Virginia Baseball: Hoos win 12-4, take series with Rutgers

Put the ball in play, get on base, put pressure on the defense. After winning with the long ball on Friday, that's exactly what the Hoos did Saturday taking advantage of six Scarlet Knight errors en route to a 12-4 win. Virginia forced many of those errors thanks to a season high 15 hits on the day.

Adam Haseley stayed hot at the plate with three more hits. He is now 7-7 in the series with six RBI, and four runs scored. Cameron Simmons also contributed three hits while Ernie Clement, Pavin Smith, and Drew Blakely each had two hits and two RBI.

Evan Sperling picked up the win going six innings, giving up three earned runs over five hits, one walk and four strike outs.

Tom Marcinczyk got the Scarlet Knights on the board in the top of the first with a solo home run. But the Hoos got it back thanks to hits by Clement and Haseley as well as Rutgers’ first error of the game, a throwing error on Jake McCarthy’s sacrifice bunt attempt. Smith would add an RBI ground out giving Virginia a 2-1 lead through one.

Virginia scored single runs in the next two innings on RBI singles by Clement and Robbie Coman. Marcinczyk would strike again in the fourth with an RBI double and would score a batter later on a double by Milo Freeman pulling Rutgers to within one at 4-3.

Virginia broke it open in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a bases loaded single by Blakely scoring Simmons and Coman. Two batters later, Clement drove in his second run of the game with a sacrifice fly scoring Justin Novak. They added two more runs in the sixth as Simmons doubled home Coman and then scored on a pass ball by the Rutgers catcher.

Bobby Nicholson pitched a scoreless seventh in relief of Sperling, but faced a rough patch in the eighth, giving up a run on a wild pitch. Bennett Sousa would relieve him and get three outs in the eighth and keep the lead 9-4.

Rutgers errors would rear their ugly head again in the ninth giving Virginia three insurance runs. McCarthy scored on a balk. Haseley would score on a single by Smith. And finally Smith would score on a fielding error on Blakely’s ground ball to second.

Chesdin Harringrin came on to pitch a scoreless ninth and seal the 12-4 win for the Hoos.

Virginia goes for the sweep Sunday at 1 P.M. Haseley will take the mound for the Cavaliers who hope his arm is as hot as his bat has been this weekend.