Cavs sweep twin bill from Bison

One nearly frozen fan at Davenport Field drew a chuckle from those sitting nearby on Saturday.

“What has gotten into these guys?” he quipped.

The one-liner came after Virginia catcher Franco Valdes planted a fastball in the pine trees beyond the left-center field wall. Another homer, the fourth for the team in three games, was belted in the second game by third baseman Steven Proscia.

The long balls sparked Virginia to a sweep over Bucknell in the season’s first doubleheader. After winning the opener 7-0, the Cavaliers mounted a mid-game rally to win the nightcap 6-1.

The power display has been a rather significant change — last season, Virginia (3-0) connected on just 25 home runs in 62 games.

“Everybody, 1 through 9, is capable of hitting the ball over the fence,” said Proscia, who also homered on Friday in the season opener. “I am seeing the ball really well and it is easy to go up there and be relaxed when you have a great pitcher on the mound.”

The pitching was flawless for a second straight day.

Danny Hultzen, a rookie, teamed up with two relievers to throw the team’s second shutout, matching the total from the 2008 campaign. The southpaw worked six innings, scattering six singles and striking out five batters.

“I was excited for him to go out there and get his first start. I thought he pitched great,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said. “He really competed and he had control of the ball with his pitches. He showed today what he is capable of doing.

“Sometimes in that first start of somebody’s collegiate career they can be a little unsure of themselves, but from the first pitch to his last he was completely sure about what he was doing.”

Hultzen (1-0) also drew rave reviews from the coaching staff for failing to walk a Bucknell batter.

“Not walking anybody is good, but I was just out there trying to hit my spots,” Hultzen said. “I felt good. There was a little bit of that nervous excitement just being out there for the first time in the regular season, but I felt pretty good.”

In the opener, Proscia and Valdes registered three hits. Rookie Scott Silverstein also slapped a two-run single to left-center to plate a pair of runs in the fourth inning.

After allowing Bucknell its first run of the series in the first inning of the second game in the twinbill, left-handed pitcher Neal Davis settled into a groove, allowing just two hits and a walk over six innings.

The lone run allowed by Davis was unearned, leaving Virginia’s earned run average at 0.00.

Davis received all the run support he needed in the fourth inning as Virginia scored all six of its runs. The biggest blast was the three-run homer from Proscia off Bucknell starter Sean Driscoll (0-1).

“I got a nice pitch out over the plate,” Proscia said. “He actually hung a slider a little bit and I was able to get a good piece of it and hit it hard.”

O’Connor added: “We talked a lot about him before the season and he can have some really special days. He is a strong, physical kid. He has really made an adjustment from the fall to the preseason in that he is seeing pitches well and laying off pitches that he can’t hit. That is a sign of a hitter that it is starting to develop.

“He has good power and even when he hits a line drive he hits it hard. He is performing well in that fifth spot in the order.”

Rookie catcher John Hicks, who started the season opener, finished with three hits, including the first double of his career, as he earned the nod.

For the day, Virginia’s catching tandem combined to go 6 for 8 at the plate with two runs and two RBI.

The two teams will close out the series today at 1 p.m. O’Connor said he would start LHP Jeff Lorick. The junior went 3-3 last year with a 6.27 ERA.