Baseball Drops Game 2 to No. 10 UVA, 13-6

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 10 Virginia struck for eight runs in a decisive second inning, capturing 13-6 win over Miami in the back end of a doubleheader Saturday at Davenport Field.

The Hurricanes went ahead 4-0 in the game’s first two innings, but the Cavaliers came back with a crooked run total to chase Miami starter Greg Veliz and shift the game’s balance.

The series rubber match will take place Sunday at 1 p.m.

Miami was able to cut the deficit as close as 8-6 with a pair of runs in the sixth, but the Cavaliers came back for five runs in the home half of the inning, including a grand slam from Cameron Simmons, to push the lead back to 13-6.

For the second straight game, Miami (25-25, 13-12 ACC) scored a run in the game’s opening inning.

After Virginia starter Noah Murdock issued back-to-back walks to senior Johnny Ruiz and sophomore Romy Gonzalez, junior Hunter Tackett laced a two-out RBI single to center to open the scoring.

The Hurricanes added three runs in the second to push their early lead to 4-0.

Junior Carl Chester connected on a two-RBI double down the left field line, and Ruiz followed with an RBI single that dropped in shallow left to cap the inning’s scoring.

Murdock lasted just 2.0 innings. He surrendered five hits and four runs with two walks across 51 pitches.

Virginia (37-12, 15-11 ACC) strung together five straight two-out singles off Veliz in the home half of the inning to get back into the game.

Veliz (4-4) went just 1.2 innings for Miami, marking the shortest start of his young career. He allowed six hits and three walks across 52 pitches before redshirt sophomore Keven Pimentel entered.

Pimentel walked the first two batters he faced with the bases loaded and surrendered a two-RBI single to Simmons to cap the hosts’ big inning, putting Virginia ahead 8-4.

The seven earned runs charged to Veliz were a career high.

After receiving a complete game effort from junior lefthander Jeb Bargfeldt earlier in the afternoon, the Hurricanes received 3.1 shutout innings of relief from senior captain Ryan Guerra.

With his team laboring in the early going, the Miami native allowed one hit and one walk with two strikeouts before giving way to lefthander Michael Mediavilla.

Miami got a pair of runs back in the sixth inning to cut the deficit to 8-6.

After junior James Davison connected on a two-out single, Chester cracked his second RBI double of the game down the left field line to make it 8-5.

Junior Michael Burns then dropped a shallow RBI single into left to score the speedy Chester from second.

Miami would extend the inning and load the bases on walks from Ruiz and Gonzalez, but Virginia reliever Alec Bettinger induced an inning-ending groundout from Tackett to limit the damage to two runs.

The Cavaliers pulled away with five runs in the sixth.

Mediavilla walked two batters and was charged with two runs, while sophomore Andrew Cabezas gave up one hit – the slam by Simmons – and three walks in 0.2 innings.

Bettinger (8-0) tossed six innings of relief.

The Hurricanes and Cavaliers will return to Davenport Field Sunday for the series finale. First pitch for the contest, slated for broadcast on ACC Network Extra and WVUM 90.5 FM, is set for 1 p.m.