Battle For ACC Coastal Division Supremacy Begins Friday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7 Virginia (25-4, 8-4 ACC) will host a three-game series against No. 20 Miami (20-9, 8-4 ACC) this weekend at Disharoon Park. Both the Cavaliers and Hurricanes are in a tie for first place in the ACC Coastal Division. First pitch for the series opener on Friday (April 7) is at 8 p.m.

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

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
Friday

• Custom Virginia Baseball Decal Giveaway (visit the marketing table)
• Happy Hour – $5 hot dog/drink combo beginning at 5 p.m. and concluding through the 1st inning.
• “Tell Me Something Good Friday” – Be on the lookout for random acts of kindness, including prizes and concessions vouchers for fans throughout the game.

Saturday

• Youth Day – Bring any and all young Cavaliers to Saturday’s game. Enjoy inflatables, a balloon artist, face painter and more.
• Postgame Easter Egg Hunt – For all youth 8th grade and under in the outfield after the game

Sunday

• Postgame autographs and kids run the bases after the game.

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday – 8 p.m.
Miami: RHP Gage Ziehl (4-3, 4.58 ERA, 39.1 IP, 12 BB, 48 SO)
Virginia: RHP Brian Edgington (5-0, 1.64 ERA, 38.1 IP, 12 BB, 43 SO)

Saturday – 3 p.m.
Miami: RHP Alejandro Rosario (2-3, 8.27 ERA, 32.2 IP, 19 BB, 43 SO)
Virginia: RHP Nick Parker (3-0, 4.32 ERA, 25.0 IP, 10 BB, 34 SO)

Sunday – 1 p.m.
Miami: TBA (n/a)
Virginia: RHP Jack O’Connor (2-1, 3.27 ERA, 33.0 IP, 15 BB, 28 SO)

LEADING OFF

• The winner of this weekend’s series will take over sole possession of first place in the ACC Coastal Division. Miami was picked to win the Coastal Division and Virginia was picked to finish second in the ACC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• The Cavaliers have won all 17 games at home this season and 18-straight dating back to last season. A win in the series opener would tie UVA’s program record of 19-straight home wins established last season.
• A series victory this weekend would mark the first time UVA has won double-digit ACC games through its first 15 ACC games since 2013 and the fifth time in program history.
• Miami will be the first ranked opponent to visit Disharoon Park this season. UVA is 4-2 against ranked foes in 2023. The last matchup of two ranked teams at The Dish was last season in a three-game series that featured then-No. 7 Virginia and then-No. 11 Virginia Tech.
• Virginia won its 25th game of the year on Tuesday and is one of six teams in the country with 25 or more wins. UVA’s four losses are the second fewest in the nation, only five college baseball programs have four or fewer losses.
• Friday commences an eight-game homestand for the Cavaliers. Of the next 23 games on the schedule for Virginia, 19 will be played at Disharoon Park. UVA has seven true road games left to play this season.
• Virginia comes into the weekend as the national leader in hits (349) and doubles (83).
• As a team, the Cavaliers rank second the nation in team batting average (.333), fourth in ERA (3.09) and 11th in fielding percentage (.981). UVA is the only team in college baseball to rank in the top-10 in the country in both ERA and batting average. Only Virginia and consensus No. 1 LSU are the only teams in the country to currently rank in the top-20 in team batting average, ERA and fielding percentage.

DOUSING THE FLAMES

• Virginia held Liberty scoreless for the first seven innings and held on for a 4-1 victory in Lynchburg on Tuesday. A season-high seven pitchers combined to strike out 12 batters in the contest.
• Freshman Cullen McKay made his first collegiate start and struck out a season-high six batters in three innings pitched.
• The Cavaliers scored all four of its runs with two outs.
• UVA improved to 16-0 against non-conference opponents in 2023 and have won their last 20 games against non-ACC foes dating back to last season. Virginia’s last lost to a non-conference team came on April 19, 2022, a 9-7 extra-inning loss at VCU.

AGAINST MIAMI

• The all-time series against Miami has been a tale of two eras. From 2010-2017, Virginia won 19-of-27 matchups against the Hurricanes including eight straight games from 2011-2013. The pendulum has swung back in favor of Miami which has won 12 of the last 13 meetings. Of those 13 meetings, seven have been decided by one or two runs.
• The Hurricanes own a 37-29 advantage in the all-time series that was first played in 1985, an NCAA regional matchup in Coral Gables.
• Since joining the ACC full time in 2005, the Hurricanes hold a slight, 24-28 edge ACC regular season action.

ON THE MOUND

• With the return of Nick Parker to the rotation, Virginia will have used the trio of Edgington, Parker and O’Connor in seven of the eight weekend series this season.
• Brian Edgington will make his third series-opening start of the season and is coming off one of his best performances of the year last weekend at Virginia Tech. The righthander fanned eight batters over six innings of work and didn’t allow an earned run. It was his staff-best, third quality start of the season.
• Edgington enters Friday with 229 career strikeouts, second to only Rhett Lowder (237) for the most by an active ACC pitcher. Edgington and Parker have the most career strikeouts of any pitching duo in the country with a combined 445.
• Parker returns to the mound after exiting in the first inning of game one against Florida State when a line drive struck him in the head. In five of his six starts this season, he has pitched at least four innings, with FSU being the lone exception.
• Parker has 46 career starts to his credit over the course of his collegiate career at Coastal Carolina and UVA, the second most of any active pitcher in D-I baseball.
• First year Jack O’Connor will make his eighth-straight Sunday start. He is one of three UVA freshman to earn start a game on the mound for UVA. After not walking a batter in consecutive starts against NC State and Florida State, the righthander issued three and hit a batter at Virginia Tech in his shortest outing of his young career (1.2 innings).
• O’Connor enters the weekend with a 3.27 ERA, the 14th lowest in the ACC and the fourth lowest of any qualified Power-5 freshman.
• Despite the three games in Blacksburg in which UVA issued 19 walks and surrendered 31 hits, Virginia ranks 11th in the country in WHIP (1.23). The Cavaliers have pitched an ACC-best four shutouts in 2023 and limited opponents to two runs or less 10 times.

PRODUCTION AT THE PLATE

• The Cavaliers are averaging 9.3 runs per game, 12th most in the country and have the fourth largest scoring margin in college baseball.
• Virginia has struck out 184 times as a team this season, the fewest of any team in the ACC.
• UVA has four batters ranked in the top-10 in the ACC in batting average, no other school has two.

Highest DI Scoring Margin/Run Differential

MIDSEASON ACCOLADES

• Kyle Teel and Jake Gelof were both named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on Wednesday. Only 15 teams in the country had multiple players on the list. Gelof, a semifinalist for the award last season, was one of seven 2022 semfinalists included on this year’s midseason watch list.
• Teel garnered midseason First Team All-America honors from Perfect Game and D1Baseball. Gelof was a third team All-America selection by Perfect Game at the third base position.

PLAYER NOTES

• Teel leads the ACC with a .440 batting average and has reached base safely in all 29 games this season. He’s 10 hits shy of matching his entire season hit total from a year ago. There are nine players in college baseball to eclipse the 50-hit plateau in 2023.
• Teel leads the team with 17 multi-hit efforts this season. He has two or more hits in eight of his last 10 games.
• Griff O’Ferrall put together his fourth, four-hit game of his career in a 4-for-6 day at the plate against Liberty on Tuesday. Two of his four-hit games have come in 2023. The Cavalier shortstop has reached base safely in 20-straight games.
• Ethan O’Donnell had a monster weekend in Blacksburg and has the team’s longest active hit streak (8 games) after a single against Liberty on Tuesday., the longest active streak on the team. O’Donnell went 7-for-12 with three doubles, a home run and five RBI in three games against Virginia Tech. Four of his seven home runs have come in conference play.
• O’Donnell is batting .408 (20-for-49) in ACC play this year and has scored a team-high 14 runs.
• Jake Gelof, who leads the ACC in RBI, has driven in 21 against league foes.

THE HOME RUN CHASE

• Jake Gelof is all alone in fourth place with 34 career home runs at UVA. The junior hit a 459-foot blast in the middle game against Virginia Tech last weekend.
• Gelof leads the team with nine home runs this season, tied for the sixth-most in the ACC.
• He has homered in his last eight ACC series dating back to last season.
• 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