No. 10 Virginia Clinches Series With One-Hit Shutout

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.– Three Cavalier pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts as No. 10 Virginia (22-1, 7-1 ACC) clinched the series at Wake Forest (17-6, 3-5 ACC) with an 8-0 win on Saturday (March 26). UVA had its combined no-hit bid broken up with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning on an infield single.

Making his first collegiate start, Jake Berry delivered five hitless innings and struck out a career-high, nine batters to pick up his third win of the season. Berry sat down nine of the first 10 batters he faced, six by way of the strikeout. In his final frame he issued two walks but came up with a pair of strikeouts and induced an inning-ending fly out to keep the fifth-highest scoring offense in the country off the board.

Jay Woolfolk pitched the next two innings and fanned four batters. Graduate student Paul Kosanovich recorded the final six outs of the ball game to preserve UVA’s, NCAA-best, sixth shutout. Tommy Hawke was credited with Wake Forest’s lone hit, a ground ball up the middle that was knocked down by a diving Justin Rubin at second base but not close enough for him to make a throw to either first or second base.

Graduate student Alex Tappen continued his torrid hitting, belting a pair of home runs in the contest. He drove in five of the eight on the day and is 3-for-9 with three home run and six RBI in two games against Wake Forest. Tappen has five home runs over his last five games played.

 

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HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jake Gelof doubled to lead off the third inning and eventually came around to score on a Chris Newell sacrifice fly to open up the scoring.
• Tappen hit the first of his two homers in the fourth, a two-run shot to give UVA a 4-0 advantage.
• Wake Forest elected to intentionally walk a 2-for-2 Gelof in the fifth inning, putting runners at the corners with one out and Tappen due up next. Tappen made the Demon Deacons pay with opposite field blast to make the score 6-0. It was the first time in his career Tappen hit two homers in a game.
• The Cavaliers added a pair of unearned runs in the eighth, one came around to score on a on Kyle Teel ground rule double.

FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN O’CONNOR

On Tappen: “He really came on at the end of the year last year in our run to Omaha. He was really vital. He hit some big home runs for us and he’s just a mature player. He understands what he needs to do up there. Since the first weekend (this year) he’s been absolutely locked in. He’s spraying the ball all over the field, driving the ball in the ballpark. He’s just a veteran guys that knows how to play.”

On Berry: “Jake’s been doing a nice job out of the pen for us but wow. I mean, he just found out this morning at breakfast that he was going to start today and goes out there and throws you five shutout innings and he was dominantly and looked great.”

UP NEXT: The series finale is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Sunday (March 27). The game will now air on ESPNNews as well as WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM). Virginia will have lefthander Brandon Neeck (2-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by righthander Teddy McGraw (1-1).

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The series victory was the first in Winston-Salem since the 2013. Wake Forest had won each of the last two meetings at home (2014 & 2018).
• The Cavaliers have won eight-straight games, the fourth-longest streak in college baseball.
• Casey Saucke extended his hitting streak to 21 games with a two-out single in the second inning. He’s only the second Cavalier since 2000 (Brandon Guyer – 26) to hit safely in 21 games in a single season.
• Virginia is 7-1 to start ACC play for only the second time in school history. The 2011 College World Series team started the year with a 13-1 mark against ACC foes.
• Tappen now has 21 career home runs, the first Cavalier to reach the 20-career home run plateau since Pavin Smith (28) and Adam Haseley (21) in 2017.