CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 8 Virginia (17-2) will host High Point (7-12) on Tuesday (March 21) and Georgetown (11-8) on Wednesday (March 22) to begin a six-game homestand at Disharoon Park. Both games are scheduled for 4 p.m. starts.

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: ACCNX (Both Games)
RADIO: Virginia Sports App/VirginiaSports.com (Both Games)
LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Tuesday – 4 p.m.
High Point: RHP Braden Halladay (1-1, 5.87 ERA, 7.2 IP, 3 BB, 10 SO)
Virginia: LHP Connelly Early (4-0, 1.83 ERA, 19.2 IP, 4 BB, 24 SO)

Wednesday – 4 p.m.
Georgetown: RHP Kai Leckszas (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 9.2 IP, 3 BB, 6 SO)
Virginia: LHP Bradley Hodges (0-0, 3.86 ERA, 9.1 IP, 6 BB, 11 SO)

WEEKDAY PROMOS

  • Taco Tuesday at The Dish – Fans can enjoy $3 Tacos at the concession stand
  • Wednesday: Hot Dogs are discounted to $2 

LEADING OFF

  • Virginia jumped up six spots to No. 8 in this week’s D1Baseball Top 25, the first time UVA is in the top-10 this season. UVA ascended to as high as No. 4 last season and spent a total of three weeks inside the top-10 in 2022.
  • The Cavaliers return home after a winning five of the last seven games, including four on the road against nationally ranked opponents (then-No. 14 North Carolina & then-No. 23 NC State).
  • Virginia is 11-0 at Disharoon Park this season and have won 12-straight at home dating back to last season.
  • Against non-conference opponents, Virginia has won 15-straight games at Disharoon Park with its last loss coming against Old Dominion on April 12, 2022.
  • Virginia has won 17 of its first 19 games this season. UVA has won 18 or more of its first 20 games four times in program history (2009, 2011, 2013, 2022). Last season the Cavaliers matched a school record by winning 19 of its first 20 games.
  • UVA enters midweek action as one of seven two-loss teams in the country (LSU, South Carolina, Arkansas, Kentucky, ODU and Louisville).
  • The Cavaliers rank fourth in the country in team batting average (.335), fourth in fielding percentage (.988) and seventh in team ERA (2.63). Only Virginia and the consensus No. 1 team in the country, LSU, rank in the top-20 in all three categories.

OFF ON THE RIGHT FOOT

  • For the second-straight season UVA has begun ACC play with consecutive series wins and sit in second place in the Coastal Division behind 6-1 Miami. It marks the first time since 2016 UVA has won back-to-back regular season series wins over Top-25 opponents to start the season. UVA took two out of three against then-No. 13 North Carolina and then-No. 1 Miami back in 2016.
  • Virginia clinched its first road series win in 14 tries against NC State in Raleigh by winning the first two games against the Wolfpack. It was the first time UVA won back-to-back road games against NC State since sweeping a doubleheader in 1969.
  • Virginia played in its first one-run game of the season, securing a 2-1 win in the series opener against NC State. UVA played in five one-run games last season, the fewest in Brian O’Connor’s tenure.
  • The Cavaliers clinched the series with their fourth shutout of the season in game two. Brian Edgington did the bulk of the work, pitching 6.1 scoreless innings.
  • UVA was one strike away from a sweep after a dramatic ninth inning, but NC State rallied with four hits and three runs to walk-off with a 5-4 in the Saturday finale. Virginia trailed 2-1 for the majority of the contest until back-to-back home runs by Jake Gelof and Kyle Teel.

THE HOME RUN CHASE

  • Jake Gelof homered in his sixth-straight ACC series with his go-ahead ninth inning home run against NC State on Saturday.
  • He moved into sole possession of fifth place on UVA all-time home run list with his 31st of his career.
  • Only six players in UVA history have 30 career home runs and the last Cavalier to eclipse the 30-home run mark was Mark Reynolds (2002-04).

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. Jake Gelof (2021-present) 31

ON THE MOUND FOR THE HOOS

  • Connelly Early will toe the rubber for the fifth consecutive Tuesday. He has won all four of his starts in a Cavalier uniform.
  • Early is one of eight ACC pitchers with four or more wins. He’s looking to join a club of seven pitchers nationally with five wins this season.
  • Early ranks in the top-10 in the ACC in five categories – second in wins (4), seventh in strikeout-to-walk ratio (6.00), eighth in ERA (1.83), eighth in walks-hits per nine innings (1.83) and ninth in WHIP (0.97).
  • On Wednesday, freshman Bradley Hodges will make his first start in a Cavalier uniform. He will join classmate Jack O’Connor as the only first years to start a game for the Hoos this year.
  • Hodges has worked multiple innings in five of his six collegiate innings this season, including the final three innings against Rhode Island on March 4 for his first save.
  • The last four Cavalier starters, including Early have yielded just three earned runs in the last 20 innings pitched.
  • Virginia is one of seven pitching staffs in the country with four or more shutouts (LSU, McNeese, Tennessee, Florida, Nicholls and Vanderbilt.

RUNS EARLY AND OFTEN

  • Virginia has scored 30 runs in the first inning the season, the most of any other frame.
  • The Cavaliers have scored in the first inning in 10 of the first 19 games this season.
  • The UVA offense has scored five or more runs in an inning nine times in 2023.
  • Against non-conference opponents, Virginia has trailed only once. The Cavaliers were down 1-0 against Columbia after the first inning before coming back for an 11-3 victory on Feb. 24.
  • Virginia enters the midweek averaging 9.9 runs per game, the second-most in the ACC and the 11th highest scoring offense in the country.

PLAYER NOTES

  • Catcher Kyle Teel has reached base safely in all 19 games this season and enter the midweek with the ACC’s top batting average (.444). He has homered in the past two games and upped his season total four.
  • Virginia is the only team in the ACC with three players ranked in the top-11 in hits – Teel (5th – 32), Ethan Anderson (9th – 31) and Ethan O’Donnell (11th – 28).
  • O’Donnell and Anderson lead the team with 10 multi-hit games. Anderson and Teel each have two four-hit games.
  • Jake Gelof went 5-for-13 with two doubles, a triple, a home run and drove in six of UVA’s 13 runs against NC State this past weekend. Gelof has 30 RBI on the season, second most in the ACC and 17th most in the country.
  • Gelof and Teel were the first Cavaliers to hit back-to-back home runs since Ethan Anderson and Casey Saucke hit consecutive homers against Louisville on May 20. The Cavaliers hit back-to-back home runs four times last season.