Cavs fail to rally past Tribe

By Jay Jenkins

Published: April 23, 2008

In a sport loaded with statistical numbers, two stood out to Virginia coach Brian O’Connor during his scouting of William and Mary.
The Tribe entered ranked fifth in batting and led the country with 17 saves.
Unfortunately for UVa, the Tribe (30-12)  padded their stats in both.
Behind a display of timely hitting and a dominant dose of pitching in the final frame, William & Mary upended Virginia, 6-5, at Davenport Field to win for the first time in the series since 2001.
“I thought it was a pretty well-played ball game and William and Mary has a pretty good ball club,” O’Connor said. “They proved why they have a good team tonight.
“We just couldn’t get the clutch hits when we needed to and they did. That’s baseball.”
Virginia (32-12) also learned a valuable lesson — again. After a sluggish start, the Cavaliers were unable to generate enough offense to mount another late-inning comeback.
“We played well Sunday, we played well [Tuesday] and we saw what it takes to win a baseball game,” said Virginia catcher Franco Valdes. “We turned it on too late and all this game teaches us is to turn it on earlier and to turn it on from the start.
“You have to start in inning No. 1 and not in the fifth or the sixth and try to rally back. But I don’t think this is going to put us back in any way.”
William & Mary, having won 10 of its last 11 games, scored a pair of runs in the third inning off starter Jeff Lorick (3-2) on a two-run double by centerfielder Ben Guez.
Virginia answered in the fourth when Valdes belted a two-run double into the gap in left-center field and scored on a single from rookie John Barr.
The 3-2 lead, however, did not last long.
After allowing a single to James Williamson to open the fifth, Lorick grooved a pitch to Tyler Stampone that quickly sailed over the wall in left-center field.
“I wasn’t so sure what was going to happen at that point,” said William and Mary coach Frank Leoni. “For us to get the leadoff guy on in that inning, I think, was crucial. Then [Lorick] left the ball in the middle of the plate for Stampone’s home run and from their you could feel the confidence going and we were ready to get on that guy and we did.”
Lorick, who allowed seven hits and five runs (four earned) in four innings, was chased from the game one batter later after he gave up the homer.
“We scored three runs and took the lead and we gave it right back to them by letting that leadoff hitter get on and you just can’t do that,” O’Connor said. “That’s when you have to smell it and go out there as a pitcher and put a zero up for your team and [Lorick] didn’t do that, and they took the lead and never let it go.”
The Tribe added a run later in the fifth after Lorick’s departure and another in sixth off left-handed reliever Neal Davis to lead 6-3.
UVa managed to score lone runs in the sixth and eighth inning, respectively, but saw the first rally thwarted when a hard-hit liner from Valdes turned into a double play and after Dan Grovatt was stranded at second base in the latter.
William & Mary closer Pat Kantavich registered his eighth save by retiring the side in the ninth. Cody Winslow earned the win on the mound, improving to 4-1 as he gave up five hits and three earned runs in five innings.
Offensively, William & Mary finished with 11 hits, including three doubles and the homer.
“I feel pretty good about what we did,” Leoni said. “[Virginia is] awfully good. Their arms are as good as we have seen all year. Our guys have confidence going right now and that makes the world of difference in games like this.
“We didn’t exactly knock the cover off the ball but we executed at the right times, got a couple of key two-out hits and that proved to be the difference in the game.”
Virginia travels to face top-ranked Miami on Friday.