After twelve innings of back and fourth, back and fourth baseball, Virginia finally pulled ahead with three runs in the top of the thirteenth to bury the Beavers. Virginia would go on to win 7-4 in front of a record crowd that heavily favored the Cavaliers.
The loss drops Oregon State to the bottom of the Charlottesville Regional bracket. They must now win three straight games, one against Rutgers, and two against Virginia, to play on to the Super Regionals. Last night's game was so crucial because now, Oregon State must win three, and all Virginia has to do is win one. Lafayette was eliminated by Rutgers in the first game of Saturday, so the Beavers won't face them. The good news is, from here on out, the Beavers will not face a team they haven't seen before.
Oregon State was the home team in this game, so Virginia led off the top of the first. The first three batters reached base for the Cavaliers. Sean Doolittle, who pitched for Virginia on Friday, yesterday's first baseman, hit into a 6-4-3 double play, but leadoff man Tyler Henry was driven in on the play. Beau Seabury would fly out to Mitch Canham behind the plate to end the inning, but Virginia got one.
In the bottom of the first, Chris Hopkins lead off with a strikeout before a single by Wallace and two consecutive walks to Lissman, and Canham loaded the bases for Darwin Barney. Darwin also walked, the third consecutive walk given up by Jacob Thompson. This brought Lennerton to the plate with the bases loaded. He grounded out to the first baseman, but Mike Lissman scored on the plat. With Darwin on second and Mitch on third, Scott Santschi grounded out to the shortstop to end the inning.
Another run wouldn't score until the top of the fifth inning when Virginia rallied for one. Sean Doolittle lead off with a fly out, but then Brandon Guyer singled to center. David Adams singled, advancing Guyer to third. Beau Seabury laid down a sacrifice bunt which scored Guyer from third. Mike Stutes couldn't hit Lennerton at first, sending the ball into foul territory down the right field line. Seaburry went to second on the error, and Adams went to third, with one out. A strikeout by Jeremy Ferrel and a ground out by Patrick Wingfield ended the inning.
After Virginia tied things up at 2, Oregon State countered in the sixth with a home run by Darwin Barney that Mike Parker claimed was the "farthest ball Darwin has hit in his Oregon State career." In the seventh, Virginia manufactured a run when Patrick Wingfield singled, driving in Beau Seabury. That would be all that Virgina could do i the 7th. During that inning, Mark Grbavac came on in relief of Stutes, who ended up going 6 and a third, giving up five hits and three runs. He struck out nine, walked six, and faced 33.
The game would stay tied into the 10th inning, when a fielder's choice resulted in an out, but then a stolen base, a past ball, and a sacrifice fly by Tim Henry scored a run.
Oregon State now needed one to tie and two to win in the bottom of the tenth. Hopkins led off with a single, but then back to back outs by Wallace and Lissman gave the Beavers two outs, a runner on second, and Mitch Canham at the plate. In the clutch, Canham sent a bullet to first, too hot to handle for Sean Doolittle. Hopkins motored around from second, tying the game at four. Darwin Barney flew out to right, so the Beavers couldn't get any more than one in the tenth, leaving Canham stranded at first.
The eleventh and twelfth innings were dead for both teams, but then Virginia unleashed their offense in the top of the thirteenth. Tim Henry singled, then stole second. Mike Mitchell bunted him to third. Eddie Kunz was pitching at this point, and the Beavers chose to intentially walk Doolittle. Back to back singles by Scaglione and Adams scored two, then the Beavers went to their bullpen for Greg Keim. Keim gave up a single to Beau Seabury, the first batter he faced, scoring a third Virginia run. The Cavaliers wouldn't get any production after that, but they took a 7-4 advantage into the bottom of the 13th.
Barney and Lennerton were both retired to start the inning of with two outs. Freshman Ryan Ortiz, who made his seventh appearance in a game this year was hit by a pitch, then Wong singled. At this point, a home run by Lonnie Lechelt would have tied it, but Lechelt grounded out to the shortstop. He tossed it over to second to get Wong, ending the game. It lasted 4 hours and 53 minutes, and the fans definitely got their money's worth.
Eddie Kunz was credited the loss after going four and two thirds. He allowed four hits and four runs, and struck out one. Casey Lambert got the win after going six innings and change for the Cavaliers. Him and starter Jacob Thompson basically split the game right down the middle, with Thompson getting one less out than Lambert.
The Beavers must battle back against Rutgers now, and if they do, they'll get this Virginia team again and have to beat them twice.
Go Beavers!
--JB--