Box Score (PDF)
 
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The baseball team held the lead against the nation's No. 1 team for seven innings Sunday, but Virginia rallied for four unearned runs in the eighth inning before plating the walk-off winner in the ninth for a 5-4 victory at Griffith Field.
 
Senior Brian McAfee was spectacular in his start for the Big Red, never allowing any Virginia baserunners past second in seven innings of work. He struck out seven without issuing any walks, becoming the first starting pitcher to keep Virginia (10-0) off the board this season.
 
Meanwhile, the Big Red built a 2-0 lead after seven innings. Senior Dan Morris was 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot, kicking off the game with a double to right-center. He moved to third as junior Jordan Winawer reached first on an error, then Morris scored when Spencer Scorza grounded into a double play.
 
Cornell (1-5) doubled its lead in the fifth inning. Junior Eliot Lowell led off with a walk, then Morris followed with an infield single — his second of the day. A groundout pushed both runners into scoring position, then Lowell scored on a wild pitch.
 
But as the huge upset neared completion, things started to unravel for the Big Red in the eighth inning after McAfee took his exit. The leadoff hitter reached on a fielding error, then came around to score on a one-out double. A dropped foul ball helped prolong the inning, and the Cavaliers went on to take a 4-2 lead — all on unearned runs.
 
Cornell wouldn't fold. Freshman pinch hitter Dale Wickham led off the ninth by reaching on a dropped pop-up. Sophomore Jamie Smith came to the plate as a pinch hitter with one out, and he blasted a two-run home run to right field to tie the game at 4. It was Smith's first collegiate homer, and the Big Red's first of the 2015 season.
 
Virginia then won on a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded in the ninth. The leadoff hitter walked, and the Big Red couldn't record an out on two subsequent bunts.
 
Cornell is idle next weekend before a four-game trip March 13-15 to the RussMatt Invitational in Central Florida. The Big Red will take on LIU-Brooklyn, Maine, Bowling Green and Huntington on the trip.