Connecticut upsets Virginia Tech baseball in NCAA regional
The top-seeded Hokies left 12 men on base and committed two errors in the 5-2 loss.
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. WOYM: Fewer stinkbugs? You may have wasps to thank
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
Saturday, June 1, 2013
BLACKSBURG — So much for home-field advantage.
Hosting an NCAA regional for the first time, the Virginia Tech baseball team left 12 men on base and fell to Connecticut 5-2 on Friday in front of 3,566 fans at English Field.
“We didn’t capitalize when we should’ve,” said Tyler Horan, a second-team All-American who flied out with the bases loaded in the seventh.
“We have a great team. We’ve been hitting the ball well. So [the loss] is a shocker.”
It was Virginia Tech’s opening game in the four-team, double-elimination regional. Tech (38-21), ranked 16th nationally by Baseball America, is the top seed in this foursome.
In last weekend’s ACC tournament title game, Tech left seven men on base and lost to North Carolina 4-1.
The Hokies struggled in the clutch again on Friday. They were 2-of-17 with men on base, including 1-of-10 with runners in scoring position.
“We left too many guys on base,” coach Pete Hughes said.
“We kind of thrive in these big moments,” UConn reliever David Mahoney said of his team’s pitchers. “We didn’t really let the media or the crowd or any of that really faze us.”
This is only the second time all season that Tech has been held to a total of three runs in back-to-back games.
Tech will now have to go 4-0 to win this regional.
“We just made our life a little more difficult in this tournament,” Hughes said. “We had a great crowd out there tonight and didn’t take advantage.”
The Hokies will face third-seeded Coastal Carolina (37-22) in an elimination game at 1 p.m. today.
“We can’t let this one get to us, even though we lost to one of the lower seeds, because we’ve got to come back and play Coastal,” Horan said.
UConn (35-26), the fourth seed in this regional, led 4-0 midway through the fifth inning.
“We’ve been in that position where we’ve hosted a regional. The first night, it’s tough,” UConn coach Jim Penders said. “It’s almost like there’s more pressure on the home team in the first game.
“Our guys just had a little bit more fun tonight. You could say, ‘Well, you scored more runs than they did,’ but I thought the fun came first. They played loose.”
The Huskies are used to thriving as an underdog. They won the Big East tournament as the eighth seed.
“The confidence from the Big East tournament helped us out,” said UConn’s Bobby Melley, who had an RBI single. “The dugout having a lot of looseness and a lot of energy just helped this team a lot.”
UConn banged out 16 hits, all singles.
Tech starter Joe Mantiply (6-1) allowed four runs (one earned) and 10 hits in 4 2⁄ 3 innings.
“[There were] a couple bad breaks, and I really got caught up, let my emotions get the best of me,” he said.
Carson Cross (9-4) got the win for UConn, allowing one earned run in 6 1⁄ 3 innings.
Down 1-0, the Hokies had runners on first and second in the fourth. But Cross struck out Andrew Rash and Chad Morgan to end the inning.
Helped by two Tech errors, the Huskies scored three runs in the top of the fifth to extend their lead to 4-0.
Tom Verdi reached base on a fielding error by Rash, who was making his first career start at third base. Rash is usually an outfielder or designated hitter, but Brandon Hayden committed three errors at third base in the ACC final.
UConn’s LJ Mazzilli, the son of former New York Mets standout Lee Mazzilli, and Melley each had an RBI single later in the inning.
The Huskies scored their final run of the inning on an error by catcher Morgan, who made a bad throw back to the mound after a pitch by Mantiply. But the pitcher said it was his fault.
“I took my glove off for a second,” Mantiply said. “Chad saw me trying to get my glove back on and he just kind of short-hopped the throw and it just got by me.”
Down 4-1, the Hokies loaded the bases in the seventh. But Mahoney retired Horan on a flyball to right to end the inning.
Tech scored a run on an error in the ninth to cut the lead to 5-2. But Alex Perez was thrown out trying to advance to third on the play.
The Hokies later had men on first and second, but Horan grounded out and Mark Zagunis struck out to end the game.
Melley had four hits for UConn. Kyle Wernicki had two hits and scored two runs for Tech.
Tech also lost its opener the last time it made the NCAAs, in 2010. The Hokies bounced back to win two games in the losers’ bracket before falling to host South Carolina in the regional final.
Connecticut 010 030 001 — 5 16 1
Virginia Tech 000 010 001 — 2 9 2
Cross, Mahoney (7), Feehan (8), Butler (8) and McDowell; Mantiply, Joyce (5), Labitan (9) and Morgan. W— Cross (9-4). L— Mantiply (6-1). Sv— Butler (5).
1. 41-vehicle wreck ties up traffic Sunday on I-81 in Rockbridge County
2. Virginia Tech football roster has holes on picture day
3. Medicare penalties hit hospitals in Roanoke, New River Valleys
4. Arrest made in case of missing Nelson County teen
5. McFarling: 2 little numbers are a big hurdle for Virginia Tech football
6. Microfestivus beer event gets downtown Roanoke hopping
7. DAN CASEY: Copter cost still stirring up dust
8. WOYM: Fewer stinkbugs? You may have wasps to thank
9. Virginia attorney general's office grows under Ken Cuccinelli
10. Roanoke farmers markets making local foods more accessible
THE ROANOKE TIMES
