No. 21 Virginia Staves Off JMU Comeback Effort

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 21 Virginia (36-11) scored the game’s first eight runs and held off James Madison (24-19) for a 9-8 victory on Wednesday (May 3) at Disharoon Park. Virginia improved to 24-0 in non-conference play this season and has won 28-consecutive regular-season non-ACC games dating back to 2022.

For the fourth time this season, starting pitcher Connelly Early produced a quality start. He did not allow a run over six innings and fanned six batters. He moved into a tie for the ACC lead with his ninth win of the season. Jay Woolfolk completed the four-out save and stranded the tying run on second base for his seventh save of the season.

Ethan O’Donnell put forth his third four-hit game of the season, going 4-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. He was robbed of a fifth hit by JMU’s Trevon Dabney, who made a full extension diving play in right center the eighth inning. Kyle Teel and Anthony Stephan each had three hits and were two of six multi-hit performances in the Cavalier lineup.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• UVA scored in the first inning for the 25th time this year, plating a pair of runs. O’Donnell scored on a wild pitch to put UVA on the board and Jake Gelof scored on an infield single by Kyle Teel.
• Three-straight two-out, RBI hits in the bottom of the second by O’Donnell, Gelof and Teel powered a four-run second inning. Gelof’s two-out double scored O’Donnell from first base, his 73rd RBI of the season.

• Casey Saucke tripled home UVA’s seventh run of the evening and later scored on a wild pitch to extend Virginia’s lead to 8-0 after five. It was Saucke’s first triple of the season and fourth of his career.
• The final Cavalier run, which proved pivotal, came in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly to right field by Griff O’Ferrall that allowed Saucke to score.
• JMU scored all eight of its runs its final three turns at the plate. Four of the eight runs surrendered by the Cavaliers were unearned.
• Dukes catcher Jason Schiavone made it a three-run game in the eighth with a two-out, two-run homer to left field. With the game 9-6, the Cavaliers went to Woolfolk to get the final out of the eighth.
• JMU pulled within a run in the ninth, scoring on a wild pitch and an RBI ground out by Mason Dunaway. The Dukes then drew a pair of walks before Woolfolk induced back-to-back flyouts to end the game.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The win for Early was the 20th of his career, tied for the seventh-most among active NCAA pitchers. He is the fourth Cavalier since the 2016 season to record nine or more wins in a season – Connor Jones (11-1 in 2016), Andrew Abbott (9-6 in 2021) and Adam Haseley (9-3 in 2013).
• Ethan Anderson recorded his 22nd double of the season, the most in the ACC. He is one double shy of matching the school record held by Dan Street (2002) and Stephen Bruno (2012).
• Gelof went 2-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI. The two doubles upped his season total to 20 and is the third Cavalier (Anderson – 22, Teel – 20) with 20 or more doubles this season. It marks the first time in program history three players have recorded 20+ doubles in a season.
• Along with a multi-hit effort at the plate, Saucke contributed on defense with his third outfield assist of the season, as the first leg of a 9-4-2 putout at the plate to end the top of the third inning. It was his fifth career outfield assist.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will have the next six days off for final exams before returning home for their final non-conference game of the season on Wednesday, May 10 against Radford. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.