By Sean Ryan, CBI Co-Founder
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – East Carolina has seen enough of Nick Parker.
A year ago, Parker was pitching for Coastal Carolina and turned in a postseason performance of a lifetime. Against the Pirates at the Greenville Regional, the righthander tossed eight scoreless innings with three hits and a career-best 10 strikeouts as the Chanticleers won a 9-1 affair. The Pirates recovered the next day to beat Coastal to advance to the Super Regionals.
Saturday night at the Charlottesville Regional, Parker did it again. Now pitching for Virginia as a graduate student, Parker turned in seven strong innings with five hits, one earned run and five strikeouts as the Cavaliers edged the Pirates 2-1 in the winners’ bracket game of the Regional.
“They’re a great opponent, and they bring a great crowd,” Parker said. “We also brought a great crowd tonight, so I think kind of the mix of that, it’s easy to get fired up for those kinds of games.”
The Pirates (46-18) entered having averaged 8.8 runs a game over 18 games (15-3) since May 5. They scored 10 or more in eight of those games.
Virginia (47-12) came in as the nation’s leader in average (.336) and seventh in runs per game (9.2).
Neither could muster much, despite each driving a handful of balls to the warning track. A steady wind blowing in from center favored the pitchers.
The Cavaliers were aggressive with a bevy of early-count swings off Garrett Saylor, who pitched around traffic in the first two innings. In the third, Jake Gelof launched a long fly to center, where the Pirates’ Lane Hoover leaped and kept the ball from leaving the park. But it fell for a double. Kyle Teel followed with an RBI single to right for a 1-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Parker faced one batter over the minimum on one hit through four innings. The fifth presented his first jam when Joey Berini had a two-out single, moved to second on a balk and moved to third when Parker’s change up to Alek Makarewicz was tapped toward short. Parker contorted and stretched his body to reach the slow-motion grounder, then fumbled it for a single. He responded by catching Lane Hoover looking at a top-of-the-zone fastball.
ECU tied it at 1 in the sixth when Ryley Johnson singled with runners on first and second. As Carter Cunningham (single) slowed rounding third, Cam Clonch (HBP) rounded second a little too far. Virginia first baseman Ethan Anderson cut off the throw coming in from right and fired to shortstop Griff O’Ferrall at second. Cunningham broke for home, and it appeared O’Ferrall couldn’t get a grip on the ball and turned his attention to Clonch running to third. Clonch turned back to second and made it back safely. Parker got a pop out to end the inning.
Pirates reliever Danny Beal, mixing arm angles and speeds, tied Virginia up a bit before Ethan O’Donnell opened the seventh with a walk and stolen base. He advanced to third on a cue-ball roller to third. With two outs, Anderson was jammed by ECU’s Carter Spivey on a ball to right that fell for a single and a 2-1 lead.
“Maybe I didn’t barrel exactly how I wanted to, but I stayed inside of it, and it just happened to find grass,” Anderson said.
With a bevy of left-handed hitters in the ECU lineup, Virginia called on 6-10 lefty Jake Berry to close for Parker. Berry struck out two in the eighth before retiring the side – the last out a long fly to right center by Berini – to secure the win.
East Carolina will meet Oklahoma Sunday afternoon in an elimination game. The winner advances to face Virginia at 6 p.m. Sunday night.
Extra Bases…
- A record-crowd of 5,919 enjoyed a terrific game at Disharoon Park. It got plenty loud with cheers of U-V-A with the Cavaliers’ first run. As expected, the Pirates had plenty of supporters. They answered with an E-C-U when the Pirates scored their first run.
- The Cavaliers had nine hits, with six starters contributing at least one. Right fielder Casey Saucke went 3 for 4 in the 6-hole, and Anthony Stephan added two hits in the 7-hole. Right after Anderson gave the Cavaliers a 2-1 lead with two outs in the seventh, Saucke singled to put more pressure on ECU. Stephan flied out deep in center as Spivey escaped further damage.
- Virginia’s O’Ferrall and Teel are in a race for 100… 100 hits in a season that is. That’s the school record set by Phil Gosselin in 2010. O’Ferrall singled to start the game for No. 96, and Teel reached 97 with his RBI single in the third.
- The Cavaliers were aggressive against Saylor, the Pirates’ starter. Of the 19 at-bats off the righthander, 13 balls were put in play in two or less pitchers. If you include a sacrifice bunt, it was 14 for 20. Saylor threw 52 pitches (38 strikes) in 4.1 innings.
- Beal, ECU’s first reliever, had only walked nine batters in 50-plus innings, but walked three in two innings. He walked two in a row in the fifth but sandwiched those walks with a strikeout of Gelof and Saucke. Both of the Cavaliers’ hits off him, including Anderson’s game-winner, were jam-jobs. His mix of arm angles and change of speeds was impressive.
- ECU’s center fielders – Lane Hoover and Ryley Johnson – were busy, combining to make six catches. Most of them were chased down on or near the warning track.
- Berry (Virginia reliever) and Spivey (East Carolina) are products of the WCAC in Northern Virginia/Washington, D.C./Southern Maryland. Berry pitched at Bishop O’Connell, and Spivey pitched at Paul VI.