HATTIESBURG, Miss. \u2013 The Virginia baseball team (36-22) was downed 15-7 by the Jacksonville State Gamecocks (47-13) on Friday night (May 29) in an opening round game of the NCAA Hattiesburg Regional at Pete Taylor Field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Gamecocks plated nine runs in the game before Virginia scratched across its first two runs in the bottom of the fifth. UVA pulled within striking range at 10-5 after innings before Jacksonville State scored five of the final seven runs to advance to the winner\u2019s bracket.<\/p>\n
Joe Tiroly<\/a> led the Virginia offense on Friday by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs and a home run. The Cavalier trio of Jake Weatherspoon<\/a>, AJ Gracia<\/a> and RJ Holmes<\/a> each collected multi-hit games in the regional opener.<\/p>\n UVA starter Henry Zatkowski<\/a> was tagged with the loss after surrendering seven runs in 4.1 innings of work.\u00a0<\/p>\n HOW IT HAPPENED <\/p>\n Jacksonville State struck first in the top of the second with a two-run home run off the bat of Cooper Blauser that landed over the wall in right-center. ADDITIONAL NOTES <\/p>\n Virginia falls to 72-50 all-time in NCAA Tournament games. UP NEXT<\/p>\n
\nThe Gamecocks capitalized on a pair of fielding errors and scratched across two more runs to lead 4-0 after the opening three frames.
\nIn the top of the fifth, Jacksonville State took control of the game with a five-run outburst that was capped off with an RBI triple down the line in right.
\nHolmes opened the home half of the inning with a double to right center and became UVA\u2019s first run two batters later on a Tiroly base knock. Gracia scampered home on a Weatherspoon sacrifice fly to cap off the two-run inning for Virginia.
\nJacksonville State tacked on a run in the top of the sixth with an RBI double that extended its lead to 10-2.
\nFollowing back-to-back doubles from Holmes and Gracia that made it a 10-3 contest, Tiroly crushed a 0-2 pitch off the scoreboard in left field to bring Virginia back to within striking distance at 10-5. The two-run mammoth shot was Tiroly\u2019s 15th long ball of the season.
\nThe Gamecocks added three more runs before the seventh-inning stretch to make it a 13-5 ballgame.
\nTiroly collected his third RBI of the evening in the bottom of the eighth with a double that drove in Holmes. One at-bat later, Harrison Didawick<\/a> drove in Tiroly with a base hit down the line in right.
\nJacksonville State plated its final two runs in the ninth with a two-run home run off the bat of Caleb Johnson to make it a 15-7 final. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nFriday\u2019s contest was the first meeting between UVA and Jacksonville State.
\nHarrison Didawick<\/a>\u2019s RBI in the eighth inning was the 182nd of his career, which ties him with Steven Proscia (2009-11) for second all-time.
\nWith his 3-for-4 performance on Friday, Joe Tiroly<\/a> is batting .386 (44-for-114) with 12 home runs and 33 RBIs.
\nJake Weatherspoon<\/a> extended his team-high reached base streak to 13 games with his single in the second inning.
\nEric Becker<\/a> exited the game in the top of the fourth after being hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the first. <\/p>\n