Virginia unable to overcome early deficit at Liberty

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Liberty (14-5) scored the game’s first six runs in a 10-2 victory over Virginia (9-11) on Wednesday at Liberty Baseball Stadium. The loss snapped the Cavaliers’ 20-game midweek win streak.

Liberty sent 10 batters to the plate in the bottom of the first inning and posted five runs, the third time this season a Virginia opponent has scored five or more in a single inning. The big blow came off the bat of Will Wagner who hit a three-run homer, his third long ball of the season.

The win for Liberty extended its winning streak to 12 games, a program record for its time at the D-I level. The Flames are 3-0 against ACC schools this season after taking two games against North Carolina.

Trailing 6-0 after three, the Cavaliers broke through in their half of the fourth when the first two batters of the inning, Kyle Teel (Mahwah, N.J.) and Zack Gelof (Rehoboth Beach, Del.), reached base. A wild pitch moved them both into scoring position and both scored on sacrifice flies by Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Pa.) and Devin Ortiz (Nutley, N.J.).

Teel finished with two of the four Cavalier hits on the day and now has a multi-hit performance in four of his last five games.

Liberty tacked on three more runs in its final two trips to the plate and dashed any hope of a UVA comeback. Back-to-back two-out RBI hits by Aaron Anderson and Wagner made the score 9-2 and the Flames scored an unearned run on a successful safety squeeze attempt in the ninth.

Wagner finished the day 2-for-5 with a double, home run and four RBI while Anderson had a game-high three hits and scored a run.

In a scheduled staff day on the mound, eight Virginia pitchers appeared in the game. Freshman Luke Schauer (Washington, D.C.) helped limit the damage by striking out the final batter of the first inning. He pitched a 1-2-3 second inning to finish off his day. Schauer fanned a pair of batters in 1.1 innings of work.

The Cavaliers return home this weekend for an ACC series against Miami. The series opener is slated for Friday (March 26) and first pitch is set for 4 p.m. at Disharoon Park. All three games on the weekend will be carried on ACCNX.