May 12, 2009

DEANE STIFLES CAVALIERS, BUT RAMS FALL TO 10TH-RANKED UVA, 4-1
Box Score

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – If Tuesday night turns out to be the last collegiate start in Phillip Deane’s (Richmond, Va.) career, it will be quite a way to go out.

Deane limited the 10th-ranked Cavaliers of the University of Virginia to just three hits over eight innings of work, but his counterpart Will Roberts was just a step better in a 4-1 UVA victory over the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball field at Davenport field. It was the last non-conference game of the season for both teams.

“Phillip was excellent tonight,” Head Coach Paul Keyes said. “He mixed in all of his pitches and really kept them off-balance for most of the game. The only thing that hurt him was the two walks and two hit-by-pitches because it allowed them a chance to manufacture runs through their running game.”

The loss drops the Black & Gold’s overall mark to 20-23, while Virginia improves to 38-10-1 on the 2009 campaign.

UVA’s speed was on display right from the start. Phil Gosselin drew a one-out walk and was running on the pitch when Danny Hultzen sent a single into left-centerfield, allowing Gosselin to come all the way around to plate the game’s first run and give the Cavaliers a 1-0 advantage.

The Cavaliers capatilized on a Ram miscue in the bottom of the third when a dropped fly ball with two outs allowed Jarrett Parker to score and push the UVA lead to 2-0.

Roberts and Deane would lock in and combine to sit down 15 straight batters until the bottom of the sixth when Gosselin was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Dan Grovatt to extend the lead to 3-0.

A fielder’s choice by John Barr in the bottom of the seventh plated another run as UVA’s lead grew to 4-0.

The Rams offense would get going in the top of the eighth when juniors Matt Leskiw (Plains, Pa.) and Nate Furry (Salem, Va.) notched back-to-back singles to start the frame. Neal Davis locked in to induce a double-play, but Leskiw scored to make the score 4-1.

With two outs in the eighth, junior Andrew Dimino (Greenwood, Ind.) reached on an infield single and freshman Josh Alford (Midlothian, Va.) followed with a walk on a 10-pitch at-bat. However, Tyler Wilson came out of the pen to get a ground out and end the Black & Gold scoring threat.

A two-out double in the top of the ninth by freshman Brent Mikionis (Powhatan, Va.) put another Ram in scoring position, but Kevin Arico, UVA’s closer, was able to lock down the 4-1 win with a game-ending fly out.

“We really hit the ball hard all night, but most of them were right at guys,” Keyes said. “I thought a lot of our kids swung the bat well tonight, but Roberts was able to pound the strike zone enough to never really allow us to get anything going.”

Deane (2-5) was the story for the Black & Gold, allowing just three earned runs in his first collegiate complete game. The Richmond, Va. native is a redshirt junior, but is scheduled to graduate on Saturday afternoon.

Roberts (4-0) allowed just two hits and struck out six over seven innings of work.

Offensively, six different Rams notched hits with Leskiw plating VCU’s only run of the contest.

The Black & Gold wrap up the 2009 campaign with a three-game set at the University of Delaware, beginning with a 3 p.m. contest on Thursday afternoon.