WISE - - The old baseball adage "good pitching stops good hitting" was never truer than on Saturday as UVa-Wise hurlers Greg Duncan and RJ Vanvickle tossed complete games as the Cavaliers swept Mountain East Conference Northern Division leader Shepherd University. Duncan struck out a career-high seven hitters as the sophomore aided his team to a 3-1 win in the opener before freshman Vanvickle surrendered just three hits in a 6-2 win in the series finale.
The day started with former All-American and recent UVa-Wise Hall of Fame inductee Brad Robbins throwing out a ceremonial first pitch. Having the former slugger in attendance proved to be a good omen for Hank Banner's crew.
UVa-Wise (10-16, 7-5 MEC) took a 1-0 lead in the home second of game one when redshirt Junior Brett Yates lined a 0-1 pitch to right field scoring Brock Smith.
Two innings later, Josh Haga scored Smith on a sacrifice fly before Jordon Turner scored on a wild pitch to give the hosts a 3-0 advantage.
Shepherd (14-10, 9-3 MEC) got on the board in the top of the fifth when Chase Hoffman stopped a stretch of eight consecutive hitters retired by Duncan when the third baseman deposited a 1-2 pitch over the left field wall.
The Rams would put up a fight in the seventh. After Duncan retired the first two hitters three consecutive hitters would line two-strike singles to load the bases for Brenton Doyle.
Duncan would strikeout the centerfielder on an 0-2 pitch to notch his second consecutive complete game performance and run his record to 3-2 on the year.
Colin Benner (0-4) tossed 5 2/3 innings allowing eight hits and three runs while striking out four for Shepherd.
Nick Atkinson produced three hits while Hoffman and Trenton Burgreen had two hits each in the loss.
Yates and Tyler Blaum lined a pair of hits in the win while Smith went 3-for-3 to begin what would be a big day for the Amissville, Va. product.
Smith would duplicate his game one performance with a 3-for-3 showing in game two. The first baseman gave his club an early lead when his two-out double scored Blaum in the home half of the first inning.
An inning later, the Cavaliers busted the game open. Turner worked a one-out walk before Haga was hit by a pitch. After Yates lined a base hit off Shepherd starter Wes Martin's back, the bases were loaded for Stuart Paz with one man out.
Paz hit a hard grounder to third but the Rams would be unable to turn a double play as an errant relay throw allowed a second run to score, giving UVa-Wise a 3-0 lead.
The extra out proved costly as Blaum blasted a majestic homer over the left field wall to give the Cavs a 5-0 lead after two frames.
The early offense would be more than enough for Vanvickle who would not allow his first of the day until Jarod Carr led off the fifth inning with a base hit.
That inning would be the only scoring inning of the game for Shepherd as a run-scoring groundout by Atkinson and a RBI single by Doyle cut the lead to three at 5-2.
UVa-Wise quickly answered the Shepherd runs with a run of its own. With two men out and Paz at second base, Shepherd elected to pitch to Smith who entered the at bat 5-for-5 on the day. The Potomac State transfer swiftly delivered his sixth hit of the day, plating Paz, pushing the lead to 6-2.
Shepherd would not have another base runner as Vanvickle retired the final seven batters of the game to earn his second complete game victory of the year.
The Fredericksburg, Va. native's final pitching line read seven inning,s three hits, three strikeouts, zero walks and two runs as he improved to 2-3 on the season.
Maritn took the loss for Shepherd as he surrendered six runs on seven hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Paz went 2-for-3 in game two with two runs scored while Blaum also scored a pair of runs in the win.
UVa-Wise will travel to Mars Hill Tuesday in a non-conference game before returning home to face Glenville State College in a four game weekend slate next Saturday and Sunday.
