Virginia Closes Out Non-Conference Slate With VCU

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (22-20) will play the final game of a home-and-home midweek series on Tuesday (May 4) when it hosts VCU (27-14) at Disharoon Park. The game will be carried live on ACCNX and is scheduled for a 6 p.m. first pitch.

*NOTE – Tuesday’s game vs. VCU has been moved to 6:45 p.m. due to inclement weather**

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. In addition, Tuesday’s game can be heard locally on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) and anywhere on WINA.com. 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.

TICKET INFORMATION

Due to the limited number of tickets, the current attendance policy includes pre-sale ticket access for UVA students, 2020 baseball donors and season ticket holders.  If any tickets remain after the pre-sale process, they will made available to the general public on Tuesday (May 4) at 10 a.m.

Fans must purchase a pair of tickets. All tickets regardless of location will be $5. Tickets can be purchased on UVATix.com or from Monday – Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. by calling the Virginia Athletics Ticket Office at 434-924-8821.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Tuesday – 6:45 p.m.         
VCU: RHP Bradford Webb (3-1, 3.72 ERA, 38.2 IP, 12 BB, 36 SO)
Virginia: RHP Zach Messinger (2-1, 5.67 ERA, 33.1 IP, 17, BB, 39 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia enters Tuesday with wins in five of its last seven games.
• In non-conference action this season, Virginia has a 9-3 and 7-2 against midweek opponents in 2021. One of the two blemishes in the midweek came on the road at VCU on April 20.
• The Cavaliers have 13 wins in 24 home games this season and are 5-0 at Disharoon Park against midweek opponents.
• Dating back to 2019, Virginia has won 14-straight games against midweek opponents at home.
• VCU comes into the matchup winners of 11-straight games, the second longest win streak in college baseball (Northeastern – 13 games)

AGAINST VCU

• The Rams took the first game of the home-and-home midweek series, 5-3 at the Diamond in Richmond on April 20. VCU jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning and used a pair of solo homers late in the game to seal the victory.
• The last four meetings between the Cavaliers and Rams have been decided by one or two runs.
• Virginia is 46-23 all-time against VCU in a series that was first played in 1979, a 17-4 win in Charlottesville.
• The Cavaliers have won five of the last seven meetings against the Rams
• Virginia swept the home-and-home series in 2019 with a pair of one-run victories.
• Under head coach Brian O’Connor, Virginia is 21-4 against VCU.

CLASH NOTES

• Over the weekend the Cavaliers won their fifth-straight series against Virginia Tech, winning Sunday’s deciding game 6-1.
• In the series opener, Virginia set season-highs in runs (18), hits (17), RBI (17) and total bases (27). The 18 runs in ACC action were the most since 2011.
• Virginia received a quality start on Friday from Andrew Abbott (7.0 IP, 0 ER) and again on Sunday from Nate Savino (7.0 IP, 1 ER).
• The Cavaliers trailed 1-0 in the opener and the finale but erased both deficits with leadoff home runs in their next turn at the plate. Nic Kent tied the game up in the opener while Devin Ortiz quickly erased the Hokie lead in the second inning of the finale.
• Virginia pitchers did not give up a single home run in the series to a Hokie team that entered the weekend with 46 homers, the fourth most in the ACC.

ON THE MOUND

• Virginia’s team ERA of 3.79 is the second lowest only to Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranks 32^nd in the NCAA.
• As a staff, Virginia has struck out 438 batters, the tenth most in the country.
• The Cavaliers have struck out 10 or batters in each of the last eight games and a total of 28 times this season. Virginia is 17-11 when fanning 10 or more batters in game.
• Zach Messinger will get the start on the mound Tuesday, his third of the season and ninth of his career. Over the course of his three seasons in Charlottesville, the Cavaliers are 8-1 in the nine games he’s started.
• In the first meeting against VCU, Messinger inherited a bases loaded jam in the first inning, allowed a run to score and limited the Ram damage to only three runs. Messinger went on to pitch 4.1 innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters. He is the only other UVA pitcher besides Andrew Abbott with a 10-strikeout game. Since 2000, Messinger is the only Cavalier reliever to strikeout 10 or more batters in an outing.
• The Virginia bullpen has not surrendered a run in the last 19.1 innings pitched.
• Closer Stephen Schoch comes into Tuesday with seven saves, the second most in the ACC. Schoch has not allowed an earned run in his last seven outings, a stretch of 11.1 innings.

NOTES/TRENDS

• The Cavaliers have come-from-behind to win nine games this season, six came in the month of April.
• In the series finale against Virginia Tech, Devin Ortiz and Kyle Teel hit back-to-back homers to give the Cavaliers the lead for good. It marked the second time this season that Virginia has hit back-to-back homers after Teel combined with Zack Gelof to go deep in consecutive at bats against Miami on March 26.
• In four games last week, Kyle Teel hit three home runs, two of which put Virginia in the lead. His go-ahead homer in the bottom of the eighth against Liberty proved to be the game-winning run in a 6-5 win. He was 6-for-18 with three homers and 8 RBI last week. Teel leads the team with seven home runs
• Max Cotier was the hottest hitter in Virginia’s 4-1 week, batting .412 (7-for-17) with six runs scored.
• Brendan Rivoli has reached base safely in eight-straight games and leads the team with 17 multi-hit efforts. He drove in two runs in the series finale against Virginia Tech and moved a runner into scoring position with a bunt single against the shift that led to Virginia’s fifth run.