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Baseball
Virginia Hosts VCU in Home Finale Tuesday Night
Watch | Listen (WINA) | Live Stats | Ticket Information | Clear Bag Policy | UVA Game Notes
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (29-21) will close out its home regular season slate on Tuesday (May 14) with a non-conference matchup against in-state foe, VCU (36-16). First pitch on ACC Network Extra is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Disharoon Park.
Game Coverage: ACC Network Extra is available to authenticated subscribers of ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app. The contest can be heard live in Charlottesville on WINA 98.9 FM/1070 AM and anywhere on WINA.com. Links to the video and audio broadcasts, as well as live stats, will be available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can follow along with in-game updates on the team’s official twitter account (@UVABaseball).
$2 Tuesday: For the final time this season, Cavalier fans can take advantage of $2 Tuesday where popcorn will be sold throughout the game at Disharoon Park concession stands for just $2.
Ticket Information
Fans can purchase individual game tickets at a discounted rate in advance by going online to VirginiaSports.com/Tickets. For all regular season home games, available reserved single-game tickets can be purchased in advance for $8 online or via mobile devices. Tickets are $10 at the sport-specific ticket office on game day. General admission single-game tickets are $5 in advance and $8 at the sport-specific ticket office locations on game day.
Probable Pitching Matchup
Tuesday
VCU: RHP Justin Sorokowski (3-1, 3.73 ERA, 62.2 IP, 14 BB, 65 SO)
Virginia: RHP Paul Kosanovich (4-0, 3.63 ERA, 22.1 IP, 7 BB, 13 SO)
Leading Off
• Virginia is looking for a season series sweep of VCU after winning 3-2 in at the Diamond on April 30.
• The Cavaliers own a 44-22 advantage in the all-time series against VCU and have won four of the last five meetings.
• Virginia is riding a 10-game win streak against non-conference opponents and is 17-5 against non-ACC schools this season.
• Virginia owns a 10-2 mark against schools from the Commonwealth in 2019.
• At Disharoon Park this season, Virginia is 22-10, the 15th time under Brian O’Connor the Cavaliers have won 20 games at home.
• The Cavaliers are seeking their 30th win of the season, Brian O’Connor has won 30+ games in all but one season as the Virginia head coach.
Last Time Out
• VCU’s Liam Hibbits spoiled a would-be shutout in the ninth inning with a two-run homer to pull the Rams within a run. UVA closer Kyle Whitten induced the final out of the game with a fly out to centerfield for his 9th save of the season.
• Zach Messinger, Devin Ortiz and Andrew Abbott combined for 8.1 innings of three-hit, shutout baseball.
• Freshman Zack Gelof went 3-for-4 and scored two of the three Virginia runs in the contest.
Team Notes
• Virginia moved up to No. 47 in the latest NCAA RPI rankings. When the VCU and Virginia met on April 30th, the Cavaliers sat at 77.
• The victory against Louisville on Sunday clinched a berth into the ACC Tournament with three league games to play.
• The Cavaliers totaled 29 runs in their three-game series with Louisville, the most in any series of the season. The Cardinals came into the weekend with the ACC’s top team earned run average.
• Virginia is ranked third in the ACC in batting (.293) and fielding percentage (.978).
• As a team, the Cavaliers have struck out 323 times, the fewest of any team in the ACC. Among power five schools, only TCU (321 – 46 games), Mississippi St. (315 – 49 games) and Baylor (278 – 41 games) have fewer total strikeouts.
• The Cavaliers stole eight bases in the Louisville series, including a season-high four in the series clinching win on Saturday (May 11). The four stolen bases in the contest were the most in a conference game since swiping six at Virginia Tech on April 19, 2017.
Player Notes
• Cameron Simmons became the third player on the team to enter the double-digit stolen base club on Friday with his 10th of the season. He is a perfect 10-for-10 on the year and 22-for-26 in his career. Virginia has only had three different players steal 10 or more bases one other time the previous five seasons (2017).
• Senior Nate Eikhoff enters the Tuesday having reached base in 15-straight games, the fourth Cavalier this season to run a streak of 15 more games. Eikhoff, the team’s active leader in hits (171) and runs scored (92) is two RBI shy of 100 for his career. He has started 105 consecutive games, including all 50 at first base this season.
• Tanner Morris leads the league in doubles with 20, despite nine-game doubles drought. He currently ranks 6th in the league in batting average (.352) and eighth in hits (69). His back-to-back three-hit efforts up his season total to eight.
• Cayman Richardson blasted his first career home run in game two of the Louisville series as part of a 6-for-8 effort in Virginia’s two wins against Louisville. The junior is batting .329 (28-for-85) with 19 runs scored in 26 ACC games.
• Nic Kent did it all for the Cavaliers in Saturday’s series clinching victory. He put forth his second, four-hit game by going 4-for-4 with a run scored, an RBI and a stolen base. He also recorded seven assists in the field, the most by a Cavaliers since 2017.
• Two-way player Devin Ortiz has allowed only one run (unearned) in his last 12 innings pitched. His a tied for the team lead in wins (4) and has 27 strikeouts in 26 innings pitched.