Virginia Begins Eight-Game Homestand Tuesday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (6-5) commences an eight-game stretch at home on Tuesday (March 9) when it hosts Richmond (5-2) at Disharoon Park. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the midweek contest will air live on ACCNX.

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. In addition, Tuesday’s game can be heard locally in Charlottesville on WINA 98.9 FM/1070 AM and anywhere on WINA.com. Links for broadcasts and in-game live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can also follow the Virginia baseball official twitter account (@UVABaseball) for in-game updates.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday – 3 p.m.
Richmond: RHP Collin Lowe (0-0, 1.00 ERA, 1.0 IP, 1 BB, 1 SO)
Virginia: LHP Nate Savino (0-0, 1.17 ERA, 7.2 IP, 1 BB, 9 S)

LEADING OFF

• After playing six of the last seven games on the road, Virginia will play eight-straight at home, the longest stretch of the season.
• In the month of March, the Cavaliers are scheduled to play 12 games at Disharoon Park and five away from Charlottesville.
• Virginia has won 18-straight midweek games going into Tuesday’s non-conference tilt.
• The Cavaliers come into the game having allowed three or less runs in eight of the first 11 games.
• At Disharoon Park this season, Virginia has won four of five games. Dating back to last season, the Cavaliers are 17-3 in the last 20 games at home.
• Tuesday will mark the 149^th meeting between Richmond and Virginia in a series that was first played 1889.

AGAINST RICHMOND

• The Cavaliers are 87-59-2 all time against the Spiders and 15-1 under Brian O’Connor.
• The last 11 games involving the two schools have occurred in Charlottesville.
• Richmond was one of eight opponents the Cavaliers squared off against in 2020. The Cavaliers erupted for 16 runs in their lone contest against the Spiders last season, its third-highest run total in the 18-game shortened season.
• In last year’s meeting, Richmond led 3-2 before Virginia scored the next 13 runs in an eventual 16-7 victory, the sixth-consecutive win heading into the first ACC series against then-No. 7 NC State.
• Logan Michaels had his best game as a Cavalier in 2020, going 4-for-5 with four RBI and a run scored. The four hits and four RBI remain career highs.

ON THE HILL

• Last Tuesday against George Washington, Nate Savino sat down the first 10 batters he faced and pitched into the fifth inning in his second start of the year. The lefty struck out four batters and did not allow an earned run or issue a walk in career-high, 4.2 innings pitched.
• As a staff, Virginia ranks fifth in the country with 138 total strikeouts and its 13.1 strikeouts per nine innings are the seventh most of any DI program.
• Virginia is allowing 6.25 hits per nine innings, the fewest among any ACC school and is ranked 17^th among NCAA DI schools.
• In a three-game series at Florida State, the Cavaliers combined for 44 strikeouts including 14 by Friday night starter Andrew Abbott, the most by a UVA pitcher since 2014.
• The Cavaliers have struck out 10 or more batters in nine of 11 games this season and 15 or more on five different occasions.

NCAA Active Career Strikeout Leaders

MIDWEEK MADNESS

• In two midweek games this season, Virginia has amassed 25 runs on 25 hits. The Cavaliers posted a season-high, 14 runs against VMI on Feb. 23.
• On the flip side Virginia pitchers have surrendered just three earned runs, in 18.0 innings, good for an ERA of 1.50. Against George Washington last Tuesday, seven Cavalier pitchers did not yield an earned run

ONE RUN AFFAIRS

• Virginia was on the right side of a one-run game on Sunday at Florida State for the second time in ACC play this season. The Cavaliers are 3-3 in games decided by one run in 2021.
• The Cavaliers were involved in five, one-run decisions in their first seven games of the 2021 season, matching a school record set in 1938 and 1951.
• The North Carolina series marked the first time Virginia played an ACC series with each game decided by a run since 2018 when it played six-straight starting with Louisville on the road and ending with a three-game set against Clemson at Disharoon Park.
• The Cavaliers have played a total of six ACC series in which all three games were decided by a run in the Brian O’Connor era.

CLOSING THE DOOR

• Closer Stephen Schoch is 4-for-4 in save attempts this season, tied for the most in the NCAA. No save was more stressful than Sunday’s seven-out heart-stopper at Florida State. The righthander escaped two bases loaded jams and left the tying run on second in the ninth inning in an eventual 2-1 victory. The save was Schoch’s longest as a Cavalier and fourth save that has required four or more outs.
• Schoch’s 22 career saves are tied for the second most among active NCAA pitchers. Nine of the 22 have come in a Cavalier uniform.
• Three more saves and Schoch will enter the top-10 all-time in career saves at UVA.

Player Notes

• Reliever Blake Bales co-leads the ACC with six appearances out of the bullpen. He has not allowed a run in 5.1 innings pitched and has fanned 11 of the 20 batters he’s faced this season.
• Catcher Logan Michaels has caught all 11 games for the Cavaliers and has also made an impact on the offensive end. He leads the team with nine runs scored and his 10 hits are the third most on the team. Michaels has only struck out five times in 37 at bats and his 0.45 strikeouts per game are the seventh fewest in the ACC.
• Brendan Rivoli was responsible for both Cavalier runs in the 2-1 Sunday victory over Florida State. His double in the first and single in the third both came with two outs. He is 5-for-12 (.417) when batting with two outs this season.