No. 19 Virginia Welcomes Rhode Island for Three-Game Set

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 19 Virginia (8-0) will play its final non-conference weekend series before ACC play begins next week when it hosts Rhode Island (3-3) at Disharoon Park beginning with a doubleheader at noon on Saturday (March 4). The series wraps up on Sunday at 1 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: ACCNX | RADIO: Saturday – Virginia Sports App/VirginiaSports.com – Sunday – WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA.com) | LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com

PARKING

Due to the men’s basketball game against Louisville at JPJ, FREE baseball parking will be available only in the Emmet/Ivy Garage. The athletic department will run a shuttle for baseball and softball to and from EIG for patrons through 5 p.m.

BASKETBALL TICKET OFFER

Show your men’s basketball vs. Louisville ticket at the Disharoon Park Box Office on Copeley Road to receive a free general admission ticket to Saturday’s baseball games.

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS

SUNDAY: Youth Day! Remember to claim those free youth GA tickets with the purchase of an adult GA ticket and enjoy all the free, family-friendly activities throughout the Dish!

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP

Saturday, March 4 (Game 1)
URI: RHP Sean Sposato (0-1, 6.97 ERA, 10.1 IP, 4 BB, 11 SO)
Virginia: RHP Nick Parker (2-0, 3.27 ERA, 11.0 IP, 0 BB, 16 SO)

Saturday, March 4 (Game 2)
URI: LHP Trystan Levesque (2-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP, 1 BB, 14 SO)
Virginia: RHP Brian Edgington (2-0, 2.89 ERA, 9.1 IP, 1 BB, 12 SO)

Sunday, March 5
URI: RHP Braden Perry (1-1, 9.00 ERA, 7.0 IP, 2 BB, 7 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jack O’Connor (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 11.0 IP, 4 BB, 10 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Going into this weekend’s action, Virginia is one of nine unbeaten teams remaining in college baseball and one of four ACC teams without a loss (Wake Forest, NC State, Georgia Tech).
• Virginia is 8-0 for the second-straight season and the seventh time under head coach Brian O’Connor. UVA has gone 9-0 and 10-0 six times since 2004. Virginia has been 11-0 four times in O’Connor’s tenure (2008, 2009, 2013 & 2022).
• O’Connor enters the weekend three wins away from 800 for his career. He’s looking to become the eighth baseball coach in ACC history to reach 800 wins at an ACC school.
• Virginia comes into the series with a 10-game winning streak against non-conference opponents at Disharoon Park
• The Cavaliers enter the weekend action ranked fourth in the country in batting average (.357), fifth in ERA (1.80) and 14^th in fielding percentage (.989). UVA and Wake Forest are the only two programs in the country to rank in the top-15 in all three categories.

MIDWEEK REVIEW

• Led by lefty Connelly Early, five UVA pitchers combined for a three-hit shutout against VMI on Tuesday at Disharoon Park. Early logged five innings and struck out eight batters, one shy of matching a career high.
• The four Cavalier relievers, Alex Greene, Angelo Tonas, Jake Berry and Jay Woolfolk did not allow a hit in the final four innings of work. Woolfolk tossed a scoreless ninth inning and recorded his first career save.
• Kyle Teel provided the offense, driving in all three runs with two outs. His bases loaded, two-out single in the third broke up a scoreless tie. He added an insurance run in the seventh with a two-out, opposite field double.

ON THE MOUND

• In last weekend’s series against Columbia, the three Cavalier starting pitchers – Nick Parker, Brian Edgington and Jack O’Connor, combined to allow just two runs in 17 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts.
• Parker has yet to issue a walk in 11 innings pitched this season. He is one of 11 pitchers with at least 11 innings pitched that has yet to walk a batter. He has 42 career starts, the third-most of any active DI college pitcher. Dating back to last season at Coastal Carolina, Parker has won his last five starts.
• Edgington struck out nine batters against Columbia, the fifth time in his career he has struck out nine or more in a game. His only run allowed was a solo homer to lead off the game by Columbia’s Cole Hage.
• Both Parker and Edgington sit on 198 strikeouts for their careers. Parker fanned 182 batters in four seasons with Coastal Carolina while Edgington had 167 in three seasons at Elon and 19 in 2018 with St. Joseph’s.
• Jack O’Connor was about as efficient as you can get in his Disharoon Park debut. He needed just 76 pitches go seven innings. He sat down the first eight batters in order and faced just three batters in four of the six innings that he worked.
• Jake Berry has made three relief appearances this season and allowed one hit over eight innings of work. His 1.12 hits allowed per nine innings is the lowest in the ACC and the sixth lowest in the country.
• The five Cavalier first years that have pitched in a game this season, Jack O’Connor, Bradley Hodges, Evan Blanco, Cullen McKay and Kevin Jaxel have not allowed a single run in a combined 18.1 innings pitched this season.

AGAINST RHODE ISLAND

• Virginia and Rhode Island will meet for the first time since 2010 when the Cavaliers was the No. 1 ranked team in the country.
• The Cavaliers won all three games by a combined score of 43-7.
• UVA is 10-0 all-time against Rhode Island in a series that began in 1961.
• Rhode Island is one of four A-10 team UVA will square off against in 2023 (George Washington, Richmond, VCU).

PLAYER NOTES

• Kyle Teel continued his eye-popping success with the bases loaded in his career. In three seasons he is 9-for-14 (.643) with a triple, four home runs and 33 RBI with the bases juiced. His four career grand slams and hit three last season, both the most of any Cavalier since 2000.
• On Friday, Teel was one of 65 catchers named to the initial Buster Posey National Collegiate Catcher of the Year Award Watch List.
• Ethan Anderson, Jake Gelof, Ethan O’Donnell, Casey Saucke and Teel have reached base safely in all eight games this season.
• O’Donnell is two hits shy of 100 for his career. He has 11 hits in his first eight games as a Cavalier.
• Jake Gelof has 28 career home runs, tied for the sixth-most in program history. He is two shy of matching UVA Hall of Famer Brian Buchanan’s 30 hit from 1992-94. Only five players in UVA history have hit 30 career home runs.
• Griff O’Ferrall who is 2-for-2 on stolen bases this year is now 19-21 for his career. The .905 career stolen base percentage is the sixth-highest of any Cavaliers since 2000.

DOUBLE DIPPING

• After playing only two doubleheaders in all of 2022, the Cavaliers are playing doubleheaders in back-to-back weekends in the early parts of 2023.
• UVA is 93-38-1 in doubleheaders under Brian O’Connor (2004-present).
• The Cavaliers swept Columbia in a twinbill last weekend, the first doubleheader sweep in the regular season since 2019. UVA split its doubleheaders against Duke and Clemson last season.