CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team manufactured five runs in the eighth inning to come back and defeat Stony Brook, 6-4, and sweep a doubleheader Tuesday night at Davenport Field. The Cavaliers (16-4) remain unbeaten in 14 games at home this season.
Phil Gosselin (Fr., West Chester, Pa.) went 2-for-2 with two runs scored and two runs batted in. He homered and reached base four times. Dan Grovatt (Fr., Tabernacle, N.J.) also went 2-for-3 and led the team with three hits in the doubleheader.
Jake Rule (Sr., Waynesboro, Va.) earned the win and improved to 1-1 with 1.1 innings of relief, while Michael Schwimer (Sr., Alexandria, Va.) pitched a scoreless ninth and earned his fifth save of the season and second of the doubleheader. Stony Brook starter Jeremy Nowak (0-1) took the loss after giving up five runs (four earned), six hits and three walks in seven innings. He also struck out eight. Nowak also had a big game at the plate, going 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI.
Virginia struggled to solve Nowak for seven innings and trailed 4-1 entering the eighth before staging a rally without hitting a ball out of the infield. Grovatt and Jeremy Farrell (Jr., Westlake, Ohio) hit back-to-back bunt singles and advanced when David Coleman (Fr., Richmond, Va.) walked. Gosselin then walked to score a run and force Nowak from the game.
Reliever Michael Barbot induced Franco Valdes (So., Miami, Fla.) to hit a grounder to third but the throw to the plate was errant and allowed another run to score. Pinch hitter David Adams (Jr., Margate, Fla.) drew a walk to tie the score and Jarrett Parker (Fr., Stafford, Va.) grounded out to first to score another run and give UVa a 5-4 lead. Greg Miclat (Jr., Concord, N.C.) grounded out to second to score the final run of the inning.
Virginia scored first when Gosselin hit his second home run of the year in the third inning.
Stony Brook (4-7) struck for two runs in the fifth inning. After Virginia starting pitcher Jake Cowan (Fr., Roswell, Ga.) loaded the bases with two outs, Nowak ripped an 0-2 pitch up the middle for a two-run single off reliever Neal Davis (So., Baltimore, Md.).
The Seawolves tacked on a run in the sixth when Nick Thode scored from third base on a two-out Virginia fielding error. In the seventh, Nowak homered to left field to push the lead to 4-1.
Cowan went 4.2 innings and gave up two earned runs, three hits and three walks in his first college start. He also struck out four batters.
Virginia continues its 12-game homestand at 6 p.m. Friday as it welcomes Boston College for the opening contest of a three-game series.
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Courtesy: Jim Daves/UVa Media Relations
