Baseball splits rain-shortened series with Cavs

The Jackets split two games in an abbreviated conference series with the Virginia Cavaliers. The series finale was canceled due to rain, wet field conditions and a Tech travel curfew.

The opener of the three-game series on paper looked to be a stellar pitching match up and the game lived up to the billing.

In a battle of sophomore sensations, Virginia's right-hander Jacob Thompson through the first seven innings while Tech's southpaw David Duncan allowed just one run through seven innings.

With the Jackets trailing 1-0 in the eighth, sophomore Chris House led off the top half of the inning with a strike out on a pitch from Thompson that was in the dirt and trickled away from catcher Beau Seabury, allowing House to reach first.

After a strikeout, House moved to second base on a Danny Payne groundout and came around to touch the plate on a RBI single up the middle by junior Michael Fisher, tying the game 1-1.

The bullpens matched zeros up until the 11th inning when Coach Danny Hall made a gutsy call.

Patrick Long reached on a bloop hit down the left field line for Tech and legged out a double when left fielder Brandon Guyer was slow to field the ball. Chris House followed with a single, putting runners on the corners with one out.

This set the table for freshman second baseman Jeff Ussery. On an 0-1 pitch, Ussery took a pitch that was high and away and executed a suicide squeeze bunt allowing Long, who was charging down the third base line, to score the eventual winning run.

"I had it on my mind on the first pitch and when I saw him almost foul out I said, 'What the heck. I am going to try it," said Coach Hall as reported by the Charlottesville Daily Progress.

"To Jeff Ussery's credit, he did a great job of getting the ball down and it ended up being the winning run. I just kind of felt like it was a situation that we needed to try something."

"When I saw the sign, my heart started pumping a little bit and I was just thinking get the bat on the ball," Ussery said. "It was the first time I squeezed in a game, I think. It was certainly exciting."

Red-shirt senior Jared Hyatt pitched four scoreless and hitless innings in relief of Duncan to pick up his sixth win on the year without a loss.

Fisher paced the offense for Tech, collecting three singles on the evening.

The second game of the series proved to be even more exciting than the first, but not for Tech fans.

Virginia's sophomore David Adams delivered a walk-off three run home run in the bottom of the ninth to propel the Cavaliers to a 7-6 victory over the Jackets.

Brandon Marsh gave Virginia a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo home run in the second inning.

Tech responded with two runs in the third inning to take a 2-1 lead.

Brad Feltes led off the inning with a triple into the right center field gap and scored on a Fisher RBI single.

Fisher scored on a throwing error by first baseman Greg Miclat.

Virginia wasted no time in reclaiming a 3-2 lead on a sacrifice fly and an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning.

The Jackets broke through for three runs in the fifth with an RBI double by Matt Wieters, an RBI groundout from Wally Crancer and an RBI double by Tony Plagman and took a 5-3 lead.

Tech had an opportunity to break the game wide open with the bases loaded in the sixth inning, but had to settle for a single run and a 6-3 lead.

The Cavaliers gained some momentum in the seventh inning when the first two hitters reached on a single and a hit by pitch. However, Brad Rulon came on to hold Virginia to just one run and end the threat.

Tech seemingly had the game in hand in the last of the ninth with their closer, Payne, on the mound.

Payne had no trouble with the first two batters, striking out the leadoff hitter Miclat on three pitches and getting Marsh to pop out.

Reigning ACC player of the year, junior Sean Doolittle, worked the count against Payne and drew a 3-2 walk to keep the inning alive. Brandon Guyer was plunked on the very next pitch.

This set the table for Adams with runners on first and second and two out. Adams took a 2-1 delivery from Payne which was low and inside and deposited it into the newly-installed bleachers beyond the left field wall to give Virginia a 7-6 victory and salvage a series split with Tech.

The final game of the series was cancelled due to rain and ACC travel rules.

The Jackets will be back in action today for the start of a three-game series against the Wolfpack of North Carolina State. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. today and tomorrow. Sunday is scheduled to have a 1 p.m. first pitch.

The team will play in-state rival Georgia Tuesday at Turner Field. First pitch for that game is scheduled for 7 p.m.