The Cavalier baseball team ran their winnings streak to four after the doubleheader they played Friday against Cornell and Rider. I would like to point out that I went out on a limb yesterday and said the boys would go 4-0 this weekend and so far they are 2-0 so, yea, I am kindof like a swami when it comes to these things. The first game of the day saw Rider beat Cornell 6-0 before it was time for UVa to take over. The first title of the evening for the Hoos saw them go down early 1-0 before scoring 12 straight runs to beat Cornell 12-1. The late night tilt wasn't even close. #Hultzen4GoldenSpikes took over as usual and UVa walloped Rider 12-0.
The Cavaliers fell early to the Big Red after a leadoff triple followed by a walk and a balk. Fortunately for UVa, Coach Kuhn probably told Whit Mayberry that if he continued to pitch like that he wasn't going to be on the mound much longer and he would be running stadium stairs all night. Mayberry settled down and went the next 5 IP without giving up another run on 5 more hits and no more free passes. Corey Hunt, Aaron Stull, and Chad "Nerp" O'Connor combined to close out the game and only allow 1 hit. The aspect that I liked so much about this game was Coach O'Connor was able to use 16 position players through the game and got every single one of them at least one AB. It is always great when everyone on the bench gets some love. Hoos ended up winning the game 12-1 and should do something similar today in their 2nd matchup with Cornell.
The night game got a little out of hand early. The Cavaliers exploded for 6 runs in the second inning and never really looked back. As with the earlier game against Cornell, UVa used stellar pitching to shutout Rider. Shockingly, Danny Hultzen went 7 strong innings, gave up only 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 0 walks, and struck out 11. There was a double play in there somewhere so, for those of you that can do the math quickly or were at the game, Danny struck out half the batters he faced. HALF THE BATTERS HE FACED HE STRUCK OUT. 1st year Austin Young succeeded Danny and struck out 2 over the next two inning and only gave up 1 hit. Much like the previous game, Oak was able to use 17 position players. From walk ons and benchwarmers everywhere,we salute you Coach. Thank you. UVa wound up winning 12-0 after two 6 run innings
I know I didn't touch on the offensive aspect too much but that was mainly because the pitchers were so dominant. Over 18 innings the pitching staff combined for 23 strike outs, 1 earned run, 2 walks, and only gave up 10 hits as well. Coach Kuhn has done just as he has in the last 8 years. His pitching staffs never cease to amaze and this year is certainly no different. Through 11 games the staff has only 1 loss and a ridiculous 1.64 ERA. They are averaging more than a K/IP with 117 K's in 99 IP. What I think Ks (Coach Kuhn) is most proud of if only 15 BB in those 99 IP.
The boys return to action today with games against Rider and Cornell again. Tune into the twitter feed @STLUVABaseball for updates from the two games and as always GO HOOS!