Funk Pitching and Big Second Game Ending Powers Cavs Baseball Past Berea

March 29, 2006
Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

Berea, KY -- Brock Funk threw a masterful first game and the Highland Cavaliers produced 14 runs in the last four frames to complete the shutout of the Mountaineers. Funk allowed two hits over six innings and Mike Lang drove in four runs for a 9-0 UVa-Wise opening win before exploding in the late innings to complete the sweep of Berea, 15-6.

Funk (4-0) allowed just two hits while striking out five over six innings before Brandon Horton pitched the seventh in the opner. Josh Verts picked up the win in game two by firing a scoreless fifth inning after the offense gained the lead. David Jones posted his ninth save pitching the last frames.

At the plate, Lang had four hits with two doubles and four rbi in the opener. Erik Lemley went 3 for 4 in the latter contest with an impressive six rbi. Nathan Kiser and Wil Childress had a pair of hits in both contests. Jorge Laboy had three singles in game two while Jon Reed had a double and four hits on the day. Edwin Narvaez singled twice in the nightcap.

Feeding off the stellar pitching by Funk and Horton, UVa-Wise (20-5) started the scoring with a single run in the third and two in the fourth for a 3-0 advantage. The Cavs had their big trip to the plate in the fifth. After a sac fly plated the first run, Andrew Anderson, Nathan Kiser and Wil Childress lined singles in a row. Lang followed the three singles with a two-run double to finish the five run inning to make it 8-0. The visitors added one final tally in the sixth for the 9-0 final.

Berea (4-14) started the second affair strongly. The home squad pushed across two scores in the second and four in the third to open a 6-1 lead after three frames.

The Cavs took the game over from that point. UVa-Wise scored a single tally in the fourth before evening the contest in the fifth. Jon Reed lined an rbi single and Childress drove in two on a Berea error before Erik Lemley tied the game, 6-6, with a run-scoring hit.

Reed laced a double to score Jorge Laboy to take the lead, 7-6, in the top of the sixth. The Cavs looked for some insurance runs in the top of the seventh and produced much more. The UVa-Wise offense recorded nine singles including two two rbi hits from Lemley to score eight runs and what would be a 15-6 final.

UVa-Wise returns home on Saturday for a twinbill starting at 12noon against Tennessee Wesleyan and will host West Virginia Tech for a single game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

Game 1
UVa-Wise 001 251 0 9-9-2
Berea 000 000 0 0-3-3

WP: Brock Funk (4-0) C-Matt Hall
Brandon Horton (7th)
LP: Warner C-Hammonds
2B: Mike Lang 2 (W)

Game 2
UVA-Wise 100 141 8 15-20-1
Berea 024 000 0 6-5-1

WP: Josh Verts (3-0) 1 IP C-Erik Lemley
Keith Davis (1st 2.2 IP)
Bates (after Verts, 1.1 IP)
LP: Williams C-Hammonds
SV: David Jones (9) 2 IP
2B: Reed (W)