Cavs rout Hoyas

By Jay Jenkins

Published: April 22, 2008

When his career comes to an end, Jacob Thompson’s program-best win total will include one that came in odd fashion and thanks to an odd scoring rule in baseball.
Attempting to give the All-American hurler an added dose of confidence, Virginia coach Brian O’Connor elected to start Thompson on Tuesday on short rest.
Despite being on a strict pitch count around 35, the junior tossed three scoreless innings with two strikeouts to help propel No. 16 Virginia to a 9-1 victory over Georgetown at Davenport Field in a game prolonged by a rain delay.
“His whole career here he has pitched on the weekends and never pitched during the week, and, quite frankly, I wanted to change something for him, try to break his routine,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “Obviously, we won’t know how successful it was until we see how he pitches this weekend [against Miami].
“But I thought he pitched with pretty good command tonight, and we will see effective he is on Saturday.”
With the win, the Cavaliers improved to 32-11 overall and 27-4 at home this season. Georgetown - facing UVa for the first time since 1994 - dropped to 14-24.
Obviously, Thompson had help. And most of it came in the second inning. In the frame, Virginia sent nine batters to the plate and scored five runs, fueled by a three-run double from Tyler Cannon and David Adams’ sixth homer of the season.
“Cannon had a big bases-clearing double and Adams stepped up and hit a big two-run home run,” O’Connor said. “Guys can go out there and pitch and attack the hitters with a lead.
“Fortunately on Jacob’s part, we were able to keep his pitch count down.”
Thompson tossed only 28 pitches, and used a pair of double-play balls to pitch to the minimum amount of batters. When a pitcher is held to a pre-established pitch count, the win is given at the scorer’s discretion.
The start came just three days after Thompson allowed seven runs - one earned - in 3.2 innings against Wake Forest.
“I was definitely very excited about the start,” Thompson said. “After Saturday’s start, a quick outing, I was shocked but exciting to get back out there and work on some things.
“Me and coach [Karl] Kuhn worked on some stuff the past two or three days and it really seemed to help. I felt a little tired, but I felt back to my old self, keeping the ball down and throwing the ball where I wanted to.”
Thompson said a lone run in the first and the offensive onslaught in the second helped. But the confidence that has remained in the clubhouse despite two losses this season easily exceeds that.
“It’s really comforting knowing that you have 35 guys in the dugout believing in you, and probably believe in you more than you do in yourself,” Thompson said.
In the fourth inning, Thompson gave way to the bullpen. Three relievers, including Jake Cowan, closed out the win.
Georgetown, which finished with four hits, scored its lone run in the seventh off junior Jake Rule.
Virginia tallied 10 hits - including three doubles from rookie Dan Grovatt - and turned three double plays.
The Cavaliers return to action tonight against William & Mary at 6 p.m.