No. 19 Virginia Sweeps Boston College, Matches Best Start in Program History

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va.– Virginia (19-1, 5-1 ACC) completed the sweep of Boston College (7-11, 1-5 ACC) with a 16-8 victory in the series finale on Sunday (March 20) at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers match their best start in school history and have now won 17-straight games at home, the third-longest active streak in the country.

Virginia is 19-1 to begin the season for the second time. The 2009 Cavaliers won a school-record 19-straight games to start the year before dropping a one-run decision against Miami and the 2011 squad won 19 of its first 20 contests.

Virginia never trailed in the Sunday’s contest and was powered by standout performances by Jake Gelof and Alex Tappen at the plate. Gelof hit his NCAA-leading 12^th home run with a two-run shot in the fourth inning. He finished 4-for-4 on the day with three RBI. Gelof went 7-for-11 with three home runs and seven RBI in the three-game series against the Eagles.

Tappen had a career day, reaching base five times and capped his afternoon with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. He finished with a career-high, six RBI in a 4-for-4 effort at the plate. He now has five home runs on the season and has reached base safely in 19-straight games.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Virginia scored first for the 17^th time this season and plated two runs in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Gelof and Tappen. UVA has scored in the first inning in 11 of its 20 games this season.
• Virginia jumped out to a 6-0 advantage with a four-run, fourth inning thanks to RBI hits from Tappen, Chris Newell and Justin Rubin. Tappen drove in the first run of the frame and stole home after Gelof was caught in a rundown between first and second.
• Boston College pulled within four runs thanks to a three-run fifth inning and went on to make it a three-run ball game in the eighth after a three-run homer by Cameron Leary to make the score 11-8.
• Virginia responded with five runs in its half of the eighth and put the game out of reach. Tappen launched a two-run home run off the light stanchion in the left field bleachers to put the Cavaliers up 13-8. UVA padded the lead with a ground-rule double off the bat of Anthony Stephan and scored two runs on a Boston College fielding error.

FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN O’CONNOR

“Last year we only swept one ACC series the whole year against Wake (Forest) here late in in May, and so it was great to see our guys come out this weekend and really play complete baseball all three games. This weekend was a tough weekend to pitch. You got the wind and the heat and the wind blowing out like it was. We knew there was going to be a lot of home runs hit, fortunately we hit a few more than they did. It was just a complete effort- defensively, pitching, on offense that you want to see so great first weekend of ACC play at home. Really nice crowds. It’s awesome. I told our guys after the game, it’s been a couple of years since we’ve had the Sunday (autograph) signings because of COVID, and to be able to have all these kids and fans out here after the game to sign autographs is really awesome. Alex Tappen and Jake Gelof were tremendous today and Ortiz and the guys in the middle of the lineup. You know the veteran guys really, really delivered and it’s awesome to see great collective offensive performance.”

UP NEXT: Virginia will conclude its six-game homestand on Tuesday (March 22) when it hosts Towson in non-conference action. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Disharoon Park.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia scored 10 or more runs for the 14^th time this season. Virginia has scored 10 or more runs in all but one home game this season, outscoring opponents at Disharoon Park, 196-42.
• The Cavaliers have swept each of the last two home ACC series, Wake Forest in 2021 and this weekend against Boston College.
• Virginia is 5-1 through the first six ACC games for the first time since 2014 and the fourth time in program history (2022, 2014, 2011, 2010).
• After two home runs in Sunday’s contest, Virginia has hit 36 in 14 home games, two shy of the season record set in 2017 (38 in 34 games).
• The five-run fifth was the 14^th time in 20 games UVA has scored five or more runs in a single inning.
• Virginia scored 41 runs in the three games against Boston College, the most in a three-game ACC series since scoring 43 in a trio of games against Maryland in 2010.
• Casey Saucke extended his hit streak to 18 games, the longest by a UVA freshman in the last 22 years and the longest by any Cavalier since UVA Hall of Famer Matt Thaiss had a hit in 18-straight games in 2016.