Early Runs Lead to Virginia Win over Radford

April 11, 2018

Final Stats

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (19-14) registered its fourth win it the last five games after a 12-4 win over Radford (12-20) in midweek action at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers improved to 15-5 at home this season.

Virginia scored five runs in the bottom of the second inning, opened up a 6-1 advantage and never looked back. Freshman Tanner Morris (Crozet, Va.) scored three times and collected the first four-hit game of his career. Classmate Alex Tappen (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) blasted a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning to give the Cavaliers an eight-run advantage.

Junior Andy Weber (Aurora, Ohio) quickly erased Radford’s 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo home run, his third long ball of the season. He finished the night, 2-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Weber came into the game tied for the ACC lead in hits and has now reached base safely in 19-straight games.

“Overall, I thought that was a great midweek win for us,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “I thought we were pretty good on the mound, we ran five different pitchers out there that all did a nice job and offensively we were really opportunistic.”

Relievers Noah Murdock (Colonial Heights, Va.), Riley Wilson (Midlothian, Va.), Kyle Whitten (Manassas, Va.) and Blake Rohm (Superior, Colo.) combined to allow two runs over the final five innings of the ball game. Wilson worked himself out of a pair of jams in the sixth and seventh while striking out four batters. In his only inning, Whitten struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth.

The Cavaliers matched a season-high with 16 hits in the contest. Virginia’s starting lineup featured five players with multi-hit efforts and all nine starters registered a hit for the first time this season.

Virginia will continue its home stand this weekend with a three-game series against North Carolina. The series opener is slated for Friday night at 6 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network Extra.

Additional Notes
– Tappen’s grand slam was the first by a Cavalier this season and the first since Cameron Simmons belted one against Miami on May 13, 2017.
– Virginia improved to 20-4-1 all-time against Radford in only the second meeting since 2013.
– Freshman Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Va.) kicked off the five-run, second inning with his fourth extra base hit in the last four games, a double that scored Nate Eikhoff (Bristow, Va.) and Charlie Cody (Chesapeake, Va.). Rivoli was 2-for-4 on the night.
– The appearance by Murdock on the mound was his first of the season.
– With a double in the fourth inning, Caleb Knight (Checotah, Okla.) extended his reached base streak to 13 games.
– Virginia improved to 8-3 against teams from the commonwealth this season.