No. 13 Virginia Even Series Behind Parker’s Career Day

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (35-10, 13-10 ACC) evened the three-game ACC series against No. 20 Duke (30-13, 13-9 ACC) on Saturday (April 29) with a 10-2 victory at Disharoon Park. Virginia starting pitcher Nick Parker fanned a career-high 12 batters in the contest and earned his fourth victory of the season.

Parker limited the Blue Devils to just four hits and two runs over 6.2 innings of work. The righthander’s only blemishes on the scorecard were a pair of Duke solo home runs. Parker struck out the side in both the second and fifth innings and retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced. The 12 strikeouts were the most in a game by a Cavalier pitcher since Brandon Neeck fanned 16 in the 2021 Columbia Regional against Old Dominion.

The Cavalier offense produced 13 hits in the contest, the 14th time this season UVA has collected double-digit hits in an ACC game. Griff O’Ferrall went 3-for-5 with a run scored, his 13th game with three or more hits this season. Kyle Teel drove in a season-high, four runs in a 2-for-5 effort at the plate.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Both teams combined for one hit over the first three innings before Alex Stone broke the stalemate with a solo homer to lead-off the fourth inning. The long ball was his second of the series and 11th of the year.
• Virginia tied game in the bottom half with an RBI groundout from Teel that scored Ethan O’Donnell.
• O’Donnell did his part at the plate in the fifth inning with an RBI ground out that allowed Henry Godbout to score.
• The lead was short lived when Jay Beshears, the second batter of the sixth inning deposited a ball into the left field bleachers, his 10th home run of the year.
• Beginning with a three-run frame in the bottom of the sixth, Virginia went on to score eight unanswered runs to secure the victory. Anthony Stephan gave the Cavaliers the lead for good with a go-ahead RBI double down the left field line.

• After Godbout scored on a wild pitch, Harrison Didawick capped the three-run sixth inning rally with an RBI single up the middle that allowed Stephan to score from second and gave UVA a 5-2 advantage.
• UVA tacked on three more runs in the seventh on three-straight run-scoring hits off the bat of Teel, Anderson and Casey Saucke.
• With two outs in the eighth, Teel drove in his third and fourth runs of the game with an RBI double down the left field line, his 20th two-bagger of the year.
• Reliever Kevin Jaxel finished off the sixth inning for Parker and left two runners stranded. Jake Berry pitched the final two innings allowing just one base runner.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Cavaliers snapped Duke’s eight-game win streak, the longest in the ACC.
• Virginia improved to 26-3 at home this season.
• UVA is 8-2 in games that Parker starts. He was credited with his first win since March 16th at NC State.

UP NEXT

The rubber match between the two teams is scheduled for Sunday (April 30). The Cavaliers will have RHP Jack O’Connor (4-2) on the mound and he will be opposed by LHP Andrew Healy (1-0). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Disharoon Park.