NOTRE DAME, Ind. – Notre Dame (21-15, 9-10 ACC) slugged six home runs in the series opener on Friday (April 21) to come away with a 10-7 victory over No. 8 Virginia (32-7, 12-7 ACC) at Frank Eck Stadium.

Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan O’Donnell, the top two batters in the UVA lineup, combined to go 6-for-9 with a home run, two runs scored and three RBI. O’Donnell hit his ninth home run of the season, a solo shot to right center in the ninth inning. Casey Saucke also put forth a multi-hit performance, his third in the last five games, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs scored.

The Cavalier offense collected 10 hits, the fifth double-digit hit effort in the last six games. The loss marked the third time this season UVA has a lost a game despite scoring seven or more runs.

BRIAN O’CONNOR POSTGAME COMMENTS

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Virginia scored its 59th first inning run to get the scoring started when Jake Gelof plated O’Ferrall on an RBI groundout to second base. The RBI was the 68th of the season for Gelof.
• The first hit of the ballgame for the Fighting Irish left the ballpark when Jack Penney led off the second inning with a solo homer to center and tied the game at one.
• The Cavaliers recaptured the lead in the top of the fourth by posting four runs. Three-consecutive run-scoring hits, capped by a two-RBI double by O’Ferrall, his third hit in his first three at bats gave UVA a 5-1 advantage.

• Notre Dame scored the nine of the game’s next 11 runs and took the lead for good in the fifth thanks to a three-run frame. Fighting Irish freshman Estevan Moreno hit the first of his three home runs in the contest to lead off the fifth. Notre Dame scored the go-ahead run on a two-out RBI double by Vinny Martinez.
• Fighting Irish starting pitcher Aidan Tyrell retired the final seven batters he faced and was credited with his seventh win of the season he struck out eight batters in six innings of work.
• The Cavaliers posted two runs in their final two turns at the plate. After a one out double, Saucke eventually came around to a sacrifice fly by Anthony Stephan in the 8th. UVA pulled within three in the ninth on a two-out, solo home run by O’Donnell. Notre Dame reliever Radek Birkholz struck the final batter of the game out to record a three-inning save.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• O’Ferrall led off the game with a single to shortstop and extended his hit streak to 16 games, the longest by a Cavalier this season. He’s reached base safely in 30-straight games. He finished the game 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. O’Ferrall raised his average to .431 and has reached base safely in 30-straight games.
• O’Ferrall has a team-high, 10 three-hit games. Over the course of his 16-game hit streak the shortstop is batting .538 (35-for-65) with six doubles nine RBI and 28 runs scored.
• Gelof moved into sole possession of fourth place on UVA’s single season RBI list with his 68th RBI of the year.

UP NEXT

The three-game set in against the Irish continues on Saturday (April 22) with a 3 p.m. first pitch from Frank Eck Stadium. The Cavaliers will have righthander Nick Parker (3-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by fellow righty Blake Hely (1-1).