CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (11-13, 4-11 ACC) resumes Atlantic Coast Conference play on Thursday (April 1) with the opener of a three-game series against No. 6 Georgia Tech (13-7, 10-5 ACC). The start time for game one is set for 4 p.m. and the contest will air live on ACCNX.

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. Links for the broadcast 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
Thursday – 4 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Griff McGarry (0-3, 5.75 ERA, 19.0 IP, 11 BB, 20 SO)
Georgia Tech: LHP Brant Hurter (2-2, 3.45 ERA, 31.1 IP, 10 BB, 38 SO)


Friday – 6 p.m.

Virginia: LHP Andrew Abbott (2-4, 2.48 ERA, 36.1 IP, 13 BB, 50 SO)
Georgia Tech: RHP Andy Archer (4-1, 1.82 ERA, 34.2 IP, 10 BB, 37 SO)

Saturday – 1 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Mike Vasil (3-2, 2.51 ERA, 32.1 IP, 4 BB, 31 SO)
Georgia Tech: LHP Sam Crawford (2-2, 4.91 ERA, 25.2 IP, 8 BB, 19 SO)

LEADING OFF

  • Virginia is in the midst of a road swing that includes seven of its next eight games away from Disharoon Park.
  • The weekend series for Virginia will be the fourth-straight mark the fourth-straight against a nationally-ranked opponent. The Yellow Jackets are the highest ranked UVA opponent since No. 5 Louisville in 2019.
  • Head coach Brian O’Connor registered his 725th career win in a 7-2 victory over George Washington. O’Connor and Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall are two of 35 active NCAA coaches with 725 or more career wins.

AGAINST GEORGIA TECH

  • The Yellow Jackets own a 75-57-2 advantage in the all-time series that was first played in 1924. Under O’Connor (since 2004), the Cavaliers hold a 31-20-1 edge.
  • Virginia has taken three of the last four series against Georgia Tech.
  • Back in 2019, the last meeting between the two schools, the Yellow Jackets took the final two games in Atlanta to capture the series, including a 6-5 affair in the finale.

LAST TIME OUT

  • Virginia is fresh off a 7-2 victory at George Washington on Tuesday to complete a midweek sweep of the Colonials. The Cavaliers scored six of its seven runs in their final two trips to the plate.
  • Devin Ortiz put the Cavaliers ahead for good with a two-RBI single in the eighth inning to break a 1-1 stalemate.
  • Seven UVA pitchers limited George Washington to two runs on nine hits. Zach Messinger was credited with his second win of the season after a pair of scoreless innings.
  • As a team, the Cavaliers struck out one time, the fewest in a game this season and the fewest since fanning once against Dartmouth on Feb. 29, 2019.

ON THE MOUND

  • The Cavaliers received quality starts from both Andrew Abbott and Mike Vasil last weekend vs. Miami. Vasil leads the staff with four quality starts in 2021. The Cavaliers are 4-2 this season when their starting pitcher delivers a quality start.
  • Abbott tossed a career-high eight innings and combined for the third Cavalier shutout of the season in the middle game vs. Miami. Six of his seven strikeouts came in the fourth inning or later and the lefty sat down the final nine batters he faced. Only one Hurricane runner reached second base in the contest.
  • Vasil pitched into the eighth for the second time in his career in the finale against Miami. He suffered his second loss of the season. He worked out of sixth and seventh inning jams that saw a combined seven Miami hits but only two runs crossed the plate.
  • Going into the weekend Vasil has walked only four batters in 32.1 innings pitched and has the lowest WHIP (1.11) among qualified ACC pitchers.
  • Virginia is the only team in the ACC and one of 32 in the country with three shutouts this season. The shutout against the Hurricanes was the first in ACC play for Virginia since 2018.
  • Coming into the weekend, the Cavaliers boast a 3.50 team ERA, the second lowest in the ACC and have struck out 257 batters tops in the ACC and are eighth most in the country.
  • Relievers Kyle Whitten and Blake Bales have appeared in 13 games this season, the most on the staff and the second most amongst their ACC cohorts.

Career Strikeouts in UVA History

  1. Joe Koshansky (2001-04) – 229
  2. Connor Jones (2014-16) – 225
  3. Alec Bettinger (2014-17) – 219
  4. Andrew Abbott (2017-21) – 215
  5. Pat McAnaney (2005-08) – 213

NOTES/TRENDS

  • Chris Newell put together the first four-hit game of his career in Tuesday’s win over George Washington. The sophomore went 4-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Newell and Logan Michaels are responsible for the two Cavalier four-hit performances this year. To top off his career day, he threw out a runner at home on a single to center that would have been the go-ahead run in the sixth.
  • Devin Oritz recorded his 10th RBI in the last eight games with his go-ahead single against the Colonials on Tuesday. He’s scored a run in eight of the last 10 games and is 8-for-23 with a double, triple, three home runs and 10 RBI over his last eight games.
  • The last time Virginia visited Georgia Tech, Brendan Rivoli terrorized Yellow Jacket pitching going 5-for-13 with four runs scored, two homers and six RBI. He enters the series as the team leader with nine multi-hit games.
  • Reliever Blake Bales has been the model of consistency out of the Cavalier bullpen the past two seasons. He’s yet to yield a run in 17.1 innings pitched and struck out 26 batters. Dating back to 2020, he’s allowed just two runs in 26 innings pitched and totaled 35 strikeouts.
  • On the veteran laden Cavalier club, Addie Burrow was the latest first year to break through with his first career hit. He made his second start of the season on Tuesday and went 1-for-2 with a run scored, an RBI and two walks.
  • Classmate Kyle Teel is the team’s co-leader in home runs with three, all coming against ACC opponents. He has started 13-straight games, 11 at DH and two behind the plate.