The Virginia Cavaliers (50-9) enter the 2011 NCAA tournament as the overall No. 1 seed. They start off their campaign to head to Omaha with an impressive 6-0 victory over Navy (33-23-1) Friday afternoon in Charlottesville, VA.
Virginia starter Will Roberts throws a complete game shutout, giving up just four hits and striking out an impressive 14 batters. Roberts came into the game on Friday sporting a 10-1 record and a 1.78 ERA. Friday's game showed why Roberts is one of the best pitchers in the country and one of the reasons that Virginia is the No. 1 overall seed.
Roberts only allowed one runner to reach second base all day. That was Navy's leadoff hitter Brandon Beans who had hit a two-out double in the 3rd inning. Roberts got the next batter to fly out to left field and Navy never saw second base again.
Chris Taylor, John Hicks and Danny Hultzen led the offense for the Cavaliers, each having multi-hit games. Taylor went 2-4 with a walk, one run scored and a stolen base from the leadoff position. Hicks went 2-4 with two runs scored, one RBI and started the first-inning two-out rally that led to the two-run inning the Cavaliers took from the onset. It was Hultzen's two-RBI triple in the first inning that scored Hicks and Steven Proscia, who had walked just after Hicks' double. Hultzen finished the game 3-4 with three RBI's to lead the team to their first victory in this NCAA tournament.