Cavaliers rally past Tigers

DURHAM, N.C. - Andrew Carraway had been nearly inconsolable for two-plus weeks.

Having struggled in his final two outings of the regular season, Virginia’s No. 2 starter was pulled from the rotation as postseason play arrived.

Using that as motivation, the senior dominated in 4.1 innings of relief work Thursday night as sixth-seeded Virginia mounted a late-game rally to upset third-seeded Clemson, 6-5, in the team’s opening game in the ACC baseball tournament at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park.

With the victory, Virginia won its 40th game of the season and potentially moved within a win of assuring its second straight trip to the tournament’s title game. The Cavaliers now stand 40-12-1 overall entering tonight’s game with second-seeded North Carolina, which start at 8 p.m.

“I actually didn’t even know it until I looked at the stat sheet afterwards that we had won 40 games,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “That’s a great mark. That’s a great sign of a good year. When you get a chance to do it every year it is the sign of a good program.”

Earning the fifth 40th-win season in six years took some heroics for the Cavaliers. In fact, Virginia fell behind quickly, as starter Matt Packer allowed six hits and five earned runs before being pulled with two outs in the fourth inning.

When Packer, who also walked three batters, was pulled, Virginia trailed 5-2. The Cavaliers’ lone runs during Packer’s time on the mound came off a monstrous two-run blast from first baseman John Hicks that soared over the stadium’s “Blue Monster” in left field and off a massive Durham Bulls logo perched above the wall.

The fourth-inning bomb was Hicks’ seventh homer of the season and came off Clemson starter Trey Delk.

“He got it pretty good,” O’Connor said. “Obviously, it looked like he was sitting on a breaking ball there. In some innings, our hitters go up there with a plan of sitting on one pitch.

“It obviously looked like that’s what he did on that occasion.”

After Packer allowed a run in the bottom half of the fourth and Carraway emerged from the bullpen to end the frame, Virginia mounted its sixth rally in a contest in which it trailed by three runs or more during a lengthy fifth inning.

It started with a solo homer from center fielder Jarrett Parker that also cleared the 32-foot wall in left field, trimming Clemson’s lead to 5-3.

Prior to the homer, Parker had been fanned twice by Delk, who allowed six hits and four earned runs in 4.1 innings.

“[Parker’s] first couple of at-bats were tough,” O’Connor said. “He got into a 3-2 count … and he got a 3-2 fastball and put a good swing on the ball. I would say out of his 16 home runs that he has hit, seven or eight of them the other way.

“The kid is a powerful hitter. He has a chance every time that he steps up there to drive the ball out of the ballpark.”

Suddenly, Virginia had some newfound momentum.

After a one-out single by designated hitter Danny Hultzen, the rookie stole second base and advanced to third after the throw down scooted into center field.

Sophomore right fielder Dan Grovatt promptly plated Hultzen for the Cavaliers with a single into right.

With Virginia trailing 5-4, the contest enjoyed a bizarre moment. Facing Clemson reliever Scott Weismann, Cavalier third baseman Steven Proscia lifted a 2-1 pitch to the base of the wall in left-center field.

After taking an odd bounce of the wall, Proscia, almost catching Grovatt on the basepaths, elected to try and get a triple out of the hit.

It worked in more ways than one.

The relay throw from Clemson shortstop Brad Miller towards third base sailed towards the Tigers’ dugout, allowing Proscia to sprint home for an error-aided pseudo inside-the-park homer.

“I got a pitch inside and I hit it pretty good,” said Proscia, who finished with two hits and scored two runs. “Once I saw it drop, I kind of turned on the jets a little bit. I just sprinted around.

“I was digging three out of the box, and once I got there I saw the ball go past the third baseman and I just broke for home. Luckily, there was no play, so I was safe no matter what.”

With the 6-5 lead in hand, Carraway sizzled inning after inning, fanning seven batters and allowing just a double in the eighth inning to Miller.

In Carraway’s two previous starts, which came against Duke and Virginia Tech, he had allowed 12 earned runs in 6.2 combined innings.

“The last couple of weekends I have struggled a little bit,” Carraway said. “I had my fastball but I didn’t really have any other pitches. The guys were on me.

“I did a lot of work with my pitching coach because I had fallen back a little bit. I worked a lot of my slider and fine-tuning my mechanics. I was able to come back.”

Sophomore Kevin Arico pitched a perfect ninth inning to register his ninth save of the season.

With a win tonight against North Carolina and a Clemson win over Duke in a contest slated to start at 4 p.m., Virginia can punch its ticket for Sunday’s title game.

In odd fashion, Florida State, the top team in Pool A, had clinched its spot in the final prior to the Clemson-Virginia showdown.