University of Virginia Library

Three Homers Sink Spiders

Diamondmen Win 6-5

By Davis Marshall
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photos By Mike Crossley

Dan Merchak Picked Up Win In Relief Of Starter Steve Brindle

11-8-1 Cavaliers Have Four Home, 3 ACC, Games This Weekend

Steve 'Bear' Bryant's eighth
inning home run, his second of
the afternoon, propelled
Virginia's baseball team to a
5-4 victory over visiting
Richmond yesterday. The
blast, a line drive shot that
landed in the sawdust of the
pole vault pit, came with one
man on and the score 4-3,
Richmond.

Reliefer Dan Merchak checked
the Spiders in the ninth, despite a
Cavalier error, to boost Virginia's
record to 11-8-1 and his own to 2-1.

Virginia fell behind early as the
Spiders capitalized on a hit batter, a
single and two sacrifices to tally
once in the second frame. Then the
Spiders pleased their three rooters
in the stands even more by scoring
two runs in the top of the fourth.
Roger Hatcher started the ball
rolling by slicing a single to right
field. Then, following a fielder's
choice, Bob Bushkar — twin
brother of UR basketball star Phil
Bushkar — slammed a home run
over the right field fence to push
the deficit to three. However, a
strikeout provided out number
three and bailed starter Steve
Brindle out of trouble.

The Cavaliers finally reached
Spider starter Richard Bing in the
bottom half of the frame. Second
baseman Bill Hall was safe at first
when Richmond's second sacker
fumbled Hall's broken bat
grounder. Bear Bryant followed
with Virginia's initial hit, a two run
'pop fly' homer about 330 feet in
right field. Then Mike Cubbage
stroked Bing's next pitch about 30
yards past the right field fence for
his third homer of the season.

Wah-Hoo-Wah!!!

Obviously rattled by the
wah-hoo-wah crowd Bing needed a
conference with his catcher. But it
did little good as third baseman
Dave Bratt, the next batter,
punched a pitch down the
right-center alley for a double. But
Bratt, who also plays on the
gridiron, strayed too far from the
bag and Bing picked him off to kill
the rally and end the inning.

Then both Bing and Brindle
settled down until the seventh
when the Spiders broke through for
their final run. After surrendering
two singles, one on a hit and run,
Coach Jim West yanked Brindle in
favor of freshman Brian Hilburn.
But the Spiders scored anyway, on
a nice suicide squeeze play by Steve
Kennedy. After a wild pitch and a
few foul homers Hilburn escaped
the inning by inducing Bruce
Wright to line out to Bratt.

Bing and new reefer Dan
Merchak then traded 1-2-3 and
1-2-3-4 innings before the Cavaliers
struck again. Terry Dan was the
first to reach base as he stretched a
single into a double when the
rightfielder missed on a diving
catch. Then Bryant connected for
his second homer to doom the
unlucky 5-10 Spiders to still
another loss.

With two hits in four trips
Bryant elevated his average, third in
the ACC, to an even .400. The four
RBI raised his total to 22, just four
off Virginia's season record and one
under Tony Perez's 23. He also is
tied for the team lead in doubles -
five - with Cubbage, which is just
two off the school record. Cubbage
is also tied with Mike Massimini for
the number two team batting
average, .310, while Bratt is fourth
at .297.

Virginia is home this weekend
for four games. On Friday Wake
Forest, last in the league, comes to
town. The Saturday twin-bill
features Duke, whose star hurler is
football All-American Leo Hart,
and Sunday's opposition is
provided by Southern Conference
Independent George Washington.

Jim West's Baseball Team Knocked Off Richmond's Hapless Spiders 6-5 Yesterday At Lambeth

A Pair Of Two-Run Homeruns By Bear Bryant And A Solo Blast By Mike Cubbage Led Offense