Cavaliers close out sweep of Bison

For the first time in a span of 256 games, a stretch dating back to 2004, Virginia’s baseball team connected on a leadoff home run.
It was the run that followed, however, that provided enough run support for the Cavaliers to upend Bucknell, 11-1, and claim a four-game series sweep at Davenport Field.
The weekend of power, one that included six homers, continued later in the first inning as catcher Franco Valdes followed Jarrett Parker’s leadoff dinger with a blast that left the stadium.
“I can’t remember the last time that we led off a game with a home run,” said Virginia coach Brian O’Connor. “That was great to see and it really set the tone for the afternoon.”
The homer from the first hitter for Virginia came in 2004 at Liberty off the bat of current Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Mark Reynolds.
With the win, Virginia improved to 4-0. In the series, the Cavaliers hit .358 with nine doubles, four triples and six homers.
The offensive explosion in the first inning Sunday, which included six runs, four hits and a Bucknell error, gave left-handed starter Jeff Lorick (1-0) plenty of wiggle room on the mound.
The junior worked five innings, allowing three hits and the lone earned run of the weekend.
“Jeff has been throwing the ball very well in our preseason and he’s started a number of games the past two seasons, but he has been pitching especially well of late,” O’Connor said. “To get him off to a good comfortable start was good and I thought he threw the ball really well.”
After Lorick allowed Bucknell’s second run of the series in the fourth inning, Virginia added a lone run in fifth on an RBI single by Tyler Cannon (2 for 2, 2 RBI).
The Cavaliers closed out the scoring in the seventh as with a four-run frame that included three hits and the first run scored in the career of John Bivens, a former linebacker for football coach Al Groh who joined the program in the fall.
The homer for Parker in the opening frame was the first of the sophomore’s career. He also almost connected on an inside-the-parker later in the game but was nailed at the play by a relay throw.
Valdes, who also homered in the second game of the season, now has four career homers.
“It was probably the first time that I have seen a 3-0 green light from [third-base coach Kevin McMullan],” Valdes said. “He is usually a little more conservative than that, but he gave me the green light and I was looking for something up and in and I got it.
“It was a fastball, it was up and in and I just took a hack.”
Virginia returns to action Tuesday at home at 4 p.m. against William & Mary.