Cavs Baseball Squad Comes Up Huge Today

[Unchained]

Whatta run to get the ACC crown!





DURHAM, N.C. ? John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) hit a two-run single in the ninth inning to break a 3-3 tie and lift the No. 14 Virginia baseball team to a 6-3 victory over Florida State in the title game of the ACC Baseball Championship Sunday at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park in Durham, N.C. Virginia, the sixth seed, is the lowest seed to ever win the tournament crown after winning four games in four days to earn the ACC's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. FSU was the top seed in the field.

The tournament championship is the second in Virginia's school history. The last came in 1996 and ironically also came against Florida State in Durham. Virginia also won the ACC regular-season championship in 1972, which was prior to the tournament era.



The ACC championship was the sixth this year for the Virginia Department of Athletics ? the most in the ACC this year. It also ties a school record for ACC titles in one season.



Dan Grovatt (So., Tabernacle, N.J.) was named the tournament?s Most Valuable Player. He was joined on the All-Tournament Team by teammates Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) and Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.). Grovatt went 8-for-15 in the tournament.



The game was tied at three in the ninth inning when Virginia (43-12-1) put together its championship-winning rally. With one out, Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) singled. He advanced to second when FSU second baseman Jason Stidham booted a grounder by Hultzen. Grovatt then walked to load the bases, and Hicks singled through the drawn-in infield to score two runs. Grovatt and Hicks advanced on an errant throw to the plate by left fielder Mike McGee, and Grovatt later scored on a passed ball by Parker Brunelle.



UVa reliever Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.) earned the win and improved to 8-3 with two scoreless innings. He provided the game?s turning point in the bottom of the eighth inning by escaping a bases-loaded, one-out situation to keep the game tied and set up the Cavaliers? ninth-inning heroics. Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) struck out the side in a perfect ninth inning to notch his 10th save ? fourth in a single season in Virginia history.



FSU?s Sean Gilmartin (11-3) took the loss after giving up all three runs (one earned) in the ninth inning.



Neither starting pitcher earned a decision. UVa starter Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) pitched 2.2 innings, giving up three earned runs, five hits and one walk while striking out three. With his three strikeouts, Carraway now has 229 career punchouts and moves into a seventh-place tie on the UVa career strikeouts ledger with Joe Koshansky (2001-04).



Florida State starter Mike McGee was effectively wild. In 3.2 innings, he gave up three runs (two earned) and three hits while walking four and throwing four wild pitches. He struck out six.



Florida State (42-16) scored the first runs of the game when Jason Stidham clubbed a two-run home run to right field in the first inning.



The Cavaliers cut the lead in half in the second inning. Grovatt led off with a single and advanced to second with two out on an errant pickoff throw by McGee. Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) then doubled to left-center field to plate Grovatt.



In the third inning, the Seminoles got three-consecutive one-out singles from Stephen Cardullo, McGee and Stidham to tack on another run and push their lead to 3-1.



Virginia answered with a pair of runs in the fourth. Cannon walked to lead off and moved up on a wild pitch. He moved up on a groundout to second base by Proscia and scored when Valdes blooped a single into left-center field. Valdes advanced on a wild pitch and a Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) groundout to second base and scored on a Rafael Lopez passed ball, tying the game at 3-3.




Wilson escaped a huge Florida State threat in the eighth inning to keep the game tied. After loading the bases with one out, Wilson struck out Tommy Oravetz and then got Jack Posey to end the inning with a lazy fly ball to right field to set up UVa?s ninth-inning rally.



Virginia will now await its NCAA Tournament fate. The 64-team field will be announced at 12:30 p.m. Monday on ESPN.



2009 ACC Baseball All-Tournament Team

C-Franco Valdes, Virginia

1B-Dustin Ackley, North Carolina

2B-Jason Stidham, Florida State

3B-Mickey Wiswall, Boston College

SS-Jake Lemmerman, Duke

OF-Dan Grovatt, Virginia

OF-Wilson Boyd, Clemson

OF-Mike McGee, Florida State

UT/DH-Danny Hultzen, Virginia

P-Pat Dean, Boston College

P-Casey Harman, Clemson



All-Tournament Most Valuable Player

Dan Grovatt, Virginia

[Unchained]

Cavs beat 13-0 ace Strasburg. SDSU is coached by Tony Gwynn btw

IRVINE, Calif. ? Virginia?s pitching staff outdueled San Diego State phenom Stephen Strasburg as the seventh-ranked Cavaliers notched a 5-1 victory Friday afternoon in the opening round of the 2009 NCAA Irvine Regional at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, Calif. The Cavaliers recorded two early runs, then rode their pitching before tacking on three runs in the eighth inning against the Aztecs? bullpen to seal the win and hand Strasburg his first loss of 2009.
Virginia, the regional?s No. 2 seed, now will face the winner of the No. 1 UC Irvine-No. 4 Fresno State game at 11 p.m. ET Saturday. ESPNU and Comcast SportsNet each will have live coverage of the game. No. 3 SDSU will play at 7 p.m. ET against the loser of the UCI-Fresno State contest in an elimination game.

Virginia pitcher Robert Morey (So., Virginia Beach, Va.) had one of the best starts of his career, going six shutout innings and allowing just five hits and three walks while striking out nine. He improved to 3-0 with the victory. Tyler Wilson (So., Midlothian, Va.), Matt Packer (Jr., Germantown, Tenn.) and Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) allowed just one hit and one walk over the final three frames. As a staff, Virginia struck out 13 batters.



Strasburg (13-1) pitched seven innings, allowing two earned runs and eight hits. He struck out 15 and did not walk a batter. Reliever Andrew Leary gave up three earned runs and four hits in two-thirds of an inning.



Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) and Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.) each homered for Virginia. The Cavaliers finished with 13 hits, led by Proscia with three. Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.), Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.) and Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) each had a pair of hits in their first NCAA tournament action.



Virginia (44-12-1) started well in the first inning as Gosselin crushed the first pitch he saw from Strasburg off the top of the scoreboard in left-center field for a solo home run. The long ball was Gosselin?s sixth of the season.



The Cavaliers tacked on a run in their next at bat. Proscia led off the inning with a single and one out later advanced to third on a pair of wild pitches by Strasburg. With two out, Parker chopped a ball just past an out-stretched Strasburg and just beat the throw for a single, scoring Proscia to give UVa a 2-0 lead.



San Diego State (40-22) finally broke through in the eighth inning. With one out, Wilson walked Cory Vaughn. Mitch Blackburn then doubled down the left-field line to put runners at second and third. Chris Wilson then lifted a sacrifice fly to center field to score Vaughn and cut the lead to 2-1. Packer came on to face Easton Gust, who flew out to center field on Packer?s first offering to end the inning.



Virginia wasted no time in putting runs back on the board. Facing Leary in the bottom of the eighth, the Cavaliers got a one-out single from John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.), who then stole second base. Proscia then launched a two-run home run to left field ? his ninth homer of the year. The Cavaliers got consecutive singles from Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.), Werman and Parker to bring home another run.



Arico then sealed the game by pitching a perfect ninth inning.

[Unchained]

Cavaliers Capture First Regional Crown, Top No. 1 UC Irvine
Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com
Release: 06/01/2009




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Courtesy: VirginiaSports.com

UVa players celebrate following their regional championship. (Photo courtesy Ian Rogol, TheSabre.com)

IRVINE, Calif. ? The Virginia baseball team earned its first-ever NCAA Regional championship as the seventh-ranked Cavaliers defeated No. 1 UC Irvine, 4-1, Sunday night in the championship game of the 2009 NCAA Irvine Regional at Anteater Ballpark in Irvine, Calif. With their second win over the Anteaters, the No. 6 national seed, in as many nights, the second-seeded Cavaliers earn a berth in the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.

Virginia (46-12-1) will play the champion of the Oxford Regional next weekend in a best-of-three series. Ole Miss and Western Kentucky will play the second championship game of that regional at 7 p.m. Monday. The site of the Super Regional will be announced at 11 p.m. ET Monday following the conclusion of regional play.

UC Irvine, the No. 1 seed in the regional, finishes its season with a 45-15 record.

In the regional, Virginia was strong in all phases of the game. The pitching staff dominated, allowing just two earned runs and 20 hits in 27 innings. The defense was flawless and did not commit an error ? punctuated by two sensational defensive plays in the ninth inning Sunday. The Cavaliers did not trail at any point in their three regional games as they pushed their overall winning streak to eight.

Andrew Carraway (Sr., Marietta, Ga.) put up UVa?s third straight strong starting pitching performance in the regional. Carraway (7-1) worked seven innings, giving up just one earned run, four hits and one walk while fanning three. Kevin Arico (So., Flemington, N.J.) retired the final six batters in order to pick up his 11th save of the season.

Franco Valdes (Jr., Miami, Fla.) went 2-for-4 with a pair of run scoring hits (double, triple). He went 5-for-11 in the regional and was named the Irvine Regional Most Outstanding Player. He was joined on the All-Regional Team by third baseman Steven Proscia (Fr., Suffern, N.Y.), outfielder Jarrett Parker (So., Stafford, Va.), DH Phil Gosselin (So., West Chester, Pa.) and pitcher Danny Hultzen (Fr., Bethesda, Md.).

Parker was 3-for-5 Sunday and now has 90 hits this year ? third most in UVa single-season history. He had a key ninth-inning triple to add a key insurance run to the Virginia lead.

UC Irvine reliever Kyle Necke (1-4) took the loss after pitching four innings while giving up two earned runs, two hits and two walks while striking out three. He pitched four scoreless innings before giving up a pair of runs in the ninth inning. Noel Avison started for UC Irvine and went 4.1 innings, allowing one earned run, six hits and one walk while striking out two.

The teams played 3.2 scoreless innings before Virginia snapped the deadlock with a two-out rally in the fourth. John Hicks (Fr., Sandy Hook, Va.) coaxed a walk and scored all the way from first when Valdes hit a 1-2 pitch to left field. The high-arching ball dropped just inside the foul line for a double, and Hicks slid in to just beat the throw and give UVa a 1-0 lead.

UC Irvine broke a string a 12 straight scoreless innings against UVa with a run in its half of the fourth. With one out, Casey Stevenson singled to left-center. He advanced to second on a groundout by Ronnie Shaeffer and scored on a single to right by Jeff Cusick.

Virginia took the lead for good with a sixth-inning run. Hultzen led off with a single and moved to second on a groundout by Hicks. Valdes then rocketed a ball down the right-field line and into the corner for a triple to score Hicks. It was Valdes? first triple of 2009 and just his second career three-bagger.

The Anteaters had a golden opportunity to tie or take the lead in their half of the sixth. Ben Orloff bunted his way on to lead off and moved up on a groundout. After Stevenson was hit by a pitch, the two runners combined on a double steal. Carraway buckled down to strike out Shaeffer looking and then forced Cusick to ground out to Tyler Cannon (Jr., Pigeon Forge, Tenn.) to end the threat.

Carraway again evaded a UCI scoring opportunity in the seventh inning. Francis Larson led off with a single but was erased when Dillon Bell bunted into a force play. Bell, moving on the pitch, advanced on a groundout to Carraway by Jordan Fox. UVa head coach Brian O?Connor, after a visit to the mound, elected to leave Carraway in the game and was rewarded when the senior induced pinch-hitter Ryan Fisher to weakly pop out to Carraway.

Virginia got a bit of breathing room after adding a pair of insurance runs in the ninth inning. Keith Werman (Fr., Vienna, Va.) drew a one-out walk against Necke. UCI brought on All-America closer Eric Pettis, who was greeted by Parker with a line-drive triple just inside the first-base line which rolled into the corner. The triple was Parker?s seventh this season ? tying the UVa single-season record. Cannon then launched a triple to left-center to score Parker and give the Cavaliers a 4-1 lead.