CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – After an ACC road series win over the weekend, No. 14 Virginia (14-1) returns home on Tuesday (March 14) for a non-conference tilt against George Washington (4-12) at Disharoon Park. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on ACCNX.

HOW TO FOLLOW

TV: ACCNX | RADIO: Virginia Sports App/VirginiaSports.com | LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS

Tuesday – 4 p.m.
George Washington: LHP Shugy Klein (n/a – collegiate debut)
Virginia: LHP Connelly Early (3-0, 2.16 ERA, 16.2 IP, 4 BB, 21 SO)

LEADING OFF

  • Tuesday marks the lone home game in a seven-game span for the Cavaliers. Virginia will be back on the road beginning Thursday at No. 23 NC State.
  • UVA was the last undefeated team in the country winning the first 14 games of the 2023 season. Including Virginia, there are five one-loss teams in college baseball – South Carolina, LSU, Louisville & Wofford.
  • Virginia climbed three spots in the D1Baseball Top-25 to No. 14. The Cavaliers are inside the top-10 in four of the six major college baseball polls and are as high as No. 4 according to Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
  • Virginia has won 11-straight games against non-conference opponents at Disharoon Park, including all 10 this season.
  • The Cavaliers rank fourth in the country in team batting average (.351), fifth in team ERA (2.66) and sixth in fielding percentage (.987). Only Virginia and the consensus No. 1 team in the country, LSU, rank in the top-20 in all three categories.

AGAINST GEORGE WASHINGTON

  • Virginia has won 13-straight games against the Colonials, including a 10-2 victory last season at Disharoon Park.
  • Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers own a 17-1 mark against the George Washington.
  • Virginia is 28-12 all-time against George Washington in a series that was first played in 1905, a 22-1 Cavalier victory.
  • In last year’s meeting, Cavalier lefthanded pitcher, Jake Berry earned his first career win after pitching 2.1 innings of relief.
  • Back on March 30, 2011, against George Washington, Virginia’s Will Roberts pitched the 24th, nine-inning perfect game in NCAA History and the second in ACC history. The righthander needed just 98 pitches and struck out 10 batters in the historic performance.

WEEKEND IN REVIEW

  • Virginia ran its win streak against the Tar Heels to six-straight games before falling in the series finale on Saturday evening. The six-game win streak against UNC was the longest since UVA won six in-a-row from 1913-15.
  • The first three weekends of the 2023 season have included a doubleheader, only the second time since 2004 UVA has played twinbills on the first three weekends of the year (2008). The Cavaliers haven’t swept a doubleheader on the road against an ACC school since taking two from Notre Dame in 2019.
  • Virginia notched its first series win in Chapel Hill since its three-game sweep of the Tar Heels to close out the 2015 regular season.

EARLY DAY

  • The Cavaliers will hand the ball to lefthander Connelly Early who is scheduled to make his fourth start of the season. He has collected the win in three-straight appearances including his first quality start of the year against William & Mary last week (6 IP, 2 ER). He is looking to match a career-best with a win in four-straight appearances, which he accomplished last season at Army by winning his final four games of the regular season.
  • As a starting pitcher this season, Early has allowed two runs over 15 innings pitched.
  • Early enters Tuesday’s action ranked 12th in the ACC with a 2.16 ERA. His 0.90 WHIP his the fifth lowest in the ACC and his 5.25 strikeout-to-walk ratio is the eighth-best in the league.
  • Tuesday will be Early’s 20th start of his career and 35th pitching appearance. In three seasons at Army and Virginia his has a 14-6 record with a 2.86 ERA in 138.2 innings pitched. He is two strikeouts shy of No. 150 for his career (127 at Army).

30 HOME RUN CLUB

  • Cavalier third baseman Jake Gelof became the sixth member of the UVA 30 career home run club and is now tied with UVA Hall of Famer Brian Buchanan for the sixth-most career homers in program history.
  • Gelof capped off an eight-run offensive output in the series opener against North Carolina with a solo shot to right center in the sixth inning.
  • The milestone home run came in Gelof’s 100th start of his career. He has now started 97-straight games for the Cavaliers.

Most Career Home Runs in UVA History

Rk Player HR
1. E.J. Anderson (1995-98) 37
2. Mark Reynolds (2002-04) 35
  Jon Benick (1998-01) 35
4. Mike Lindner (1987-90) 33
5. Brian Buchanan (1992-94) 30
Jake Gelof (2021-present) 30

TEAM TOP TENS

  • Virginia enters goes into Tuesday ranked in the top-10 in the country in nine different categories. The Cavaliers have the fifth-highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging 10.3 runs per game.
  • The Cavaliers lead the ACC in batting average (.351), fielding percentage (.987), hits (194) sacrifice bunts (7), sacrifice flies (9), shutouts and winning percentage (.933).
  • UVA’s 174 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 fifth in the country in shutouts (3), 13th in hits allowed per game (6.82), 10th in WHIP (1.01) and 17th in walks allowed per nine innings (2.46).

HISTORIC WIN STREAK

  • The 14-straight wins to start the season was tied for the second-best start in program history. UVA has gone 14-0 to start the season four times (2009, 2013, 2022 & 2023). The Cavaliers 14-game win streaks to start the season in 2022 and 2003 both ended in the nightcap of a road ACC doubleheader.
  • 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

1. 19 2009*
2. 14 2013*
  14 2010
  14 2004
  14 2022*
  14 2023*
7. 13 2011
  13 2007
9. 12 2011

*Streak started at beginning of season

CAVALIER ARMS

  • The Cavaliers are one of 16 teams in the country and one of three in the ACC (Duke & NC State) with three shutouts on the year.
  • UVA’s bullpen sports a 2.43 ERA in 55.2 innings pitched. Jake Berry has made six relief appearances and has yielded five hits in 13.2 innings pitched. Berry has pitched in two of UVA’s three shutouts, has a hold and two saves to his credit.
  • Virginia’s bullpen has inherited 11 runners this season, only two have come around to score.

PLAYER NOTES

  • Kyle Teel enters midweek action ranked No. 2 in the country in batting average (.518). His 29 hits are the 15th most of any hitter in the country and third most in the ACC.
  • Ethan Anderson, Ethan O’Donnell, and Teel have each reached base in all 15 games this season.
  • Anderson has eight doubles this season, the eighth-most in the country. He currently holds the team’s longest hit streak which he extended to 12 games with one of UVA’s five hits against UNC in Saturday’s nightcap.
  • O’Donnell has hit safely in his last five games and hit a pair of home runs in a 5-for-14 effort against UNC over the weekend. His solo home run in the sixth inning of game two was his 20th of his career.