No. 11 Virginia Uses Late Rally to Top Georgetown

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 11 Virginia (28-10) scored two runs in the eighth inning to secure a 6-4 victory over Georgetown (22-15) on Wednesday (April 20) at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers improved to 20-2 at home this season.

With the game tied at four, Virginia was the beneficiary of a Georgetown throwing error that allowed Max Cotier to score the go-ahead run in the eighth. The Cavaliers made it 6-4 when Kyle Teel beat out an infield hit that allowed Colin Tuft to score from third.

Four pitchers out of the Cavalier bullpen did not surrender a hit over the final six innings to keep Virginia in the ballgame. Freshman Jay Woolfolk was credited with the win after he struck out five of the six batters he faced in 1.2 innings of work. Graduate student Paul Kosanovich pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his first career save.]

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Six of the game’s first seven runs came around to score in the first inning. Georgetown sent nine batters to the plate in its half of the first. Three straight hits to start the game, including an RBI double by Ethan Stern, gave the Hoyas a 1-0 advantage. After a sacrifice fly by Andrew Ciufo, Sterns came around to score on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.
• Virginia responded with three of its own, sending eight batters to the plate in the first. Two came into score on an RBI single through the left side from Devin Oritz. The Cavaliers tied the game on a bases loaded walk drawn by Ethan Anderson.

• Georgetown took its second lead of the contest in the third inning another sacrifice fly, this time off the bat of catcher Owen Carapellotti. The lead would hold until the sixth when Virginia collected three-straight two-out hits and Griff O’Ferrall drew a bases loaded walk that scored Anderson. It was one of four walks drawn by O’Ferrall in the game.

FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN O’CONNOR

“I’ve known their coach (Edwin Thompson) for a while now and he does a fantastic job. It took everything for us to come out on top and I’ve said it all along, college baseball games are hard to win. You’ve got to be good and sometimes you’ve got to have a little bit of good fortune. I thought that we found a way to put in an inning together to win it there, in the eighth.

“The last couple of weeks haven’t been easy for us. We’ve been challenged as a team. It happens to every team in college baseball, well maybe other than Tennessee this year, but I know this, we’re doing things the right way. Our kids are going about their business the right way. They’re working hard. We’ll practice tomorrow. We’ll lift again, they’re doing all the right things. And sometimes it’s just baseball, sometimes it’s an experience of what exactly we’re doing from a pitching standpoint and we’re still growing and learning. Hopefully this can be a springboard for us into the weekend against North Carolina.”

UP NEXT: Atlantic Coast Conference play continues this weekend when the Cavaliers welcome North Carolina to Disharoon Park for a three-game set. The opener is scheduled for Friday (April 22) at 6 p.m. followed by the middle game on Saturday (April 23) at 1 p.m. The series concludes on Sunday (April 24) with a 2 p.m. first pitch on ACC Network.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Freshman Justin Rubin was the only multi-hit performer for the Cavaliers who collected a total of seven hits. Rubin has two or more hits if five of his last seven starts.
• Virginia was in its first save situation since opening day against Bellarmine. Matt Wyatt, Avery Mabe (pitched final 3.1 innings vs. Rider on 3/15) and Kosanovich each have saves for UVA this season.
• The five Virginia pitchers – Matthew Buchanan, Dylan Bowers, Jake Berry, Woolfolk and Kosanovich combined to strike out 12 batters on the night.
• Teel’s hit in the eighth came with the bases loaded. He is now 5-for-8 (.625) with three home runs, a triple and 18 RBI with the bases juiced this season.