Cavaliers Take Down the Flames

Coming off of a loss last week to Old Dominion and having no weekend ACC series to re-instill faith, the Cavaliers needed a strong showing against the nationally ranked Liberty Flames. Boy, did they not disappoint.

They took no time establishing their dominance either. The Cavaliers scored two in the second, three in the third, and two more in the fourth to never look back. The offense added one more in the 8th to to secure up the 8-2 victory.

The offense was paced by Nate Irving, Kenny Towns, and Mike Papi who all had two hits. Towns carried the rest of the team with three RBI and a run of his own. Papi and Irving also had an RBI and a run scored each. Towns's bat coming alive is a sign of good things for this UVa team. Some early season struggles lead to Towns being replaced in the lineup, but if Kenny can assert himself as an offensive threat again this Cavaliers baseball team will be immensely deep on the bench.

While the Kenny Towns emergence was good, the best showing/news for the Hoos came from Artie Lewicki. Lewicki had been good in his previous starts, but a dominant start against a good team like Liberty should be a boost of confidence for him, the coaching staff, and the rest of  the team. Artie took the start and gave the Hoos 7 innings of 1 hit ball while only walking one and striking out 6.

Connor Jones came in and did not have his best stuff. Connor gave up two runs thanks to three hits and a walk. Not the greatest outing, but hopefully the first year isn't tiring out. Luckily, Whit Mayberry came in in the 9th to shut down the Flames and shore up the victory.

The win moves the Cavaliers to 38-9 on the year which ties them with Louisville for third most in the country. The boys continue their ACC schedule this weekend as they welcome Georgia Tech to Charlottesville.