The University of Virginia racked up the first victory of the 2015 College Baseball World Series by defeating the University of Arkansas 5-3. The Cavaliers had clutch performances in the late innings breaking a 3-3 tie in the eighth and adding an insurance run in the ninth.
UVA reliever Josh Sborz was called into action in the seventh and pitched three shutout innings while he tallied five strikeouts. The Wahoos opened up the scoring in the top of the second inning on a Joe McCarthy solo home run to right field. The Razorbacks responded in the bottom of the third with a pair of runs to take the lead.
Heading into the 8th, with the score knotted at 3-3 UVA was sparked by aggressive base running from Danny Pinero. Pinero stole back to back bases to move 90 feet away from home. With two out, Kenny Towns came up with an RBI double that provided the game winning run. The ‘Hoos tacked on one more in the 9th when Ernie Clement drove in another run.
Virginia’s next game will be at 8 p.m. Monday in the winners’ bracket of the College World Series. Coverage on WINA will begin at 7:30 p.m. Monday.
