WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — After the sixth inning, the water cooler in Virginia’s dugout had to be re-filled. It had already been well over three hours into an intensely hot afternoon.
UVa and Wake Forest played four hours and 50 minutes of baseball on Saturday afternoon — surpassing the longest nine-inning game in the history of Virginia baseball. The record was actually surpassed in the eighth inning.
The importance of Sunday’s game was minimal. The 18-12 loss settles the Cavaliers into the No. 11 seed in the ACC Tournament.
It was a bullpen day for both teams, and neither bullpen acquitted themselves well. Virginia starter Bobby Nicholson pitched one-plus innings and allowed five runs before being pulled, but seven Cavaliers pitchers allowed runs.
Wake Forest popped five homers. Virginia hit two of its own. The two teams combined for 33 hits, the most in any UVa game this season. There were a total of 399 pitches thrown.
Perhaps the highlight of the day was, again, Jack Weiller. He entered the ninth inning of Friday night’s game with a .130 batting average, zero home runs and zero RBI.
Three at-bats later, the scope of his season and Virginia career would change. Weiller blasted three home runs, drove in seven runs and raised his batting average more than 100 points. He came up again in the eighth and blasted a double off the wall.
But for as fun as Weiller’s story has become and for as good as the offense was, Virginia’s pitching was the worst it had been in a game this season. Mack Meyer gave up two runs in an inning of work. Evan Sperling gave up one run in two innings. Riley Wilson allowed two runs while recording two outs. Griff McGarry allowed two runs in two outs. Kyle Whitten and Bennett Sousa also allowed runs.
Wake Forest scored three runs on four hits in the first inning, started by a rocket home run off the light post beyond left field from Jake Mueller. It was only the beginning.
The Cavaliers scored three runs in the top of the second to tie the game, punctuated by a two-RBI double in the gap by Jake McCarthy. D.J. Poteet came back with a two-run homer in the bottom of the inning before the Cavaliers could record an out. It was only of two two-run homers that inning — the other from Chris Lanzilli.
Virginia left the bases loaded in the fourth, and left two runners on in the fifth inning. They were five of 13 total runners left on base as early afternoon transition to evening.
Down 10-4 entering the sixth inning, Andy Weber started the inning with his team-leading fifth home run. With runners on second and third and one out, Weiller was sent up to pinch-hit and clocked his third homer in the past 17 hours well beyond the right-field fence.
Bobby Seymour immediately came back with a two-run homer to make it 12-9. For as good as UVa’s offense was on the afternoon, their pitching was that much more atrocious.
It was a full-roster effort for the Cavaliers — for better or for worse. It seemed that every pitcher that Brian O’Connor sent into the game couldn’t get an out. Then again, all but one Cavaliers batter recorded a hit. Each run by one team was always met with another.
But the final run — if that’s what you want to call it — was too much to overcome. UVa pitchers walked or hit six straight batters and threw two wild pitches and a passed ball without recording an out in the eighth inning.
One of worst-pitched games, and one of the worst regular seasons in Virginia’s recent history came to a not-so-merciful ending.