No. 12 Virginia Squares off Against Clemson in Final Home ACC Series

**SCHEDULE NOTE: The series opener has moved up to 5:15 p.m. due to inclement weather**

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 12 Virginia (35-12, 14-10 ACC) will play its final three home games of the regular season with a weekend ACC series against Clemson (31-18, 9-14 ACC) beginning Friday (May 13). The first two games of the series will be broadcast on ACCNX while the finale on Sunday (May 15) is scheduled to air on ACC Network.

GAME COVERAGE:  ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of ACC Network via ESPN.com and the ESPN app. For more information on ACC Network and a list of providers visit GetACCN.com. In addition, all three games can be heard locally in Charlottesville on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) and anywhere on WINA.com. Links to live stats can be found on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS

• Friday —”Happy Hour” – 50% off the price Route 11 chips, 22oz soda (first hour that gates are open)
• Saturday – “Happy Hour” – $1popcorn or a small bag of chips assorted (first hour that gates are open)
• Sunday—”Happy Hour” $1 popcorn and $1 small bag assorted lays
• Sunday— FREE Ice Cream for kids running the bases after the game. (First 500)

PARKING INFORMATION

• For Friday’s game only – baseball fans can park in JPJ South lot, JPJ East lot and the Emmett/Ivy Garage. The JPJ Arena lot and garage will be reserved for an event at the Arena.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday – 5:15 p.m.
Clemson: RHP Mack Anglin (5-4, 3.65 ERA, 61.2 IP, 39 BB, 63 SO)
Virginia: LHP Brian Gursky (7-0, 2.53 ERA, 53.1 IP, 25 BB, 65 SO)

Saturday – 4 p.m.        
Clemson: TBA
Virginia: LHP Nate Savino (4-4, 3.86 ERA, 60.2 IP, 23 BB, 66 SO) 

Sunday – 3 p.m.
Clemson: TBA
Virginia: LHP Jake Berry (5-2. 4.34, 45.2 IP, 18 BB, 58 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia is 8-2 on its current 13-game homestand, the longest stint at Disharoon Park this year. The Cavaliers will wrap up the regular season at Louisville next weekend (May 19-21).
• Since 2009, Virginia has a 45-22 record against ACC foes coming out of exam break. The Cavaliers have won 13-straight home series after breaking for exams.
• The Cavaliers are 27-4 at home this season and are 9-3 against ACC foes at Disharoon Park this season. Only three teams in the country have 27 or more home wins in 2022 – Tennessee (31), Arkansas (27) and Virginia (27).
• Virginia is one of two schools (Davidson) to be ranked in the top-20 in the country in batting average (3^rd – .319) and ERA (12^th – 3.59).
• Virginia moved up two spots to No. 12 in the D1Baseball.com Top-25 polls after a weekend off from competition. Of the six major college polls, the Cavaliers highest ranking comes from USA Today/Coaches poll at No. 9. UVA enters play on Friday with an RPI of 15, one of five ACC teams with a top-15 RPI ranking.
• Prior to Sunday’s game, the Virginia baseball program will honor its 10 seniors and graduate students – Dylan Bowers, Drew Hamrock, Will Geerdes, Brian Gursky, Paul Kosanovich, Brandon Neeck, Devin Ortiz, Billy Price, Jimmy Sullivan and Alex Tappen – in a pregame ceremony.

AGAINST CLEMSON

• Friday will be the 168^th meeting between Clemson and Virginia. The Tigers own a 109-58 advantage in the all-time series that was first played 1955.
• Since head coach Brian O’Connor took over in 2004, UVA is 29-13 against Clemson and has won four of the last five series against the Tigers.
• The Cavaliers took two out of three at Clemson last season as part of a 14-7 finish in ACC play to conclude the season.
• Virginia won the rubber match on Sunday last year thanks to a three-run rally in the seventh inning, capped by a go-ahead, two-run single by Kyle Teel. Stephen Schoch sealed the victory with a six-out save.

MIDWEEK REVIEW

• Graduate student Alex Tappen drove in the final four runs of an 8-3 victory over Longwood on Wednesday. The Cavaliers finished the season 21-2 against non-conference foes.
• Three of the four RBI from Tappen came on a three-run, eighth inning homer, his 13^th long ball of the year.
• Making his 23^rd appearance of the season, righthander Dylan Bowers picked up his first win as a Cavalier. He was part of a quartet of UVA relievers who did not allow a run over the final four innings.
• Freshman Ethan Anderson went 2-for-4 with a double, his first collegiate triple and an RBI. He scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on an RBI groundout by Griff O’Ferrall.

CAVALIER NOTABLES

• Catcher Kyle Teel is slated to make his 100^th-straight start on Friday night. He has started all 47 games for UVA behind the plate this season and split time as an outfielder, catcher and designated hitter in 2021 as a true freshman.
• In the last five games, Alex Tappen is 9-for-21 (.429) with three home runs, four runs scored and 10 RBI. The graduate student risen to the occasion in ACC play this season, leading the team in batting average (.379), home runs (9), hits (36) and RBI (39) in 24 league games this season.
• Devin Ortiz has reached base in 14-straight games, the longest active streak on the team. Griff O’Ferrall and Teel are right behind him reaching in 11 consecutive contests.
• O’Ferrall has led off and played shortstop in all 47 games for UVA as a true freshman. He’s statistically the third-toughest batter in the ACC to strikeout and is ranked fifth in the ACC in stolen bases with 16.
• Centerfielder Chris Newell has homered in three of his last five games to up his season total to 11 on the season.

REWRITING THE RECORD BOOKS

• Virginia has homered in nine-straight games and is two home runs shy of matching the school single-season record of 67 set back 1988. It took the 1988 club 52 games to reach the 67-home run mark.

• Jake Gelof sits alone in third on Virginia’s single-season home run list with 17 in 47 games the season. The 17 are the most in the Brian O’Connor era (2004-present) and trail Brian Buchanan (22 in 1994) and Jon Benick (18 in 2001) for the most in program history.
• Gelof is also having a historic season driving in runs. He recorded his 68^th RBI of the season to stand alone in second place on UVA single season RBI list. He only trails Pavin Smith who dove in 77 in 2017.
• With 15 RBI in the last nine games, Tappen has shot up the single-season RBI list and now is tied for sixth with UVA Hall of Famers Jarrett Paker and Steven Proscia with 65. 

MOST RBI IN A SINGLE SEASON UVA HISTORY

Single Season RBI Duos – UVA History
2022 – Jake Gelof (68), Alex Tappen (65) – 133
2017 – Pavin Smith (77), Cam Simmons (56) – 133
2015 – Kenny Towns (67), Matt Thaiss (64) – 131
2009 – Jarrett Parker (65), Phil Gosselin (64) – 129
2010 – Steven Proscia (65), Phil Gosselin (61) – 126

• Wednesday marked the 208th game of Tappen’s career. He is tied with Kenny Towns (2012-15) for the eighth-most in program history.
• With Chris Newell’s 10^th home run of the season coming on May 1 against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers have three players with double-digit home runs for the first time since 2010. The Cavaliers have never had four reach double digits in the same season.

Three players w/ 10+ HRs – Same Season

2022 – Jake Gelof (17), Alex Tappen (13), Chris Newell (10)
2010 – Phil Gosselin (11), Jarrett Parker (10), Steven Proscia (10)
2002 – Mark Reynolds (15), Dan Street (12), Robert Word (11)

• Tappen’s home run against Longwood was the 26^th of his career, moving him into the top-10 all-time at UVA.

 MOST CAREER HOMERS ALL-TIME AT UVA

ON THE MOUND

• Brian Gursky will get the nod on Friday night after starting the middle game of the weekend in all but two series this season. Gursky has the fourth-lowest ERA in the ACC at 2.53 over 53.1 innings pitched. In 10 starts by Gursky, Virginia is 9-1 and the Cavalier offense is outscoring its opponents 118-35.
• Junior Nate Savino is seeking his first win since March 25, an 8-2 series opening win over Wake Forest. The lefthander has pitched into the sixth inning in each of his last three starts. He struck out seven batters in 5.2 innings against Virginia Tech, the most since fanning eight against Boston College on March 18.
• Jake Berry is scheduled to make his seventh-straight ACC start this Sunday. The southpaw held Virginia Tech hitless over his first three innings before the Hokies got the first three runners aboard in the fourth to plate a pair of runs. Berry is 3-0 when pitching into the fifth inning this season.
• Virginia comes into the weekend with the lowest ERA (3.59) in the ACC and the 12^th-lowest in the country. The Cavaliers have allowed 7.34 hits per game the eighth-fewest of any staff in the nation.
• UVA pitchers have 10.9 batters per nine innings, the eighth-highest ration in the NCAA.
• Virginia eclipsed the 500-strikeout mark for the season with a 12-K performance against Longwood on Wednesday. It marks the 11^th time in program history UVA has struck out 500 or more batters in a season. The Cavaliers fanned a school-record 687 batters last season.
• Virginia has seven shutouts this season, one behind national leader Vanderbilt. Virginia is one of seven teams in the country with seven or more shutouts (Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Stanford, Central Michigan, Omaha).

CAVALIERS AT THE PLATE

• Virginia is the No. 3 scoring offense in the country, averaging 9.4 runs per game. The Cavaliers have totaled 442 runs in 47 games, the sixth most national and second behind Wake Forest (453) for the ACC lead.
• The Cavaliers have scored 10 or more runs in a game 22 times this season, including 20 of the 31 games at Disharoon Park in 2022.
• Virginia has scored five or more runs in a single inning 25 times this season. The seven runs in the 10^th against UNC on April 23 marked the ninth time UVA has scored seven or more in a single frame.
• UVA ranks in the top-10 nationally in batting average (3rd), on-base percentage (5^th) and hits (8th).