Philadelphia, PA – Over in the Charlottesville Regional of the 2013 NCAA Tournament, top-seed and host Virginia held off an upset-minded Army squad, 2-1, to move a step closer to capturing the regional.
Joe McCarthy was a perfect 3-for-3 in the contest and knocked in the winning run in the fifth inning while Kenny Towns had a double and a triple in four at bats for Virginia (48-10). Brandon Waddell allowed just one run and struck out eight batters in seven innings to grab the win while Kyle Crockett pitched a pair of shutout innings for the save.
For Army (29-22) Grant Van Orden's RBI single in the fifth inning accounted for the team's only run and was one of just five hits. Chris Rowley pitched a solid seven innings but took the loss by allowing both of the Cavaliers' runs.
In the second game of the regional the third-seed Elon Phoenix scored eight runs in the final four innings to pull out a 10-7 win over the second-seed UNC-Wilmington Seahawks.
The scoring barrage for the Phoenix (33-28) began in the sixth inning when Antonio Alvarez smacked a three-run double and Wil Leathers followed that with a two-run home run. The Phoenix would then add a run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth to pull away for the win. Andrew MacDonald tossed 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
Terence Connelly went 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored for UNC- Wilmington (37-22) while Mat Batts allowed seven earned runs over six innings to take the loss.
On Saturday Army and UNC-Wilmington will meet up in the loser's bracket while Elon and Virginia will play later in the day in the winner's bracket. The winner of the Army/UNC-Wilmington contest will face the loser between Elon and Virginia on Sunday for a spot in the regional final. The loser of the Army/UNC-Wilmington contest on Saturday will be eliminated from the tournament.
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