University of Virginia Library

William & Mary Wins In Ninth

Cavalier Misfortunes Continue

By Tom Sanson
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Misery is being ahead 4-3 with
two outs in the bottom of the ninth
only to lose 7-4. The Cavaliers
turned in another one of their
seemingly endless line of Metlike
performances, as they punted the
game to William & Mary yesterday
at Lambeth Field, the site of
this bizarre spectacle.

The first inning was an affair
that every Laurel and Hardy fan
truly enjoyed. Starting pitcher Stan
Owens like all Virginia hurlers of
late was extremely wild. The first
two Indian batters reached base
on walks, and a sacrifice moved
them to second and third when
catcher Kalvin Moore had to settle
for throwing out the batter, as
he fell down fielding the bunt.

A single brought home two runs.
The next batter walked with the
fourth pitch being a wild one. The
runner who had singled could have
scored, had he been allowed more
than one base, for Moore managed
to throw the ball into left field.

Now with runners on first and
second, Owen induced the next
hitter to ground to short. Dickie
Hopkins fielded the ball and looked
to force the man at third, only to
find himself staring at an empty
bag. On the very next pitch, the
Indian runner on first broke for
second and slid in safely when
Moore could not find the handle.
Somehow the Cavaliers got out
of the inning.

In the fourth with two out,
Owen walked two consecutive batters.
The first runner reached third
on a wild pitch. William & Mary
coach Les Hooker then signaled
for a double steal. Moore threw
down to Hopkins at second who

fired it back to the plate too late
to catch the man breaking from
third. Thus Virginia found itself
in the ludicrous situation of having
given their opponents one hit
through six innings, yet behind 3-1.

Fortunately for Virginia, third
baseman Dave Counts decided to
hit a three run homer in the bottom
of that frame to move the Cavaliers
into a 4-3 lead. The spars
crowd smelled victory as the "contest"
moved into the top of the
ninth, and the first batter was retired
by Virginia's second pitcher
of the day, David Greer.

Then came the O. Henry finish.
The Indians second hitter was safe
on an error and then moved to
second on a fielder's choice. Now
with two outs the Indians' batter
hit a hard grounder that bounced
over Counts head into short left
field.

Bubba White overran the ball,
the hitter went to second, and the
game was tied. A single to left
put men on first and third still
with two down. An error by Counts
however, made it 5-4, and a
moment later an infield single loaded
the bases. A two run double
to left sealed Virginia's doom.

In mulling over the statistics of
this nightmarish game several factors
that contributed to the Virginia
loss were discovered. The
Cavalier nine had two errors, two
wild pitches, four stolen bases, and
nine walks charged against them.