CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia first baseman Matt Thaiss went 4-for-6 including a three run home run to key a 16-hit barrage from the Cavaliers that led to 14 runs and a 14-6 victory over Longwood Tuesday night at Davenport Field on The Grounds.
Virginia twice scored five runs in an inning, storming back with a five-spot in the first after Longwood jumped out to an early lead. From that point on, it was all 'Hoos as the Cavaliers hung a five on the board in the fourth as part of their 14 run day, all of which came in the first six innings.
Though the bright spots were few for the Lancers Tuesday night, Longwood showed fight in the late innings, scoring three in the sixth and two in the ninth courtesy of two monstrous home runs. Junior left fielder
Kyri Washington uncorked a mammoth moonshot to left center field which sailed high and over the outfield bleachers of Davenport Field.
In the top of the ninth,
Tyler Barry finished off the scoring with his first career blast, a two run shot to dead left. The freshman turned a 91-mph fastball around on the first pitch he saw as a pinch-hitter, making the final line 14-6.
The Lancers once more started out with a quick run in the top of the first to stake an early lead.
Connar Bastaich and
Kyri Washington roped back-to-back one-out singles to put two aboard for the blue and white. Bastaich would come home to score when
Alex Lewis' grounder to second was booted by Jack Gerstenmaier.
The lead was short-lived however, as Virginia responded in a huge way with five runs in the bottom half to establish control of the game. The Cavaliers found barrel after barrel off of freshman starter
Michael Catlin (3-2), capitalizing on a leadoff walk and using four hits to score the five runs. Cavalier catcher Robbie Coman had the big blow, unloading the sacks with a bases-clearing double.
After tacking on a single run in the second and chasing Catlin, Virginia jumped back to the big inning with another five spot in the fourth, this time off
Allen Ellis. Once more a three-RBI knock sparked the big frame, this time it was Matt Thaiss' three-run bomb down the right field line which hooked just inside the foul pole.
Longwood did not stop fighting though, as the Lancers would put up three runs in the sixth on five consecutive hits to open the frame. After Bastaich singled to center, Washington demolished a demolished a David Rosenberger offering, sending the ball racing out of the ballpark. No, really, all the way out of the ballpark as the junior slugger mashed his team leading eighth homer over the left field seats.
With the game firmly in the hands of the Cavaliers, the Lancers emptied the bench with pinch hitters in the final frames, giving
Tyler Barry the opportunity to make quite the memory in Charlottesville. The freshman, in just his ninth at-bat of the season, took the first pitch he saw, a 91-mph elevated fastball and ripped it to left field, sending it crashing into the bleachers for his first career home run.
While the 14-6 defeat was not a satisfying result, the Lancers know a great opportunity lays ahead at UNC Asheville this weekend. Longwood will enter the series tied for eighth in the conference standings, the magic number for earning a trip to the Big South Conference Championship. The blue and white open the series Friday night with a 6 p.m. first pitch from Asheville.
#GoWood
