In a week that saw us go 2-2, we were handed losses by VMI as well as Duke over the weekend.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Virginia Military Institute to take on the Keydets in their beautiful brand new ballpark. We ran into a solid arm, and other than Brandon Guyer crushing a home run to deep left – our offense was kept in check as we fell 5-2.

One thing we were able to take away from this game was to remember to play together, not to panic when things do not go our way, and to battle both on the mound and at the plate. If we come to the ballpark everyday with this mentality, we should be in a good position to have a chance to win given the makeup of our ball club.

Over the weekend, Duke came to town. Last year, they beat us on Friday night at their place, and we knew that they were bringing a much improved team to town – having beaten Georgia Tech and Florida State on each of the past two Saturdays.

However, this particular Friday night belonged to Jacob Thompson. Thompson continued his string of outstanding performances with a complete-game, four-hit shutout. He has become a tremendous No. 1 starter for us – putting us in a position to win the series opener every time he takes the mound. Offensively Greg Miclat, Brandon Marsh and Sean Doolittle each had two hits, and Miclat scored three times as we took Game 1 4-0.

After the game Friday night, Coach O’Connor reiterated Duke’s recent success on Saturdays, stating that they would undoubtedly be ready to play as they were throwing their ace. In a weird game that was very similar to our season-ending game last year in the regional against Evansville, we could do nothing right. They beat us on the mound, in the field and at the plate, rolling to a 13-9 victory. We scored a few late to get us back in the game, and we looked to that as momentum to carry into the rubber game on Sunday, when we would give Doolittle the ball.

Doolittle didn’t disappoint, as he gave us six strong innings while allowing only one unearned run. Michael Schwimer and Casey Lambert combined for three scoreless in relief to give us the series – winning 8-1. Guyer continued his offensive tear, homering for the second time on the weekend and third of the week. Beau Seabury and Tyler Cannon also had two hits as we collected 10 on the day.

We’ve reached the halfway point of our conference schedule and are confident that we can continue our first-half success in the latter portion of the schedule. On Tuesday, we go down to Richmond to take on VCU at The Diamond – home of the Richmond Braves. Over the weekend, Georgia Tech comes to Charlottesville in what should be an intense and spirited weekend of baseball.

Go Hoos!

Jeremy Farrell

(photo courtesy of Virginia Media Relations Office)