University of Virginia Library

Sluggers Nip Maine
In Home Premiere

By Dave Marshall
Cavalier Daily Staff Writer

Photo By Mike Erixson

Sophomore Ace Brad Jordan Unleashes Fastball In First Home Game

Cavalier Pitcher Picked Up His First Win As West's Baseballers Edged Maine, 5-4 To Go 5-2

With the count 2-2, the bases
loaded and the team at bat down
by one run in the ninth inning
Cavalier hurler Rick Spigone induced
the Maine batter to punch a
sharp grounder down the third base
line. Mike Cubbage fielded the ball,
stepped on third for the force out
and Virginia had opened its home
season with win number five of the
year.

Before the ninth the Black Bears
had been down by three runs but
had rallied for the 5-4 final score.
With one away, pitcher Dave Greer
walked the New Englanders' cleanup
hitter. The next batter singled
off of Greer, who had held the
Black Bears hitless ever since he had
come on to start the seventh inning.
The senior right hander walked the
next batter but was seemingly out
of trouble when the following
batter smashed a sharp grounder to
short. However, shortstop Mike
Judkins somehow let the ball go
through his legs for a two base
error. Then Coach Jim West
yanked Greer in favor of Spigone
and the junior right hander rapidly
quelled the uprising. After a full
count walk he polished off the
Black Bears on just four pitches,
the second of which was hit to first
baseman Joel DeBoe who hurriedly
sped the ball back to the plate for
the force out. His fourth pitch was
the grounder to Cubbage.

Virginia had built its lead with
single runs in the first three innings
and two in the seventh. Maine
tallied its other runs in the third
and sixth frames.

In the first inning DeBoe led off
with a stinging line drive just out of
reach of the outstretched glove of
Maine's third baseman. After advancing
on a fielder's choice, the
senior first-baseman was driven
home on a line drive single to
shallow center by Cubbage.

Judkins started the ball rolling
in the second frame by
cracking a fastball through the hole
between short and third for a
single. Then Dave Counts, the
catcher who is leading the team
with a .379 batting average, rifled a
single past the third baseman. After
a fielder's choice made Counts the
lead runner, DeBoe slammed a
single past the Black Bear hurler to
drive in the second run. A fly out
to right ended the inning.

Up until this point Brad Jordan
had kept Maine in check by
allowing no runners to reach base.
But the sophomore fireballer ran
into trouble in the third. He walked
the second man he faced and then
allowed his first base hit when
centerfielder Steve Bryant just
missed a sinking line drive. Steve
Morin followed with a solid shot
into the right field power alley,
good for a double and an RBI.

But the Cavaliers scored again
with a run in the third. Freshman
Mike Cubbage powered the ball 370
feet for a triple. He crossed the
plate on a wild pitch.

The Virginia half of the seventh
inning began with a bang when
Bubba White stretched a base hit
into a double, after the Maine
centerfielder missed a diving catch
of his drive. Lou Paulson drew a
walk. The Maine coach thought it
best to change pitchers so he
brought in southpaw Bob Curry to
replace right hander Jim Cameron.
The next batter, Buzzy Schultz,
barely managed to top the ball as it
rolled down the third-base line. The
New Englanders waited and waited
for it to go foul, but it never did as
Schultz was credited with a base hit
and the groundskeeper was credited
with an assist.

Now, with the bases loaded and
none away Counts drew a walk for
an RBI. Curry, utilizing two strikeouts
and a pop-up, finally retired
the side but not before a wild pitch
had sent another runner home.

Neither team mounted another
serious threat until the ninth.