Cox grad helps U.Va. cap dominating regional

By Hank Kurz

The Associated Press

CHARLOTTESVILLE

Over three games this weekend, national top seed Virginia outscored St. John's, Navy and East Carolina, 29-3. The hosts of the Charlottesville Regional culminated their superiority at Davenport Field on Sunday with a 13-1 victory against East Carolina.

"I think Virginia might have beaten the '27 Yankees tonight," East Carolina coach Billy Godwin said after perhaps the Cavaliers' most complete of three impressive victories.

Tyler Wilson pitched 6 1/3 strong innings, continuing the Cavaliers' dominant pitching, and Cox High graduate Chris Taylor drove in four runs to lead a 17-hit attack that is at its best with two outs.

The Cavaliers (52-9) scored 12 of their 13 runs with two gone, and 24 of 29 on the weekend. They outscored St. John's, Navy and the Pirates by 29-3, won their seventh in a row, set the school mark for victories and will host a super regional for the second consecutive year.

"This is what we work all fall for. This is what we play all season for," Wilson said after scattering seven hits, striking out seven and walking just one to improve to 8-0 this season.

In three games, Virginia's starting pitchers worked 22 1/3 innings, allowed 14 hits and two runs. They struck out 33 batters, walked just two and the Cavs outscored their opponents 29-3.

The staff recorded 42 of 81 outs via the strikeout.

Coach Brian O'Connor, who said after the Cavaliers beat St. John's 10-2 on Saturday night that it might have been their best game of the year, had to amend that.

"We might have even played better tonight," he said.

Top to bottom, the lineup was as efficient as the pitching.

Taylor had two-run singles in the second and seventh innings, and John Barr, John Hicks and Steven Proscia also drove in a pair of runs for the Cavaliers. Six players had multiple hits.

But Danny Hultzen, the most outstanding player of the weekend, isn't satisfied.

"We're proud of what we've done. At the same time, our work is not even close to done," said the left-hander, who is expected to be one of the top picks in the baseball draft on Monday.

East Carolina (41-21) had beaten St. John's 6-4 earlier in the day, but had no answer after the Cavaliers batted around and scored five times in the second after two outs.

Jared King's single plated the first run, and Taylor and Barr added two-run hits.

"You know that you've got to play your best baseball when you are playing good teams," said John Wooten, who had three of the Pirates' eight hits and drove in their only run.

Virginia added four runs in the fourth, highlighted by Hicks' two-run double, another in the sixth and two in the seventh on Taylor's second-two run single of the evening.

Wilson, while not as dominant and as starters Will Roberts and Danny Hultzen before him, worked out of jams in the first and second innings, gave up a run in the fourth on John Wooten's RBI single, and struck out the side in the sixth to the delight of a sold-out Davenport Field.

More than once, he had to make a trip to the bullpen with his team at bat to stay loose.

He got the first batter in the seventh to fly to center and was removed.