Cavs get lost in Purple haze
UVa's season comes to an end with loss
By Jay Jenkins / Daily Progress staff writer
June 5, 2006

It’s no secret what the cornerstones of the Virginia baseball program have been for the past three years. From timely hitting to quality defense to stellar pitching, the strategy was quite simple.

Winning is tough without one of the three. Without all three, it looks like a slow-moving train wreck.

A season-worst six errors, 16 Evansville hits and nine stranded Cavaliers ultimately sent Virginia’s season to a screeching halt and pushed the Purple Aces to a lopsided 15-4 win in the Charlottesville Regional at Davenport Field.

Evansville advanced to the title round against South Carolina, the team that handed Virginia (47-15) its first loss in the double-elimination event Saturday night.

Given the locale and the nature of the Cavaliers’ exit, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor boldly called it the toughest loss of his “entire coaching career.”

“It’s the hardest one for me to take because I really felt like this ballclub had something special about them,” said O’Connor, whose team lost four of its last five. “I felt that we were pretty talented. I’d seen this team go through some things throughout the year that I felt that they had a special quality about them.

“Our opposition this weekend took the fight to us, typically like we take it to them.”

Evansville, riding a wave of emotion from a walk-off grand slam against Lehigh on Saturday, wasted little time getting to Virginia starter Jacob Thompson.

The rookie right-hander, who had arguably been the team’s most consistent starter, gave up a two-out, two-run homer on a hanging slider to Evansville first baseman Kasey Wahl in the opening frame.

“I thought it was real important for our guys to score in the first inning,” Evansville coach Dave Schrage said.

“I thought it was important to keep the momentum that we had from yesterday.”

Like UVa did in its regional-opening win against Lehigh, the Cavaliers appeared poised to strike back in the bottom-half of the inning.

After a leadoff single by Greg Miclat and a walk to Brandon Marsh, O’Connor had Sean Doolittle sacrifice both runners into scoring position. Evansville starter Scott Souther helped himself escape the jam by cleanly fielding a one-out, hotshot grounder off the bat of David Adams. Souther (7-1) fired to third to retire Miclat.

“I’m sure bunting Sean Doolittle in the first inning is not a popular decision,” O’Connor said. “I just felt at that point in the game we had runners on first and second and we had an opportunity to put pressure on them.”

Evansville did not let up. The Purple Aces added five more runs in the third - which chased Thompson (2 IP, 6 H, 5 ER) from the game - and four in the fifth and sixth innings, respectively, as O’Connor tried three different relievers.

“We walked guys to set up situations and you just can’t pitch yourself out of those situations all the time,” said O’Connor, whose team posted a 7.62 earned run average in the regional. “We just didn’t execute from a pitching standpoint like we have all year. You can’t defend those innings where you give up crooked numbers.”

UVa did get two runs in its half of the fifth - one on an RBI double from Doolittle and another on a RBI single from Brandon Guyer - but the lead was insurmountable as the Cavaliers struck out nine times in the game, bringing the regional total to 21.

“We struck out way too much this weekend,” O’Connor said. “We were too tentative. We were leaving the decision in the umpire’s hand with two strikes, and you can’t do that. You have got to take advantage of your opportunities when you get them and we did not do that this weekend.”

For a number of Cavaliers, including designated hitter Tom Hagan, it was a bittersweet way to end their careers on the diamond that saw them go 32-5 this year. O’Connor also inserted seniors Mike Campagna and Matt Bernstine into the game in the final innings.

“We did have 47 wins … but when it comes down to it, nothing matters until the postseason,” Hagan said. “You play well to get there and it’s pretty much a brand new season and we can look back as much as we want, but we really just didn’t get it done when the time called for it.”

For underclassmen like Doolittle, the rude awakening only adds fuel to the fire. The sophomore said he hopes that turns into added desire.

“We are going to keep pressing. One of these times we are going to get past this first round,” Doolittle said. “There are 25 guys in that clubhouse that love the game of baseball. I think it showed this year.”

 

Cavs' bitter ending
Regional thrashing brings painful climax to winningest season
BY JEFF WHITE
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER Jun 5, 2006

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- At the time, it seemed an aberration, the 11-0 loss to Florida State that knocked Virginia out of the ACC baseball tournament.

That blowout, it turned out, foreshadowed U.Va.'s woeful performance in the NCAA tourney.

Seeded No.1 in the four-team NCAA regional at Davenport Field, the Cavaliers opened Friday with an 11-5 win over fourth-seeded Lehigh. All seemed well with third-year coach Brian O'Connor's club, which had gone 31-3 at home in the regular season.

A day later, however, second-seeded South Carolina ripped the 12th-ranked Wahoos 8-2 to send them to the losers' bracket of the double-elimination regional. Yesterday afternoon third-seeded Evansville delivered the coup de grace, pounding U.Va. 15-4 before a stunned crowd of 2,577.

"It's tough," Virginia senior Tom Hagan said. "That's not the way you imagine yourself going out and ending the season at home."

The game was the first of two yesterday for Evansville (42-21), which met South Carolina at 6 p.m.

In 34 regular-season games at Davenport, U.Va.'s opponents hit only three home runs. The Cavaliers' vaunted pitching staff allowed four homers -- and 34 hits -- in three regional games.

"This weekend we did not pitch like we have all year -- bottom line," said O'Connor, who saw the Cavaliers' season end in an NCAA regional for the third straight season.

"You get to this time of year, yes, you have to swing the bats, but you've got to get good, consistent starting pitching, and quite frankly we fell apart," O'Connor said. "Not to discredit Evansville at all . . . but we did not do the things from a pitching standpoint to give our team a chance to win. And it happened last night, too [against South Carolina]."

Once the pain of yesterday's loss subsides, O'Connor knows, he will reflect with pride on a season in which Virginia (47-15) set a school record for victories. But that may take awhile. In addition to their other problems yesterday, the Cavs committed a season-high six errors.

When he met after the game with his players, O'Connor said, "I told them that this one's going to be a tough one to swallow. It's going to be the hardest one, quite frankly, for me to take in my entire coaching career."

About 15 hours after South Carolina handed sophomore left-hander Sean Doolittle, the ACC player of the year, only his second loss of the season, freshman right-hander Jacob Thompson took the mound for U.Va. against Evansville. The Purple Aces immediately attacked Thompson, a second-team all-ACC pick.

Cleanup hitter Pat Tumilty smashed a two-run home run in the first, and Kasey Wahl's three-run shot in the third made it 5-0. Thompson didn't survive the third, and by game's end O'Connor had used five pitchers.

Evansville, which rallied for seven runs in the bottom of the ninth Saturday to shock Lehigh, scored 15 in the first six innings yesterday.

The Cavaliers, meanwhile, struggled against Evansville starter Scott Souther, a senior right-hander who struck out eight and scattered seven hits in seven innings. Doolittle, who played first base, had three doubles and three RBI yesterday, and freshman shortstop Greg Miclat added two hits. The other Cavaliers were a combined 3 for 28.

"We struck out way too much this weekend," O'Connor said. "We were too tentative. We were leaving the decision in the umpire's hand with two strikes, and you can't do that. You've got to take advantage of your opportunities when you get them, and we did not do that this weekend."

 

Aces turn Virginia pitchers into jokers
Evansville scores seven runs in the first three innings and goes on to eliminate the Cavaliers from the NCAAs.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129

CHARLOTTESVILLE -- As soon as host Virginia won its opening game in the NCAA baseball tournament, talk turned to prospective starting pitchers for Games 4 and 5.

In hindsight, maybe the conversation should have centered on Games 2 and 3.

After a one-sided loss to South Carolina on Saturday night, top-seeded Virginia exited its regional without a whimper Sunday, falling to Evansville 15-4 at Davenport Field.

"It's going to be the hardest one for me to take in my entire coaching career," UVa coach Brian O'Conner said. "Quite frankly, we fell apart, not to discredit Evansville at all. And, it happened last night, too."

"This weekend, we did not pitch like we have all year. Bottom line."

Virginia freshman Jacob Thompson, a second-team All-ACC pitcher, departed Sunday before recording an out in the third inning. The Purple Aces (42-21) victimized him for six hits and a five runs, all earned.

Thompson had allowed as many as four runs in only one of his previous 15 appearances and went into the game with 13 quality starts (at least six innings with three or fewer earned runs).

Pat Tumilty and Kasey Wahl hit two-run homers in the first and third innings, respectively. They were the third and fourth homers of the weekend against the Cavaliers, who had yielded a total of three homers in 34 regular-season games at Davenport Field.

"I've never seen the ball carry like this here," said UVa designated hitter Tom Hagan, who missed a home run by 2-3 feet on a fourth-inning triple and later laced a foul ball that landed 25 feet past the right-field fence.

South Carolina rocked ACC player of the year Sean Doolittle in an 8-2 victory Saturday night, but UVa's ineptitude wasn't confined to a pitching staff that entered the weekend with the second-best ERA (2.81) in Division I.

The Cavaliers committed a season-high six errors and squandered numerous early scoring opportunities.

In the bottom of the first, Virginia got a single and a walk from its first two hitters, Greg Miclat and Brandon Marsh.

Sticking with their "small-ball" approach, the Cavaliers had Doolittle, one of three players on the team with more than two home runs, sacrifice.

Doolittle executed the bunt, but a fielder's choice and a pop-up ended the Cavaliers' threat. Doolittle proceeded to double on three subsequent at-bats.

"I'm sure that bunting Sean Doolittle in the first inning was not a popular decision," O'Connor said. "There's no doubt, if you know you're going to give up seven runs [in the first three innings], you let 'Doc' Doolittle swing away."

UVa used five pitchers, raising the white flag by sending Pat McAnaney to the mound in the seventh inning. McAnaney was to start a potential Game 4 matchup with South Carolina.

McAnaney pitched three scoreless innings, but maybe the Purple Aces were tired. Starting with a seven-run ninth inning in Saturday's elimination game with Lehigh, Evansville scored 22 runs in seven innings.

"We had a little deja vu going on," Evansville coach Dave Schrage. "We played Wichita State in an elimination game last week at their place and won 14-3. So, it was very similar to that game. Did I envision this? No way."

The Cavaliers (47-15) set a school record for victories in a season but also lost four of their last five games, including an 11-0 loss to Florida State in an ACC Tournament elimination game.

"Quite frankly, I've got to sit down re-evaluate myself as a coach and how I've handled this situation," O'Connor said. "We've had a lot of success in this program over the past [three] years, but I'm not stopping till we kick this door in."

 

Duke to reinstate lacrosse program
By Jeff Barker and Lem Satterfield
Sun Reporters
Originally published June 5, 2006

Duke University will field a men's lacrosse team next season, but the program and those connected to it have been changed by rape charges against three players and a barrage of media attention.

The university has accepted a campus committee's recommendation to reinstate the suspended program, said an official close to the program who spoke on condition of anonymity because no announcement has been made. The university might announce the decision at a media briefing planned for today.

Restarting the program, which is certain to be a welcome move in the tight-knit, Eastern lacrosse community, poses a variety of challenges. Some of the hurdles are practical, such as keeping up with recruiting at an institution that has lost time - and perhaps prestige - in the annual scramble to sign the best high school talent.

"With the program on hold, and without a head coach, it's going to have an effect on recruiting for them," said lacrosse coach Kevin Giblin of Montgomery County's Georgetown Prep. Two of that school's players have become captains at Duke in the past two years. Neither was among the three players charged in the alleged rape.

"Nowadays, the kids are making their [college] decisions earlier and earlier. Duke was always competing with other more local college programs, but with their program on hold, it's definitely going to have an effect," Giblin said.

Duke coach Mike Pressler resigned in April, several weeks after it became public that a 27-year-old student at North Carolina Central University said she was pulled into a bathroom and raped after being hired as a stripper at an off-campus Duke lacrosse party in March.

About one-third of the team members had previously faced minor unrelated charges related to such things as underage drinking and public rowdiness. Duke has not announced Pressler's successor.

Some of the lacrosse program's challenges are more indirect than recruiting and harder to define.

Those who know them say team members have undergone a broad range of emotions that include sadness and shock, as well as anger at the media and at the district attorney who brought the charges. It may be difficult for returning players to have the same focus or resolve that they once did.

Sally Fogarty of Chevy Chase said her son, Gibbs, a member of the Duke team last season, was so stunned by the events of the spring that he had a hard time imagining what might happen to the program next year.

"He's just been really sad and really depressed," said Sally Fogarty, a Duke graduate who has helped the university raise funds. "These kids on this team are all such good friends, and when Collin [Finnerty] and Reade [Seligmann] were indicted, we in the community were devastated. It was just a spin of the roulette wheel. It could have been anybody's kid on the team."

Initially, she said, Gibbs Fogarty wondered what he would do without lacrosse. The program Fogarty entered had contended for the NCAA title the previous season, losing to Johns Hopkins in the title game. This year's program was shut down by the university before the postseason tournaments began.

"At first, Gibbs did say, 'I can't go to school without playing lacrosse.' He really struggled once the season was canceled," his mother said. "He had way too much time on his hands, no structure, he missed the older guys, and it was really hard, especially for the younger kids. There was fear and unpredictability about what was going to happen. They really worried about Collin and Reade."

The third indictment may have been tougher still for Gibbs Fogarty to handle. David Evans, like Fogarty, had attended the all-boys Landon School in Montgomery County. Evans was a senior last season at Duke, and Fogarty was a freshman. Like Finnerty and Seligmann, Evans was charged with first-degree forcible rape, sexual offense and kidnapping. Evans called the charges "lies" and said the allegations will be proved wrong.

"Gibbs always admired and looked up to David, starting at Landon. That [the indictment] was very difficult," Sally Fogarty said.

She said her son is committed to returning to Duke.

Landon, in Bethesda, had a handful of graduates on the Duke team.

John Shooshan, a Landon assistant lacrosse coach, said his former players "were able to hang in there. Every one of them said, 'We love Duke, we're going to stick it out.' They were just cautiously optimistic that the university would support the lacrosse team and they would have a program again."