It wasn't pretty and all of the Cavalier faithful in attendance certainly were a little nervous heading in to the ninth inning, but in the end they were rewarded with the Hoos showing why they are one of the top teams in the ACC.
Heading in to the ninth inning trailing by a run (2-3) the Hoos decided they had had enough. Stephen Bruno lead the inning off with a double. Derek Fisher followed suit with a walk on a wild pitch which is where the game turned in UVa's favor. If it wasn't for the wild pitch, Jared King would have bunted the runners over, Kenny Towns would have likely been intentionally walked, and the pressure would have been on Brandon Downes and Nate Irving with one out. Instead, King walked to load the bases for Towns who was hit by a pitch to tie the game. Brandon Downes hit a short fly ball for the first out but Nate Irving came up behind him and walked to give UVa the lead they wouldn't give up. Werman got an RBI of his own on a bunt that scored King and Chris Taylor then put the exclamation point on the inning, the game, and Maryland's life by placing a ball about 40 feet past the left field fence for a grand slam.
On the mound for the boys Scott Silverstein continued to struggle with his command a bit. Scott gave up three walks and seven hits which lead to three Maryland runs over 3.2 innings. Fortunately for UVa fans everywhere, Nick Howard came on and was lights out the rest of the game. Howard held Maryland scoreless over the rest of the game only giving up two hits and striking out one to earn the victory.
The seed was already assured, but the Hoos gave themselves the 4 seed for the ACC tournament in Greensboro. We'll know who they are really paired up with after today's games, but if the season was over right now, UVa would be paired up with #1 FSU, #5 Miami, and #8 Georgia Tech. The Hoos had success against GT and Miami while they struggled against FSU early in the season. Lately though, UVa and FSU have been different teams and I am sure the boys would love another chance at the Seminoles.
Game three of the series starts at 1 pm today. If you are in the DMV area make sure you listen to it on the radio. No use in going up there because it is a dump of a stadium and they charge $8. It's ridiculous. Anyways, cheer on the boys and of course, GO HOOS!