No. 12 Virginia Tops Longwood in Non-Conference Finale

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 12 Virginia (35-12) came away with an 8-3 victory over Longwood (19-28) in its final non-conference game of the regular season. Virginia improved to 27-4 at home in 2022 and finish the year 21-2 against non-ACC foes.

Graduate student Alex Tappen drove in the game’s final four runs in a 2-for-4 effort at the plate. The bulk of his damage came on a three-run homer in the eighth, his 13^th long ball of the season. Tappen has 65 RBI on the year, tied for the sixth-most in a single season by a UVA player. The home run was his 26^th of his career, moving him into a tie with UVA Baseball Hall of Famers Jarrett Parker and Joe Koshansky for 10^th on Virginia’s all-time home run list.

Dylan Bowers earned his first victory as a Cavalier, pitching two scoreless innings after taking over in the fifth. He was part of a quartet of UVA relievers – Will Geerdes, Jay Woolfolk, and Alex Greene to keep Longwood off the scoreboard over the final four innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jake Gelof recorded his 68^th RBI of the season and put the Cavaliers up 1-0 in the first inning. Kyle Teel came around to score on the hit and run play all the way from first base. The RBI moved Gelof into sole possession of second place on UVA’s single season RBI list.

• Freshman Ethan Anderson put UVA up 2-0 with his first career triple off the very top of the wall in right field. He later scored on a Max Cotier groundout to make it 3-0 Cavaliers after two innings.

• Longwood responded with the game’s next three runs, two on an RBI double by Hunter Gilliam in the fifth. The tying run came around to score in the fifth when Gregory Ryan crossed the plate on an RB groundout by Eliot Dix.
• The Cavaliers broke the tie with an RBI groundout of their own, Anderson scored on a ground ball by Griff O’Ferrall to shortstop in the sixth inning. Tappen followed with a two-out single to right field to give Virginia a two-run advantage.

• Will Geerdes and Woolfolk were both credited with holds in the contest, the first two holds of the season for the Cavalier bullpen. Geerdes faced the minimum in the seventh and struck out the final batter of the frame. Woolfolk struck out three of the four batters he faced in the top of the eighth.

FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN O’CONNOR

“I thought that was a really well-played game overall. I shared with the team that we haven’t played in a week and I’m always concerned in the sport of baseball, not playing for a week. What are your instincts going to be like? We threw strikes on the mound, we played good defense and we were opportunistic offensively on the back half of the game. So that was that was great to see. I’m always concerned about this game. Coming off not competing for a week and practicing sparingly because of exams because that’s got to be their priority. I thought our guys stepped up and did some really good things and we got a number of guys on the mound so happy with what we saw. We have just a very small handful of guys that still have to finish some exams and then we’ll be ready to go for Clemson on Friday.”

UP NEXT: The Cavaliers will host their final ACC home series of the season this weekend with a three-game set against Clemson. Game one on Friday (May 13) is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch. The middle game will start at 4 p.m. on Saturday (May 14) and the series finale on Sunday (May 15) will be broadcast live on ACC Network at 3 p.m.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The six Virginia pitchers combined to strike out 12 Longwood batters. UVA has eclipsed the 500-strikeout mark as a team for the 11^th time in program history.
• Tappen played in his 207^th game as a Cavalier, tied with Kenny Towns (2012-15) for the eighth most in program history.
• UVA starter Matt Wyatt picked off Michael Peterson, the Big South’s leader in stolen bases with 22, at second base in the top of the second inning. The pickoff was the first by a UVA pitcher this season.
• UVA is 27-4 this season when scoring first.
• Tappen and Gelof each recorded their team-leading 20^th multi-hit game of the season.
• Virginia is 16-2 all-time against Longwood and 12-0 against the Lancers under head coach Brian O’Connor.