Virginia Blanks Richmond in Midweek Victory

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Seven pitchers combined for a four-hit shutout as Virginia (7-5) claimed a 7-0 win over Richmond (5-3) on Tuesday (March 9) at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers won their 19^th-straight midweek game dating back to the 2019 season.

Righthander Zach Messinger (Chandler, Ind.) was credited with his first victory of the year after pitching three perfect innings of relief beginning in the second inning. The junior retired all nine batters he faced and recorded one strikeout. It marked the fifth-straight appearance in which he did not allow a run.

“It was a collective effort pitching wise,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “We used today as an opportunity to keep guys sharp. We continue to talk about this, in the middle of the week you get a chance to get a bunch of guys out there for an inning or so to keep them sharp for the weekend. Offensively, I think there are a lot of guys that stepped up and had some real good quality at bats and took advantage of some opportunities, so that was great to see.”

The Cavalier offense racked up 12 hits, highlighted by five multi-hit efforts.

Virginia took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on two-out, RBI singles by Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Pa.) and Kyle Teel (Mahwah, N.J.). Rivoli continued his hot hitting, finishing the day, 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Teel collected his second two-out RBI single in the fifth to extend the Virginia advantage to 4-0. The freshman recorded his first two-hit game and a drove in a game-high two runs.

The game unraveled for the Spiders in the seventh when Virginia sent eight batters to the plate and tacked on three more runs. Virginia scored on a bases loaded walk, a wild pitch and then on a sacrifice fly from Chris Newell (Newtown Square, Pa.) in the frame. Newell finished 2-for-3 with a triple, run scored and an RBI.

Other than Messinger, no UVA pitcher completed two innings. Kyle Whitten (Manassas, Va.), Paul Kosanovich (San Gabriel, Calif.) and Brandon Neeck (Chappaqua, N.Y.) pitched the final three innings, with only two Richmond runners reaching base. Junior Blake Bales (Schoolcraft, Mich.) made his ACC-best seventh appearance of the season, tossing 1.2 innings of scoreless baseball.

Virginia will continue its homestand this weekend with a three-game series against Notre Dame. The series opener is set for Friday at 3 p.m.

Additional Notes

• The Virginia shutout is the first since a 6-0 win against Oklahoma on opening night in Pensacola, Fla. last season.
• Virginia improves to 3-0 against midweek opponents in 2021 and have won four-straight games at Disharoon Park.
• The Cavaliers improve to 88-59-2 against Richmond all-time and 16-1 against the Spiders under Brian O’Connor.
• Nic Kent (Charlottesville, Va.) was 2-for-5 with a run scored from the leadoff spot, extending his hit streak to six games. He also leads the team with six multi-hit games.
• Rivoli contributed on the defensive side with an outfield assist in the fifth at the plate, cutting down Dan Leckie trying to score from second. It was the first assist by a Virginia outfielder this season.