/
.
Baseball
Virginia Travels to No. 15 North Carolina for ACC Road Series
Watch | Listen | Live Stats | UVA Game Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA. – Virginia (25-18, 9-12 ACC) will continue its Atlantic Coast Conference slate with a three-game series against No. 15 North Carolina (31-11, 13-8 ACC) beginning Friday. All three games will be carried live on ACC Network Extra.
GAME COVERAGE: ACC Network is available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. Friday and Sunday’s games can be heard locally in Charlottesville on WINA 1070 AM/98.9 FM and anywhere on WINA.com. An audio broadcast of Saturday’s game will available exclusively on VirginiaSports.com. Links to all broadcasts as well as live stats are also available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can follow @UVABaseball on twitter for in-game updates and the latest game information.
Probable Pitching Matchups
Friday – 6 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Noah Murdock (2-4, 5.02 ERA, 57.1 IP, 22 BB, 53 SO)
North Carolina: RHP Tyler Baum (7-2, 3.49 ERA, 56.2 IP, 18 BB, 65 SO)
Saturday – 3 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Griff McGarry (3-5, 3.67 ERA, 49.0 IP, 44 BB, 59 SO)
North Carolina: RHP Austin Bergner (4-0, 5.07 ERA, 55.0 IP, 18 BB, 55 SO)
Sunday – 1 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Mike Vasil (1-4, 6.09 ERA, 44.1 IP, 18 BB, 33 SO)
North Carolina: LHP Will Sandy (2-0, 6.42 ERA, 33.2 IP, 23 BB, 28 SO)
Leading Off
• Virginia will play its first road game since April 9 and is 5-6 in true road games this season.
• North Carolina will be Virginia’s fourth ranked opponent this season. The Cavaliers are 1-5 against ranked foes in 2019 after going 2-6 last season.
• The Tar Heels were picked to finish first in the Coastal Division in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll while Virginia came in tied for 2nd with Duke.
• Friday will be the 297th meeting between North Carolina and Virginia. North Carolina is Virginia’s most played opponent; NC State is the only other school the Cavaliers have played 200 games against.
• Virginia has won three or more consecutive games coming into the weekend three times this season, twice in the month of April.
Midweek Recap
• Virginia recorded midweek wins over Liberty (6-3) and James Madison (4-3) on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively. It marked the ninth-straight games against a non-conference opponent.
• The Cavaliers played two midweek games for the fourth time and final time this season. Virginia went 8-0 in those contests.
• A five-run fifth inning lifted Virginia to a 6-3 win over Liberty on Wednesday. It was the 12th time the Cavaliers had scored five or more runs in a single inning.
• Three pitchers combined for a three-hitter in a 2-1 victory over James Madison on Wednesday, completing the season sweep. The Dukes scored on a safety squeeze play and had only an infield single up until the eighth inning.
• Virginia was limited to just four hits in Wednesday’s win over James Madison. It was the fewest hits in a win since May 1, 2018 against VCU when three hits was enough in a 2-0 win.
Pitching & Defense
• Virginia comes into the weekend with a .980 fielding percentage, the 13th highest in the country. The Cavaliers have committed two errors in their last 10 games.
• Over the last three games, Virginia pitchers have allowed six earned runs. In that span, the Cavalier arms have amassed 30 strikeouts and issued 15 walks in 27 innings pitched.
• Saturday’s starting pitcher, Griff McGarry is currently ranked 11th in the ACC in ERA (3.71) and opponents are hitting .210 off him, the seventh lowest in the league.
• Friday night’s starting pitcher Noah Murdock has logged a career-high 57.1 innings pitched, the fifth most in the ACC. He is 13 strikeouts away from 100 for his career.
• With two saves in the midweek, righthander Kyle Whitten moved into third place on the ACC saves list.
Player Notes
• Catcher Logan Michaels holds the team’s longest reached base streak at 10 games. He’s the sixth Cavalier to hold a reached base streak of 10 or more games in 2019.
• Zack Gelof has hit safely in seven-straight games. He has a hit in all 35 of his 43 games played.
• Tanner Morris enters the weekend ranked tops in the ACC and tied for third in the country with 20 doubles. He is three two-baggers away from matching the Virginia single-season record of 23 set by Stephen Bruno (2012) and Dan Street (2002).
• As a first year, Nic Kent leads the Cavaliers with 35 RBI and nine multi-RBI games. A freshman has not led the Cavaliers in RBI since Jon Benick in 1999.
• Sophomore Devin Ortiz pitched improved to 3-0 on the season after tossing 4.1 innings of perfect relief on Wednesday against James Madison. He retired all 13 batters he faced while matching a career-high with five strikeouts.