Hoos Take Care of Wake in Game 2, 7-2

Getting Artie Lewicki back to his pre-TJ form has been a goal of Coach O'Connor's all season. Having a fourth quality starter to use in the ACC Tournament and the Regional round of play is key. On Friday, it appeared Artie might be officially "back."

Artie took the mound and gave the Cavaliers 7 strong shutout innings. He only surrendered 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 3. The only cause for concern I have with Artie is of the 25 batters he faced, 12 of them were retired via the air. At the Dav, that is not that alarming, but with the ACC Tournament at the bandbox in Greensboro, some of those balls could fly out against a better hitting team. Nothing too disconcerting, but something to keep an eye on.

Josh Sborz got some of his usual weekend work in by relieving Lewicki in the 8th and securing the victory. Although he gave up two solo home runs in the 9th, he did what was needed of him. Coach Kuhn has a saying of "Up or Down 5, everything is a strike," so some of those home runs were given up via just ensuring strikes.

The offense was more than impressive. All but one starter in the lineup had at least 1 hit, but they were lead by 1st year Robbie Coman who went 3 for 4 with a triple, 2 RBI, and a run scored of his own. His triple in the 7th scored Cogswell and Downes to blow the game open.

Not to be outdone, Papi, Pinero, Cogswell, and LaPrise all had multi-hit games of their own. All four but Pinero scored a run, and Papi had 2 RBI thanks to his 9th home run of the season.

The win gave the Cavaliers their 43rd win on the season and 22nd in ACC play. It also kept alive their hope of securing the #1 seed in next week's ACC Tournament. If UVa can take care of Wake today, and the Tar Heels can win their 2nd game of the weekend in Miami, the Hoos and Hurricanes would both end the season with 23 wins. UVa would obviously win the tiebreaker give their series victory in Coral Gables earlier this season.

Go Hoos and go Tar Heels!