Virginia Cavaliers baseball — Photo courtesy of Olivia Taylor/Virginia Athletics

Clemson Evens Series Against Virginia With 8-2 Win in Game 2

The Cavaliers scored just two runs and committed four errors in their loss to the Tigers in game 2

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
May 15, 2022 5:26 PM EDT

Perhaps it was the early 10am start time or maybe it was the distraction of the senior day ceremonies before the game. Whatever the cause, the Cavaliers did not bring their A game.

Virginia (36-13, 15-11 ACC) committed four errors and Clemson (32-19, 10-15 ACC) scored six runs in the first four innings en route to a series-evening 8-2 victory over UVA on Sunday at Disharoon Park.

The schedule for this weekend series has been entirely wrecked by storms in the Charlottesville area. Game 1 began at 5:15pm on Friday night, but due to inclement weather, did not conclude until mid-afternoon on Saturday, with the Cavaliers coming away with an 11-6 victory. Game 2 was supposed to start soon after that as part of a Saturday doubleheader, but more rain forced the game to be moved to Sunday morning with first pitch set for 10am.

The Tigers were ready for the early start. The Cavaliers were not.

Clemson jumped all over Virginia starter Nate Savino in the top of the first. The first two batters reached base on a single and a walk and then a Max Wagner single brought in both runners to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead before UVA recorded a single out. Wagner moved into scoring position at third base on a single and a fielder's choice and then Savino threw a wild pitch, which allowed Wagner to come home. Savino's morning was short-lived, as he was replaced by Will Geerdes after walking back-to-back batters in the top of the second inning. Geerdes managed to get the final two outs of the inning to prevent any runs from scoring.

Clemson starter Geoffrey Gilbert retired the Cavaliers in order in the first, but the Hoos were able to get one back in the bottom of the second. Jake Gelof hit a leadoff single and advanced to third on a double from Devin Ortiz before scoring on a sacrifice fly from Casey Saucke.

Geerdes gave up a pair of singles in the third, followed by a sacrifice ground out and a sacrifice fly out to score two runs to extend the Clemson lead to 5-1. UVA scored in the bottom half of the inning as Jake Rubin doubled and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Kyle Teel, but the Tigers answered with another run in the top of the fourth on a squeeze bunt to make it 6-2.

Clemson's pitching duo of Geoffrey Gilbert and Austin Gordon had the UVA batters on their heels from start to finish. Virginia's runs in the second and third inning were the only scoring of the game for the Cavaliers, who were held to just two runs on eight hits. Gilbert went six innings, giving up seven hits and striking out four batters. Gordon entered the game in the seventh inning and was lights-outs through the final three frames, allowing just one hit and recording four strikeouts to polish off the Clemson victory.

The Tigers added two more runs in the sixth and eighth innings on solo home runs by Blake Wright and Will Taylor.

Virginia falls to 36-13 overall and 15-11 in ACC play. Weather permitting, the Cavaliers are supposed to conclude the series against the Tigers sometime on Sunday in what will be UVA's final home game of the regular season. As of the publishing of this article, game 3 between Virginia and Clemson has yet to begin due to weather delays, but there is hope that the game could still take place on Sunday night.

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