Neeck’s Record Night Propels UVA into Regional Championship Game

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Virginia (32-24) forced a seventh game in the Columbia Regional by defeating top-seeded Old Dominion, 8-3 on Sunday (June 6) at Founders Park.  Junior Brandon Neeck (Chappaqua, N.Y.) set the program’s single-game postseason record with 16 strikeouts and earned his first win of the season. The two teams will square off again on Monday (June 7) for a berth into the NCAA Super Regionals next weekend.

Neeck and Griff McGarry (Portola Valley, Calif.) combined to strikeout 24 batters in the contest, a new program single-game record. The 24 combined strikeouts were the most in a nine-inning game in the NCAA this season and the most in nine-inning game NCAA Division I baseball since Auburn struck out 25 against Arkansas on May 19, 1994. The nine-inning NCAA record is 26 strikeouts by Miami (OH) in 1971.

Neeck took over in the fourth inning with the bases loaded, struck out the first batter, walked the next and ended the Old Dominion (44-15) threat with his second strikeout of the day. The lefthander, who came into the contest with 19 career innings pitched, logged 5.2 innings of scoreless relief. Neeck recorded 17 outs in the contest, 15 by way of the strikeout.

The 16 strikeouts tied Andrew Abbott for the third-most in single-game in program history and also tied him for the most punch outs by an ACC pitcher in 2021. The 16 strikeouts are the most ever by a UVA relief pitcher.

McGarry was equally electric in the early innings of the ball game. The power righthander flirted with triple digits on the radar gun while he struck out the first six batters he faced. McGarry finished with eight strikeouts in 3.1 innings, the third time in eight starts this season he’s struck out eight or more batters. He surrendered two of the five ODU hits and exited early with a cut on his pitching hand.

Griff McGarry set the tone, struck out the first 𝗦𝗜𝗫 batters of the game and finished with 8️⃣ in 3.1 innings.#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/VDZt9Wgy9y

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) June 7, 2021

The Virginia offense spotted McGarry a five-run cushion, jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning on an RBI single from Kyle Teel (Mahwah, N.J.) and a sacrifice fly off the bat of Nic Kent (Charlottesville, Va.). Senior Devin Ortiz (Nutley, N.J.) made it 4-0 with a two-run homer in the third and Max Cotier (New Milford, Conn.) drove in the fifth Cavalier run, plating Teel on a one-out single to left in the fourth inning.

The Cavaliers added some insurance in the later innings capitalizing on three Old Dominion defensive miscues. Fifth-year senior Logan Michaels (DeForest, Wis.) made it a five-run ball game with a two-run, two-out single in the ninth inning. The final three UVA runs were unearned.

The two commonwealth teams will square off on Monday (June 7) at 7 p.m. on ESPNU. The game can also be heard in Charlottesville on WINA (1070 AM/98.9 FM) and anywhere on WINA.com.

Additional Notes

• The previous UVA record for strikeouts in an NCAA Tournament game was held by Will Roberts who fanned 14 in a complete game shutout against Navy on June 3, 2011.
• Virginia pitchers struck out 20-plus in a game for the second time this season. Andrew Abbott (16), Jake Berry (1) and McGarry (3) combined to fan 20 in a no-hitter against Wake Forest on May 14.
• Against VCU on April 20, Zach Messinger became the first UVA reliever to reach double-digit strikeouts in a game when he fanned 10 in 4.1 innings.
• Virginia improved to 12-3 when scoring in the first inning and 23-5 when scoring first.