WISE - - Sophomore Greg Duncan pitched a complete game three-hitter in UVa-Wise's 3-1 win in the opener before junior Kellen Larkin recorded a pair of outs with the bases loaded to propel the Cavaliers to a 7-6 win in the finale as Hank Banner's club swept Glenville State College at Stallard Field Friday.
After a three-up, three-down top of the first, Duncan faced trouble in the second inning when Anthony Jarvis led off the frame with a double. When Christian Hedinger's ground out moved Jarvis up 90 feet, the right-handed hurler went to work by striking out Tyler Phillips and getting Shane Talvacchio to ground out to end the threat.
UVa-Wise (12-16, 9-5 MEC) would reward the effort in the home half of the inning with four consecutive two out hits. Sophomore Matthew Branham started the hit parade with a hustle double before scoring on Jordon Turner's RBI single through the right side. A batter later, Josh Haga made the score 2-0 with a run-scoring hit to left field. Brett Yates plated the third run of the inning when he doubled to deep centerfield.
It would be all Duncan would need as he retired seven consecutive hitters before allowing a leadoff hit to begin the fifth. Again, he worked out of trouble by inducing a ground ball to second and fly ball to center to end the threat.
While Duncan was hanging zeros, his counterpart Andrue Hughart was having a fine pitching performance of his own.
The Glenville State (9-18, 6-8 MEC) hurler allowed just one hit over the remainder of the game as he struck out four and walked one in an 84-pitch effort.
His offense mustered just one run off Duncan, a solo homer off the bat of Jarvis in the seventh that provided the final margin of 3-1.
Duncan struck out four as he pitched his third consecutive complete game to improve to 4-2 on the season.
Branham was 2-for-2 with a run scored to join Jarvis as the only players in the game with multiple hits.
Game two provided more offense and it did so quickly as the Pioneers touched up Cavs' starter RJ Vanvickle for a pair of runs in the first inning thanks to a two-run single by John Peloro.
UVa-Wise took advantage of three Glenville State mistakes to take the lead in the third inning. Stuart Paz scored on a wild pitch to give his team its first run of the game before the Pioneers made two errors on one play allowing two more runs to score, making a 3-2 contest.
Junior Brock Smith then stepped to the plate and hammered a two-run home run to left field to cap a five-run third.
Glenville State would be on the cusp of regaining the lead for much of the remainder of the game. The Pioneers would score a run on an infield hit by Trevon Smith in the fourth and have the bases loaded with one out only to see Jimmy Vanosdale work out of a jam with an inning ending 4-6-3 double play.
In the home half of the inning, a third Glenville State error allowed two more UVa-Wise runs to score making it a 7-3 game heading to the fifth.
Carter Boswell would cut the lead in half with a two-out, two-RBI double to score Hedinger and Jarvis but again, the Pioneers would leave a runner stranded as Vanosdale would get a lineout from Logan Henderson to end the threat.
The score would remain unchanged until the seventh inning. After retiring the final batter in the sixth frame, senior Matthew Wilkinson was on the mound in search of his third save of the year. The inning began with a bad hop as shortstop Jordon Turner would be unable to field a ball off the bat of Hedinger.
After recording an out on a pop up, Wilkinson would lose command of the strike zone as he walked Boswell before hitting Henderson to load the bases.
Bryan Bayliss would then work a bases loaded walk to make it a 7-6 game with still just one out in the inning.
At that point, Banner went back to the bullpen and summoned the right-handed throwing Larkin. The junior would get an out on the first pitch he delivered as Smith would foul to third before Braniff grounded back to the pitcher on an 0-2 pitch to end the game.
Vanosdale was credited with the win, the freshman allowed two runs in 2 1/3 innings of relief to run his record to 2-1 on the year. Larkin picked up his first save by collecting the final two outs.
Glenville State outhit UVa-Wise 12-to-6 in the loss as Smith was 3-for-4 and Braniff, Peloro and Boswell had two hits each.
The Cavs have now won four consecutive games at Stallard Filed and the 9-5 mark in Mountain East Conference play is the best start for the school since joining the league.
The series is scheduled to conclude tomorrow, please check www.uvawisecavs.com for schedule updates.
