Virginia Drops Opening Game at Clemson

CLEMSON, S.C. – Clemson (15-11, 9-7 ACC) scored the first five runs in a 6-1 victory over Virginia (14-15, 6-13 ACC) on Friday (April 9) at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The loss snaps the Cavaliers’ three-game win streak.

The Tigers peppered Virginia pitching with 10 hits, nine of them singles. Clemson’s Adam Hackenberg capped a three-run third inning with a two-out, two-run bloop single to left. The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the fourth inning on RBI singles by James Parker and Elijah Henderson.

The five runs were charged to Virginia starting pitcher Andrew Abbott (Republican Grove, Va.) who pitched 4.2 innings, an out more than his shortest outing of the season. The lefthander struck out seven batters and surrendered a career-high eight hits, all singles.

The seven strikeouts for Abbott moved him up three spots on UVA’s career strikeout list and he now sits at No. 11 all-time with 231 punch outs. He is two strikeouts shy of entering the program’s top-10.

Clemson starting pitcher Mack Anglin limited Virginia to one hit over the first six innings. Junior Zack Gelof (Rehoboth Beach, Del.) broke up Anglin’s no-hitter in the sixth with an infield single. Prior to that Anglin allowed only Chris Newell (Newtown Square, Pa.) to reach on an error in the third. A 42-minute weather delay in the seventh inning would spell the end of Anglin’s day after 71 pitches. The righthander struck out six batters and allowed just Gelof and Newell to reach base.

Immediately after the pause in action, Virginia was able to scratch across its first run of the day on an RBI groundout by Max Cotier (New Milford, Conn.). Senior Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Pa.) scored the lone run of the day for the Cavaliers after leading off the seventh inning with a single.

Senior Devin Ortiz (Nutley, N.J.) had two of the five Cavalier hits and finished 2-for-4 with a double.

The two teams will be back at it on Saturday (April 10) for the middle game with a first pitch set for 7 p.m. on ACC Network. Virginia will have Mike Vasil on the mound and he’ll be opposed by lefty Keyshawn Askew.

Additional Notes

• Clemson has won six of the last seven meetings against Virginia.
• Drew Hamrock (Roswell, Ga.) came on as a pinch-hitter in the ninth and recorded his first hit of the season, a single to left.
• Freshman Jake Berry (Great Falls, Va.) faced five batters and pitched 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
• Ortiz extended his hit streak to a team-high nine games, the longest streak of any Cavalier this season.