The Cavalier daily. :: Tuesday, May 20, 1969 :: University of Virginia Library

Rick Spigone, the workhorse of
the Cavalier baseball team, put the
wraps on a highly successful season
Friday afternoon by shutting out
the Clemson Tigers, 2-0.

Spigone scattered eight hits,
fanned nine, and only issued one
walk, as he held command of the
Tigers from the outset.

Coach Jim West's men wasted
no time in jumping on Clemson
starter Allen Demarest. Captain Joe
DeBoe led off the first inning with
a base hit to center. After Buzzie
Shultz drew a base on balls,
centerfielder Steve Bryant singled
to fill the bases, sending the hapless
Demarest to test the plumbing of
old Lambeth Field.

Mike Cubbage then got a walk
off reliever Tom Huggins to force in
one run, and with one out, Lou
Paulson beat out an attempted
double play to drive in another.
The two runs were all the cushion
that Spigone needed, and the big
righthander coasted to his seventh
win in eleven decisions.

The win gives the Cavaliers an
overall record of 19-14, the
winningest season for a Virginia
baseball team within anyone's
memory. Perhaps the highlight of
the season came when Spigone shut
out the Gobblers of VPI to give
the Cavaliers a long-awaited Big
Five Championship.

The team was led in the pitching
department by Spigone, who
finished 7-4, and Eddie Kihm, who
compiled a 4-2 record along with a
microscopic 1.88 ERA. The hitters
were topped by Bryant and first
yearman Robin Marvin with
averages of .319 and .327,
respectively.

The prospects for next year are
bright, for the team is losing only
four players through graduation.
The entire pitching staff returns,
along with an abundance of good
young hitters, and hopes are high
that they will get the 20 win season
that eluded the team this year.