No. 2 position.

After seniors Somdev Devvarman and Treat Huey, the country's top-ranked doubles team, faltered last weekend at Duke, both were determined not to let that happen in their last regular-season home match of their careers. The tandem scored an 8-6 victory against No. 11 junior Cory Parr and sophomore Steven Forman.

"We didn't play so well last weekend," Huey said. "We focused hard this week on doubles and really wanted to get back on track. I feel like we did a good job of that this weekend."

After a brief ceremony honoring the seniors, Virginia picked up in singles play where it left off in doubles, winning all six matches in straight sets.

Huey came out firing, racing to an early 6-0, first-set win before taking the second set 6-3 for the victory against No. 58 Parr. The victory extended the senior's winning streak to 15 matches.

"I played great today," Huey said. "The ball was bouncing a little more because of the weather. I was just running down a lot of balls and hitting my passing shots really well."

Devvarman registered a 6-4, 6-4 victory against No. 86 Forman, finishing the regular season on a 27-match win streak to improve his record to 35-1.

"We played some good tennis today," Devvarman said. "I came out really fired up, and it was definitely good to go out with a W."

Angelinos scored a 6-4, 6-4 victory against Wake Forest's freshman Jonathan Wolff at the No. 5 position. The match was particularly special since Boland allowed Angelinos to play on one of the three top courts alongside fellow seniors Huey and Devvarman.

"Teddy wanted to play up top today," Boland said. "I certainly wanted to honor that request because he deserves it. The Wake coach was in agreement that we could make that adjustment, and I am happy for Teddy because he's been really sick the last few days. He was well enough to play on Senior Day and he has meant so much to our program over the last couple of years."

Virginia finished off the sweep with victories by sophomore Houston Barrick and freshmen Sanam Singh and Michael Shabaz.

Next up for Virginia is a trip to Florida this weekend for the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers received a first-round bye and will play their first match Friday.




 

Cavs earn sweep over Terps
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By Jay Jenkins

Published: April 14, 2008

COLLEGE PARK, Md. — Andrew Carraway held his breath as the ball whizzed through the air.
What appeared to be a game-tying homer, miraculously clanked off the metallic fence in right field for a loud single.
Virginia’s starting pitcher had survived what proved to be his biggest scare in an outing that lifted his team to their first road sweep of the season.
The Cavaliers, behind a season-best three homers, overcame chilly conditions and whipped Maryland, 11-4, at Shipley Field on Sunday.
Now sporting a five-game winning streak, Virginia stands at 29-9 overall, just a game behind the team’s 30-8 start a year ago. More importantly, the Cavaliers moved to 11-7 in the ACC and maintain the league’s
fourth-best winning percentage.
“You have to be proud of your players any time you can complete a sweep of a league opponent on the road,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “We had a great day offensively, we got production throughout our lineup and that was great to see.”
But the biggest key, the skipper said, was Carraway’s ability to “minimize” the Terrapins’ offensive threat in the fourth inning.
After being spotted a 3-0 lead thanks in part to solo homers from Tyler Cannon and Dan Grovatt, Carraway allowed back-to-back one-out singles to Bill Rice and Jensen Pupa.
Carraway, who retired the game’s first 10 batters, then made a mistake against Maryland slugger Mike Murphy — he threw a hittable pitch.
Murphy’s blast, however, was not his 10th homer as it hit off the fence in right field. Oddly enough, the runners advanced only one base.
“At that point, I was willing to trade an out for a run,” Carraway said. “I knew I had a lead to work with.”
The right-hander did just that, getting Gerry Spessard to hit a sacrifice fly to center. Carraway, who set the tone with his fastball, went on to end the frame moments later with a four-pitch strikeout of Will Greenberg.
Ironically, Virginia responded offensively for its second-best inning of the weekend.
“We talk about that all the time,” said Carraway, who fanned nine batters in the longest outing of his college career. “You can gain or give away momentum on the mound with one pitch.”
In the top of the fifth, UVa took advantage of bunt singles by Jarrett Parker and Greg Miclat to fuel the six-hit, five-run attack that provided an 8-1 advantage.
“We took advantage of our speed in that inning,” O’Connor said. “Tyler Cannon, Dan Grovatt and Franco Valdes drove in big runs with timely hits and that’s what you need to score a lot of runs in an inning. You have to have multiple guys coming through at the plate.”
The Cavaliers, who play nine of their final 12 league games at home, scored another run in the seventh on a RBI double by John Barr and two more in the eighth on a two-run homer second baseman David Adams to left-center field.
After surpassing the 100-pitch plateau, Carraway (3-2) was pulled in favor of freshman reliever Robert Morey, who allowed three runs in the eighth before he gave way to junior Jake Rule for a scoreless ninth.
For the game, Virginia slapped out 14 hits, giving the team 34 for the series. Maryland (20-17, 5-13) had 29 hits over the weekend, including 11 on Sunday, but dropped their 18th straight to the Cavaliers.
UVa returns to action Tuesday as it opens a six-game homestand with 24th-ranked Coastal Carolina (28-7) at 5 p.m.

 

Cavs blank Terrapins in College Park
Weekend sweep sees 34 hits, 27 runs and four home runs; team wins first game after falling behind four runs

Paul Montana, Cavalier Daily Senior Associate Editor
Tyler Cannon went 8 for 14 on the weekend and scored five runs.
Jason O. Watson | Cavalier Daily
College Park, Md. -- After a couple of shaky midweek games last week, Virginia baseball coach Brian O'Connor said his team was in need of a "defining moment" at some point this season.

If Virginia's first road-series win, a weekend sweep against Maryland? that included two come-from-behind wins Friday and Saturday, wasn't season-defining, it was at least a lift for a struggling offense.

The Cavaliers (29-9, 11-7 ACC) combined for 34 hits and four home runs in the sweep of the Terrapins (20-17, 5-13 ACC),? winning 11-6 Friday, 5-4 Saturday and 11-4 Sunday.

"This was big for our team just to all prove to each other that we can win a series on the road," O'Connor said. "I was happy with how we swung the bats this weekend."

The opening night of the series offered a particularly momentous sequence of events for Virginia. The game began with junior starting pitcher Jacob Thompson's second consecutive poor outing, as Maryland pounded the 2007 first-team All-American for six earned runs in five-plus innings on its way to a 6-4 lead.

Sophomore pitcher Neal Davis entered in the sixth, however, and quietly kept Virginia in the game with three-plus shutout innings. On perhaps the biggest play of the night in the bottom of the seventh, Davis got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam with a rare 5-2-3 double play by sophomore third basemen Tyler Cannon to end the inning.

Cannon "could have stepped on third, he could have thrown the ball to second, but you can't give up another run," O'Connor said. "He made a good decision on throwing the ball home."

Cannon's double play set the stage for an offensive explosion by Virginia in the eighth. Freshman Dan Grovatt slugged his way out of a recent slump with a man-on-first, one-out double to the warning track in left field. Junior Jeremy Farrell followed with an RBI line-drive single to right and stole second on an errant throw from Maryland senior catcher Chad Durakis, allowing Grovatt to score.

Freshman right fielder David Coleman followed with a walk. Then, freshman catcher Franco Valdes -- who had one of his best nights, going 2-5 and playing stellar defense behind the plate -- showed athleticism unbecoming of a 5-foot-10, 205-pound catcher. On a 1-1 pitch, Valdes showed bunt, then pulled the bat back and shot a line drive through the right side to load the bases and keep the rally going.

"That's the first time I've done that in the season," Valdes said, adding with a laugh that assistant coach Kevin McMullan "gave me the sign, and I was like, 'Uh oh ... all right, let's do this!'"

Senior Patrick Wingfield then grounded out to score another run, and freshman John Barr? legged out an infield single to score one more. Valdes completed his trip around the bases on a wild pitch, and junior Greg Miclat brought in Barr for the sixth and final run of the inning with a single to left before Cannon struck out to end the inning.

All in all, the Cavaliers faced three Maryland pitchers in the eighth, thrashing them for six runs on six hits. Virginia tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth, and senior Michael Schwimer closed out the Terrapins in the bottom, completing the Cavaliers' biggest comeback since May 12, 2006.

"Your All-American [Thompson] goes out there and he doesn't have his stuff, and our guys didn't quit; they didn't feel sorry for themselves," O'Connor said. "They met adversity like big dogs."

Game two of the series provided no less drama. Senior Pat McAnaney was brilliant for six of his seven-plus innings, as he allowed no hits and struck out seven during that stretch; however, he had a hiccup in the second when he allowed back-to-back singles and his first home run of the year to junior Mike Moss.

Virginia was again unable to provide early offense and fell into an early 0-3 hole after two innings; Farrell had an opportunity in the first to give Virginia an early lead with the bases loaded and one out, but the senior was punched out looking on a 2-2 pitch, and Coleman followed with a ground-out to keep the Cavaliers scoreless.

Farrell, however, would get his revenge in the fifth? on Maryland's most costly mistake of the series. The senior stepped in with Virginia trailing 2-3 with runners on second and third and got ahead in the count 3-1. With a base open and three sub-.300 hitters to follow Farrell --? the team leader in home runs, with six going into Saturday --? a pitch out of the strike zone to walk the bases loaded appeared to be in order. Sophomore right-hander Ian Schwalenberg instead offered a fastball that caught the middle of the plate, and Farrell uncoiled. The ball went out of Shipley Field as fast as it came in, towering over the left-field fence and easily clearing the 400-foot label on the building behind it, giving Virginia a 5-3 lead.

"I'm glad that they did [give him a pitch to hit] with a base open," O'Connor said, smiling about the home run pitch to Farrell. "The kid made the pitch, and Farrell took a great swing."

In the eighth, sophomore Matt Packer entered and earned an out of similar importance to Davis' double play ball the night before. With runners on second and third and nobody out, Packer struck out junior Will Greenberg, looking for an enormous first out. Though the ground ball out that followed scored one before a line out ended the inning, it was the initial strikeout that sent Virginia into the ninth with the lead.

"If [Greenberg] puts the ball in play on the right side, they score a run, they move the runner, now the next guy hits a fly ball, all of a sudden the game's tied, and it's a different story," O'Connor said. "That was a huge, huge strikeout."

The Sunday game had an entirely different storyline but ended the same, as Virginia got off to an early lead and never looked back in the 11-4 blowout. Junior starting pitcher Andrew Carraway pitched seven strong innings and allowed just one run to improve to 3-2 on the year, and the Cavaliers got a season-high three home runs from Cannon, Grovatt and Adams.

Virginia returns to Davenport Field Tuesday for the first of a six-game homestand against No. 24 Coastal Carolina.