The Shadow
RICHMOND, Va. – Behind six shutout innings from freshman John Paone, the Virginia baseball team (10-1) downed the VCU Rams (4-7) 5-3 on Sunday afternoon (March 1) at The Diamond.
In the first quality start by a UVA pitcher this season, Paone scattered six hits across his six-inning outing with four strikeouts to pick up his first collegiate win. Offensively, the outfield duo of AJ Gracia and Zach Jackson each homered while driving in four of the five Virginia runs on the day.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- For the second time in as many days, Gracia opened the scoring for the Cavaliers with a solo shot in the first inning. The dinger was Gracia’s team-leading sixth home run of the season and put UVA up 1-0 after one.
- With the lead, Paone cruised for the next three innings, only allowing a trio of base runners during the span.
- In the top of the fifth, Thomas O’Connell singled to right but ended up on third when a Ram outfielder overplayed the ball, resulting in a two-base error. O’Connell scored one at-bat later when an Eric Becker sacrifice fly put Virginia up 2-0 after five innings played.
- Paone closed out his six innings of shutout ball with a pair of popouts.
- In relief of Paone, Noah Yoder continued the dominant Virginia performance by striking out two of the four batters he faced in the home half of the seventh.
- With Sam Harris and Noah Murray on and two away in the top of the eighth, Zach added some insurance with a three-run blast to right field. The moonshot was his second of the season and made it a 5-0 ballgame.
- VCU got on the board in the home half of the eighth when a leadoff walk came around to score on a double down the line in left.
- The Rams made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth by scoring a pair of runs before Kevin Jaxel slammed the door shut to preserve the series sweep and 5-3 victory.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- With the series sweep of the Rams, UVA improves to 54-25 all-time against VCU and has won the last 10 meetings.
- Head Coach Chris Pollard matches Brian O’Connor’s 10-1 start in 2004 for the best start in a UVA head coaching tenure in program history.
- Paone’s six-inning outing tied Henry Zatkowski’s six innings in the series opener for the most innings pitched by a Virginia hurler this season.
UP NEXT
The longest road stretch of the season continues Tuesday as Virginia heads to North Carolina for a pair of midweek games against the Charlotte 49ers. First pitch between the Cavaliers and the 49ers is slated for 6 p.m. at Hayes Stadium.
