The #1 ranked Cavalier baseball team took care of its business this weekend against the visiting Rhode Island Rams. The team showed off their offensive and pitching prowess by outscoring the rams 43 to 5 over the three games.
The Hoos were paced at the plate by 3rd year Phil Gosselin who had atleast 2 hits every game this weekend including a 2-3 day at the plate on Friday with 2 runs, 1 RBI, and a Home Run. Saturday Tyler Cannon had a great day at the plate that saw him go 3-4 with 3 runs and 4 RBIs in the game. Sunday had no real standout but the Cavaliers had Dan Grovatt, Phil Gosselin, and Keith Werman all have multihit games. Although all those guys had great weekends, the highlight of the weekend for the Cavs had to be Saturday when first year Stephen Bruno launched a pitch over the wall for his first home run and a grand slam a Hoo.
The pitchers had another stellar weekend as the UVa pitching staff only knows how to do. Danny Hultzen had one of the best starts of his young career on Friday by going 7 great innings and striking out 12 while only giving up 2 hits and 0 runs. 3rd year Robert Morey bounced back on Saturday after a shaky start last weekend against ECU. Morey also went 7 and struck out 4 with only 2 earned runs. On Saturday, Coach O'Connor was able to give some innings to 3rd year Dan Grovatt and 1st year Brandon Kline since the offense was able to score 22 runs. Sunday was the hardest day for the pitchers as the Rams finally figured out that they were supposed to hit the ball to try and win the game. 1st year Cody Winiarski started the game for the Cavaliers and went 5 innings before running out of gas after giving up 3 runs on 7 hits while striking out 7. Cody turned the ball over to fellow 1st year Whit Mayberry who threw a great inning by striking out 2. Tyler Wilson struggled a bit through his 2 innings by giving up 2 runs on 2 home runs. 3rd year Kevin Arico came in and closed out the game on Sunday and earned his 3rd save of the season.
All in all, the Cavs took care of business against an inferior Rhode Island opponent. The weekend allowed them to keep their #1 ranking in many of the polls and they were able to move up from 5th to 3rd in just about the only poll that doesn't think they are the best team in the country.
The Hoos return to action on Tuesday against JMU. JMU is struggling a bit after starting the season 0-3 against very strong opponents this past weekend in Myrtle Beach in Coastal Carolina, UC Irvine, and NC St. Will Roberts should get the midweek start again for UVa and I see them having no problem against JMU with how hot the pitching and hitting has been.