CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Virginia (22-21, 13-17 ACC) will host its final home series of the season this weekend when it hosts Wake Forest (17-23, 7-19 ACC) at Disharoon Park. The series is set to begin on Friday (May 14) at 6 p.m. The series opener will be carried on ACCNX and the final two games of the weekend will air live on ACC Network.

Game Coverage: ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via the ESPN App. For information on how to get ACC Network, visit GetACCN.com. In addition, Friday’s and Saturday’s games 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 Friday (May 14) 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.

ATTENDANCE GUIDELINES
In response to the amended Governor’s Executive Order No. 72 (as of March 1, outdoor entertainment and public amusement venues will be able to operate with up to 1,000 individuals or at 30 percent capacity, whichever is lower). Due to social distancing measures, total capacity for Disharoon Park for UVA home baseball games is currently 522.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Friday – 6 p.m.
Wake Forest: RHP Ryan Cusick (2-4, 4.14 ERA, 58.2 IP, 25 BB, 94 SO)
Virginia: LHP Andrew Abbott (5-5, 3.46 ERA, 67.2 IP, 22 BB, 99 SO)

Saturday – 6 p.m.
Wake Forest: RHP Rhett Lowder (3-2, 6.09 ERA, 57.2 IP, 15 BB, 68 SO)
Virginia: Mike Vasil (6-4, 3.81 ERA, 59.0 IP, 9 BB, 56 SO)

Sunday – Noon
Wake Forest: RHP William Fleming (3-6, 6.57 ERA, 61.2 IP, 19 BB, 56 SO)
Virginia: LHP Nate Savino (2-2, 3.51 ERA, 33.1 IP, 8 BB, 18 SO)

LEADING OFF

  • Friday will mark the first action for Virginia since May 4, a nine-day span in-between games to accommodate final exams.
  • Prior to the break, Virginia had won five of its last eight games and four of its last five ACC series.
  • The Cavaliers are 13-12 at home this season and 5-10 at the Dish against ACC opponents. Virginia is seeking it second-straight ACC series win at home.
  • Since 2009, coming out of exam break Virginia has 44-22 against ACC foes. The Cavaliers have won 12-straight home series after breaking for exams. The last two series losses after the exam break have come on the road against Wake Forest (2014, 2018).
  • Prior to Sunday’s game, Virginia will honor its 12 seniors and graduate students – Andrew Abbott, Blake Bales, Christian Hlinka, Paul Kosanovich, Marc Lebreux, Griff McGarry, Logan Michaels, Devin Ortiz Brendan Rivoli, Stephen Schoch, Alex Tappen and Kyle Whitten along with student manager Bryce Rosenberg.

AGAINST WAKE FOREST

  • The Demon Deacons will visit Disharoon Park for the first time since 2016.
  • Wake Forest owns a 90-81 advantage in the all-time series that was first played in 1894, a 5-2 Virginia victory in Lynchburg.
  • Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers own a 22-14 mark and a 12-3 record at home since 2004.
  • Virginia has won all five series at home against the Demon Deacons in O’Connor’s tenure. The last Wake Forest series win in Charlottesville came in 2002, a three-game sweep with two of the three games decided by one run.
  • The two teams will square off for the first time since 2018, a series in Winston-Salem that featured a combined 58 runs and 14 home runs. The series deciding game was a 18-12 Wake Forest victory that took four hours and 48 minutes to complete.

LAST TIME YOU SAW US

  • Virginia was triumphant in a rubber match against Virginia Tech on May 2nd with a 6-1 victory, securing the fifth straight series win over the Hokies.
  • In the series opener in Blacksburg, 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.
  • In the midweek, Virginia suffered a 7-5 home loss at the hands of A10-leading VCU. The Rams rallied for four runs in the top of the ninth to sweep the midweek season series.

ON THE MOUND

  • Virginia’s team ERA of 3.82 is the second lowest only to Florida State in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranks 25th in the NCAA.
  • As a staff Virginia ranks 16th in the NCAA in strikeouts per nine innings (10.6) and total strikeouts (451).
  • The Cavaliers have struck out 10 or batters eight of the last nine games a total of 29 times this season. Virginia is 17-12 when fanning 10 or more batters in game.
  • Prior to VCU rallying for seven runs (five earned) in the final three innings last Tuesday, the Virginia bullpen had not surrendered a run in the last 24.1 innings pitched.
  • Friday night starter Andrew Abbott is one strikeout shy from reaching the century mark for the season. His 99 strikeouts this season are the second most in the ACC and the tied for the seventh highest total in the country. Going into Friday only six pitchers have struck out 100 batters this season.
  • Former Cavaliers Derek Casey (106) and Daniel Lynch (105) were the last two to reach 100 strikeouts in a season. Lynch made his MLB debut earlier this month for the Kansas City Royals.
  • Abbott currently ranks fifth in UVA history with 264 career strikeouts and trails UVA Baseball Hall of Famer Tyler Wilson (272) for fourth place.
  • Among active NCAA pitcher, Abbott’s 13.50 career strikeouts per nine innings is the fourth highest in all of college baseball.
  • Despite a suffering a loss against Virginia Tech followed with a bye week, Saturday’s starter Mike Vasil’s six wins rank second among ACC hurlers. He’s looking to become the first UVA pitcher with seven wins since Derek Casey went 7-4 in 2018.
  • Vasil is responsible for six of the 10 quality starts produced by Virginia pitchers this season.
  • Nate Savino turned in his best outing as a Cavalier in the series deciding game against Virginia Tech. The lefthander needed just 65 pitches to get through seven innings. It was his first quality start of his UVA career (7.0 IP, 1 ER). The Cavaliers are 8-2 in games Savino starts in his first two seasons of college baseball.
  • Closer Stephen Schoch’s 25 career saves are the fourth most among active NCAA pitchers. His 12 in two seasons at UVA are tied for the 10th most in school history. His seven this season are the second amongst ACC closers.

NOTES/TRENDS

  • The Cavaliers have come-from-behind to win nine games this season, six came in the month of April.
  • Brendan Rivoli has reached base safely in nine-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.
  • Freshman Kyle Teel carries a six-game hit streak into the series and is 7-for-22 (.318) with three homers, five runs scored and nine RBIs in that span.
  • Devin Ortiz is the tops on the team with a .337 batting average in conference play. All six of his home runs have come against ACC foes including a game-tying blast in the bottom of the ninth inning against Louisville on April 16.
  • Zack Gelof moved to the leadoff spot on April 1 and has a hit in 16 of the 19 games from the top spot. He’s batting .330 (29-for-88) with six doubles, three home runs and 16 RBI batting first for Virginia.