Virginia Begins Road Swing Tuesday at George Washington
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (10-13) and George Washington (9-7) will complete a home-and-home midweek series on Tuesday (March 30) in Arlington, Va. The Cavaliers took the first game 11-1 back on March 2 at Disharoon Park. First pitch for Tuesday is set for 3 p.m. and the contest will air live on ESPN+.
Game Coverage: ESPN+ is a video streaming subscription service offered on the ESPN app that is available for an additional monthly fee. Tuesday’s game can also be heard locally on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) or anywhere on WINA.com. Links for the 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.
Virginia: LHP Billy Price (0-0, 5.14 ERA, 7.0 IP, 7 BB, 6 SO)
George Washington: RHP Harrison Cohen (2-1, 4.86 ERA, 16.2 IP, 13 BB, 24 SO)
LEADING OFF
- Virginia commences a stretch in which it will play seven of the next eight games on the road.
- The Cavaliers will play a road game against the Colonials for the only the third time since 2006.
- Virginia is 6-2 against non-conference foes and 4-1 in midweek contests in 2021.
- Including the March 2nd meeting, Virginia has won 11-straight games against George Washington.
AGAINST GEORGE WASHINGTON
- Virginia is 25-12 against George Washington in an all-time series that was first played in 1905, a 22-1 Cavalier victory.
- Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers own a 15-1 record against the Colonials with the only blemish coming in a 2008.
- The last walk-off victory for the Cavaliers came against the Colonials in 2018. Brendan Rivoli doubled down the left field line to score Alex Tappen in a 3-2 win in 12 innings.
- The highlight of the matchups against George Washington came on March 29, 2011 when Will Roberts threw the program’s first and only perfect game.
ROUND ONE
- On March 2, the Virginia offense peppered Colonial pitching for 11 runs and 11 hits. The Cavaliers scored in all but two innings in an 11-1 victory.
- Seven Cavalier pitchers scattered seven hits and did not allow an earned run. Reliever Matt Wyatt picked up his first win of the season, allowing no runs over 1.2 innings.
- Max Cotier, Brendan Rivoli and Nic Kent each went 2-for-5 as the three Cavalier multi-hit performers. Cotier and Zack Gelof drove in two runs apiece.
- Freshman Kyle Teel recorded his first collegiate hit in the contest, an RBI single up the middle that capped a four-run, seventh inning rally.
- The Cavaliers stole four bases in the contest, which still is the most in a game this season.
ON THE MOUND
- Lefty Billy Price will make his second start of the 2021 season and sixth of his career. Virginia is 5-0 in games Price starts.
- Against Towson on March 17, Price and four other pitchers combined for a one-hit shutout. Price pitched into the third inning and was credited with two clean frames. He matched a career-high with three walks but did not allow a run or a hit.
- Virginia is the only team in the ACC and one of 32 in the country with three shutouts this season. The latest, a 4-0 blanking of Miami this past weekend in the middle game.
- Coming into Tuesday, the Cavaliers boast a 3.56 team ERA, the second lowest in the ACC and have struck out 249 batters tops in the ACC and are ninth most in the country.
- Relievers Kyle Whitten and Blake Bales have appeared in 12 games this season, the most on the staff and the second most amongst their ACC cohorts.
MIDWEEK BY THE NUMBERS
- Liberty put a halt to Virginia’s 20-game win streak against midweek opponents last Wednesday. The Flames were also the last midweek opponent to defeat the Cavaliers prior to the streak starting.
- Virginia is outscoring its midweek opponents 39-16 this season and batting .305 as a team.
- The Cavaliers are pitching to a 2.45 ERA in five midweek contests and are averaging over 10 strikeouts per game.
WEEKEND HIGHLIGHTS
- Saturday’s 4-0 shutout of Miami was the 500th win all-time at Disharoon Park, the home of the Cavaliers since 2002.
- The shutout against the Hurricanes was the first for Virginia since 2018.
- Devin Ortiz, Zack Gelof and Kyle Teel all homered in the series opener. The three home runs were the most in a game this season.
- Cavalier starting pitchers Andrew Abbott and Mike Vasil each turned in quality starts. Vasil leads the staff with four quality starts in 2021. The Cavaliers are 4-2 when their starting pitcher produces a quality start this season.
- In Saturday’s win against the Hurricanes, the Cavaliers needed just one hit to record a 4-0 victory. Devin Ortiz cleared the bases with a triple and was awarded home on a throwing error to plate all four Cavalier runs.
NOTES/TRENDS
- In his last six games, Devin Ortiz is 7-for-18 with a double, triple, three home runs and eight RBI. He scored a run in each of the three games against Miami and crossed the plate in seven of the last nine contests.
- Brendan Rivoli put together a pair of two-hit games over the weekend and now leads the team with eight on the season.
- Over the last 10 games, freshman Kyle Teel is 12-for-40 (.300) with two doubles, three home runs and six RBI. The 12 hits and six RBI are the most on the team in that span.
- Blake Bales made two appearances in the Miami series, has yet to allow a run and has recorded 25 strikeouts in 25 innings pitched.
- Lefty Brandon Neeck sat down all three batters he faced in Sunday’s finale. Neeck also has yet to surrender a run in seven appearances and has allowed just two hits in his 5.2 innings pitched.