ACC Play Begins Friday for No. 17 Virginia in Chapel Hill

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 17 Virginia (12-0, 0-0 ACC) will open up its Atlantic Coast Conference slate this weekend with a three-game road series at No. 14 North Carolina (11-3, 0-0 ACC). . The series opener is scheduled for a 5 p.m. first pitch and Saturday’s doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. All three games will air live on ACCNX.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: ACCNX | RADIO: WINA 98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA.com (Fri/Sat- 1) / Virginia Sports App/VirginiaSports.com (Sat – 2) / | LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Friday – March 10, 5 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Nick Parker (2-0, 4.60 ERA, 15.2 IP, 3 BB, 22 SO)
North Carolina: RHP Max Carlson (0-0, 2.89 ERA, 18.2 IP, 5 BB, 21 SO)

Saturday – March 11, 1 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Brian Edgington (3-0, 1.76 ERA, 15.1 IP, 3 BB, 22 SO)
North Carolina: RHP Connor Bovair (1-0, 1.76 ERA, 15.1 IP, 7 BB, 14 SO)

Saturday – March 11, 45 mins after conclusion of game 1
Virginia: RHP Jack O’Connor (1-0, 1.72 ERA, 15.2 IP, 8 BB, 14 SO)
North Carolina: RHP Jake Knapp (2-0, 3.00 ERA, 15.0 IP, 5 BB, 13 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia is one of three unbeaten teams remaining in college baseball – Alabama (14-0) & NC State (13-0). It marks the second-straight year, the Cavaliers are one of the last three undefeated teams in the country.
• UVA is ranked higher in five of the six major college baseball polls. D1Baseball is the only poll to list North Carolina higher (No. 14).
• This weekend marks the first time since 2017 that both Virginia and North Carolina are ranked in their annual Coastal Division showdown. Either Virginia and/or North Carolina has been nationally ranked when playing one another in each of the last 18 ACC series.
• Friday’s series opener will be UVA’s second true road game of the year and only third game away from Disharoon Park this season.
• Virginia is 12-0 for the fourth time under head coach Brian O’Connor (2009, 2013, 2022 & 2023. The Cavaliers won their first 14 games in 2009, 2013 & 2022 and have only been 15-0 to start the season once in program history (2009).
• The Cavaliers rank third in the country in team batting average (.365), fifth in team ERA (2.29) and sixth in fielding percentage (.988). Virginia is the team in the country to rank in the top 20 in all three categories.

NATIONALLY ACCLAIMED

• Virginia enters the weekend with the most doubles of any NCAA team with 39.
• The Cavaliers currently boast the third-highest scoring offense in the country, averaging 11.7 runs per game.
• UVA’s 161 hits are the seventh most of any team in the country. It has posted single-game hit efforts of 25 (vs. Longwood) and 20 (vs. Navy) this season.
• On the pitching side the Cavalier hurlers rank second in the country in shutouts (3), 13^th in hits allowed per game (6.62), seventh in WHIP (1.01) and seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (2.46).

AGAINST THE HEELS

• North Carolina is the only opponent that Virginia has played 300 games against. The all-time series dates back to 1891 with the Tar Heels holding a 188-116-4 advantage.
• Virginia hasn’t taken a series in Chapel Hill since sweeping the Tar Heels in 2015.
• Head coach Brian O’Connor owns a 30-30 mark against North Carolina since taking over in 2004.
• The series was highlighted by a seesaw, 10-inning battle in the series-clinching game on Saturday. Devin Ortiz hit a walk-off grand slam in the bottom of the tenth to punctuate a UVA victory.

THEY CALL THAT A WINNING STREAK

• Virginia has put together a win streak of 12 or more games 10 times in the 135-year history of the program, all have come under the direction of head coach Brian O’Connor (2004-present).

Longest Win Streaks in UVA History

*Streak started at beginning of season

ON THE MOUND

• Despite 2023 being his first season in the ACC, Nick Parker is scheduled to make his third start against North Carolina. He took a no-decision in a 4-3 loss to the Tar Heels as a member of the Coastal Carolina program last season after he pitched 5.0 innings, allowed two runs and struck out six batters. The Tar Heels won on a walk-off single by Mac Horvath in the ninth inning.
• The last Cavalier to start three games against North Carolina was Adam Haseley (2015-17).
• Parker had his shortest outing of the young 2023 season last weekend, after getting lifted with two outs in the fifth against Rhode Island. He went into the URI series without issuing a walk, a streak he was able to run up to 14-straight innings before walking the leadoff man in the top of the fourth.
• Brian Edgington is one nine ACC pitchers with three wins on the year and his ranked eighth amongst ACC arms with 22 strikeouts. The righthander fanned 10 batters in a 13-0 shutout of URI last week, the fourth time in his career with double-digit strikeouts.
• Parker and Edgington each eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark for their career last week. Virginia is the only staff in the country that features multiple pitchers with 200 or more career strikeouts. Edgington’s 209 career Ks are the 13^th most among active NCAA players in the country, one behind Wake Forest’s Rhett Lowder for the most by an ACC pitcher.
• Righthander Jack O’Connor allowed his first runs of the season last weekend against URI after going the first 11 innings of his college career without a runner crossing home plate. He surrendered a home run to the first batter of the game last Sunday and pitched into the fifth inning for his third-straight start.
• The Cavaliers are one of nine teams in the country and one of three in the ACC (Duke & NC State) with three shutouts on the year.
• The Cavaliers rank fifth in the NCAA in strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.72) and have the ninth-lowest WHIP (1.03) of any staff in the nation.
• UVA’s bullpen sports a 2.23 ERA in 44.1 innings pitched. Jake Berry has made five relief appearances and has yielded only two hits in 10.2 innings pitched. He has pitched in two of UVA’s three shutouts, has a hold and one save to his credit.
• Virginia’s bullpen has inherited nine runners in 11 games this season and the only one to score was against Connelly Early in the season opener against Navy.

MAN OF TEEL

• Going into the weekend, Kyle Teel is batting an eye-popping .568, the third highest batting average in the country. The two hitters in front of him for the national lead, Steve Luttazi (UMass) and Noah Rivera (Hartford) have a combined 10 hits in 15 at bats on the year.
• Teel’s go-ahead RBI double in the bottom of the first inning against William & Mary, was his ninth hit in 10 at bats. He finished the day 2-for-4 with and RBI, his team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season.
• In addition to leading the ACC in batting average going into league play, Teel ranks fourth in hits per game (2.08), sixth in hits (25) and fifth in on-base percentage (.642).
• He’s statistically the third-toughest player to strikeout in the ACC going down on strikes only twice this season (once per every 26.5 plate appearance)
• In four games last week, the Virginia catcher was 12-for-17 (.706) with eight runs scored, three doubles and nine RBI. He put together back-to-back four-hit games against URI, the fourth and fifth four-hit performances of his career.
• In addition to his cartoon numbers at the plate, he has now started the last 70 consecutive games at catcher for UVA. He currently holds the team’s longest consecutive games played streak which now sits at 122-straight dating back 2021.

CHASING HISTORY

• Jake Gelof is one home run away from becoming the sixth member of Virginia’s 30 career-home run club. In his final at bat against Rhode Island on Sunday he hit a solo shot over the left field wall, his team-best fourth of the season.
• One more home run and Gelof would tie UVA Baseball Hall of Famer Brian Buchanan for the fifth most in program history. The last UVA batter to hit 30 home runs in a career was Mark Reynolds who hit 35 from 2002-04.
• He has hit 29 home runs in 108 career games played. Friday would be his 100^th start of his collegiate career.

PLAYER NOTES

• Ethan Anderson, Ethan O’Donnell, Casey Saucke and Kyle Teel have each reached base in all 12 games this season. Anderson currently holds the team’s longest hit streak which he extended to nine games with a single in the sixth inning against William & Mary.
• Anderson goes into ACC play tied for the league lead with UNC’s Tomas Frick and FSU’s Colton Vincent with seven. Anderson has seven hits in his last nine at bats including a season-high four hits in the nightcap of a doubleheader against Rhode Island.
• Ethan O’Donnell recorded his 100^th hit of his career on Saturday with a home run in the eighth inning of game one. He came into the season with 87 hits in two seasons at Northwestern. He is one of five players on the Cavalier roster with 100 collegiate hits – Kyle Teel (156), Tommy Courtney (136), Chris Baker (132), Jake Gelof (126), O’Donnell (104).
• Gelof produced his fourth, four-RBI day of 2023 in the final game against Rhode Island on Sunday. The program’s single season record holder for RBIs has now driven in a run in his last four games. His 21 RBI in the first 12 games of the season are the sixth-most in the ACC.