Virginia Takes on Florida in Omaha OpenerVirginia Takes on Florida in Omaha Opener

Virginia Takes on Florida in Omaha Opener

OMAHA, NEB. – On day one of the Men’s College World Series, No. 7 overall seed Virginia (50-13) will be matched up against No. 2 overall seed Florida (50-15) on Friday (June 16) at 7 p.m. ET. The game is scheduled to air on ESPN and can be heard locally in Charlottesville on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) or anywhere on WINA.com

HOW TO FOLLOW
TV: ESPN
RADIO: WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA.com)
SIRIUSXM: Westwood One Broadcast: SiriusXM channel 84 and on the SXM App
LIVE STATS: VirginiaSports.com

PROBABLE PITCHING MATCHUP
Friday – 7 p.m. ET
Virginia: RHP Nick Parker (8-0, 3.81 ERA, 75.2 IP, 21 BB, 78 SO)
Florida: RHP Brandon Sproat ( 8-3, 4.69 ERA, 96.0 IP, 40 BB, 120 SO)

LEADING OFF

  • All six of Virginia’s college world series appearances have come in the last 15 years under head coach Brian O’Connor.
  • The six trips to Omaha are tied with Arkansas, Texas and TCU for the second most of any program in that span. Only Florida has more (8).
  • Virginia and Florida will square off in the College World Series for the fourth time. All three previous MCWS meetings came in 2015. UVA won a pair of one-run games and went 2-1 against the Gators to advance to the MCWS Championship Series and eventually won the program’s first national title.
  • The Cavaliers and Gators are tied for the third-most wins in the country behind Wake Forest (52) and Oral Roberts (51). The 50-win season is Virginia’s fifth since 2010.
  • Since 2020, Virginia has accumulated 139 overall wins, the most of any ACC school.
  • The Cavaliers enter the College World Series with the highest team batting average in the country (.335), doubles (169), hits (753). The UVA offense ranks in the top-10 in on-base percentage (6th), runs (7th) and scoring (8th).
  • The Cavaliers have accumulated 753 hits, the third-most ever by a Cavalier team (767 in 2009 & 759 in 2010).
  • Virginia also boasts the fourth lowest ERA in the country (3.77) and is the only team in the country to rank in the top-5 in both categories. Only Oral Roberts and Wake Forest rank in the top-20 in both categories.
  • Florida will be UVA’s first SEC opponent since facing off against Tennessee and eventual national champion Mississippi State in the 2021 MCWS. The Cavaliers are 16-16 against SEC schools in the O’Connor era (2004-present).

ROAD TO OMAHA

  • The Cavaliers dropped the first game of the Super Regional at home against Duke and rallied back to win the final two by a combined score of 26-6. It marked the fourth time (2009, 2014, 2021, 2023) UVA has lost the first game of a super regional and still advanced to Omaha.
  • The Cavaliers scored 30 runs in the three Super Regional games, the most of the 16 Super Regional teams.
  • UVA advanced to its eighth Super Regional going 3-0 with win over Army (15-1) and two over East Carolina (2-1 & 8-3).
  • All eight Super Regional appearances have come in last 15 years. Only Florida (9), Florida State (9) and LSU (9) have more super regional appearances in that span.
  • Virginia surrendered just five runs in its three regional games, the fewest of any regional team in the 2023 tournament and the fewest in program history since allowing four in the 2013 Charlottesville regional.
  • Since dropping two of three against Duke in late April, Virginia has rattled of 15 wins in its last 17 games.

NOTING THE NCAA TOURNAMENT

  • Virginia has advanced the Super Regional eight times – 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023) and reached the College World Series six times – 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2021, 2023.
  • Brian O’Connor is one of seven active coaches to win a National Championship.
  • Competing in its 20th NCAA tournament, Virginia is 67-45 in NCAA play.
  • UVA is 55-27 in the NCAA tournament since 2009, tied for the fifth-most NCAA tourney wins in that span.
  • Under O’Connor (since 2004), UVA is 61-37 in the NCAA tournament.
  • The Cavaliers captured the program’s first National Championship in 2015 in a rematch of the 2014 College World Series final. Virginia became the first ACC school to claim a national title since 1955 (Wake Forest).

ON THE MOUND

  • Nick Parker took a no-decision against Duke in his game one super regionals start despite logging his fifth quality start of the season (6.2 IP, 3 ER).
  • It snapped a streak of five-straight wins on the mound for Parker. UVA is 12-3 in games he’s started this season.
  • Friday’s contest will mark his fifth NCAA postseason start. Two of his starts came against ECU in which he totaled 15 innings, allowed one run and struck out 15 batters against the Pirates. The righthander won a 2019 NCAA Regional start against Florida A&M (W, 5.0, 3 ER, 2 SO)
  • Friday will be Parker’s 56th collegiate start (40 at Coastal, 16 at UVA). The 56 starts will tie Max Loven (North Dakota St.) for the most starts by an active NCAA DI pitcher.
  • His best start of the year came against Duke on April 29. Parker struck out 12 batters, 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 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 STAFF AT A GLANCE

  • With All-ACC selections, Brian Edgington and Connelly Early, UVA has 34 pitchers listed on the team since 2004, the most of any other ACC program in that span.
  • The Cavalier pitching staff boasts the fourth-lowest team ERA (3.77) in the country and second lowest in the ACC.
  • Of the 594 strikeouts (16th most in NCAA) recorded by Cavalier pitching, 204 have come looking, the most in the country.
  • Under the guidance of pitching coach Drew Dickinson, UVA hurlers have produced two of the three 600 strikeout seasons – 687 in 2021 and 617 in 2023. The Cavaliers struck out 598 last season, the fourth-most in school history.
  • The UVA staff also boast college baseball’s 4th-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.22) and rank 6th in walks allowed per nine innings (3.11).

THE UNDISPUTED HR & RBI KING

  • Jake Gelof’s two-run homer in the eighth inning of game two of the Super Regional against broke Brian Buchanan’s 29-year-old single-season program home mark of 22 and Steven Proscia’s career RBI mark of 182 in one swing.
  • He broke UVA’s all-time home run record against Richmond on April with his 38th of his career, a solo shot to left field on an 0-2 pitch.
  • Gelof came back the next afternoon and hit another home run, his fifth in the last five games to up his career total to 39. It marked the first time in his career he hit five home runs in a five-game stretch.
  • It took Gelof 454 at bats and 129 career games to eclipse UVA’s all-time mark, 39 games fewer than any Cavalier to hit 30 or more home runs in a 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. Jake Gelof (2021-present) 48
2. E.J. Anderson (1995-98) 37
3. Mark Reynolds (2002-04) 35
Jon Benick (1998-01) 35
5. Mike Lindner (1987-90) 33

Most Home Runs Single Season in UVA History

1. Jake Gelof (2023) 23
Brian Buchanan (1994) 22
3. Jake Gelof (2022) 21
4. Jon Benick (2001) 18
5. Jarrett Parker (2009) 16
Joe Koshansky (2004) 16

Most Career RBI in UVA History

1. Jake Gelof (2021-present) 185
2. Steven Proscia (2009-11) 182
3. Pavin Smith (2015-17) 178
4. Sean Doolittle (2005-07) 167
5. Ryan Gilleland (1995-98) 166

CHASING TEAMMATES

  • Griff O’Ferrall and Kyle Teel each have 105 hits going into MCWS play, a school record. Only one other player in UVA history has eclipsed 100 hits in a season, Phil Gosselin in 2010.
  • Teel hit the century mark in style, blasting a ninth-inning home run in the regional final against East Carolina.
  • Teel and Ethan Anderson both co-hold the school record for doubles in a season with 25.
  • Teel broke UVA’s single season doubles record on May 24 with his 24th double of the season and

HIT MACHINES

  • Kyle Teel and Griff O’Ferrall are the first Cavalier duo with 90+ hits in the same season. The 210 combined hits between the pair are the most by any two teammates in the country.
  • Ethan Anderson needs five more hits to become a member of Virginia’s 100-hit club.

Most Hits in a Single Season in UVA History

1. Kye Teel (2023) 105
2. Griff O’Ferrall (2023) 105
3. Phil Gosselin (2010) 100
4. Ethan Anderson (2023) 95
5. Jarrett Parker (2009) 94
  •  The Cavaliers have three players that have reached the 70 runs scored mark this season. Ethan Anderson (one away) and Kyle Teel (three away) are withing striking distance. Prior to this season, only on player, Jarrett Parker had scored 70 runs in the season and UVA has a potential of five to score 70+ on the same team.

Most Runs in a Single Season in UVA History

1. Jarrett Parker (2009) 76
2 Griff O’Ferrall (2023) 74
4. Jake Gelof (2023) 71
  Ethan O’Donnell (2023) 71
5. Ethan Anderson (2023) 69

*Kyle Teel as 67

SEEING DOUBLE

  • Virginia leads the country with a school-record, 161 doubles.
  • UVA racked up seven doubles against Army setting a program UVA postseason single-game record.
  • Teel leads the ACC and ranks fifth in the country in doubles.
  • For the first time in program history, the Cavaliers have three players with 20 or more doubles in a year – Kyle Teel (25), Anderson (24), and Jake Gelof (21).
  • A total of 16 players in UVA history have recorded 20 or more doubles in a season.

Most Doubles in a Season – UVA History

1. Kyle Teel 25
Ethan Anderson (2023) 25
3. Jake Gelof (2023) 23
Stephen Bruno (2012) 23
Dan Street (2002) 23
5. Phil Gosselin (2010) 22
Steven Proscia (2009) 22
Dan Grovatt (2008) 22

POTENT ATTACK

  • The Cavaliers have scored 574 runs this season the seventh-most of any team in the nation and are averaging 9.1 runs per game, the eighth-most in the country and the most in the ACC.
  • Virginia has struck out 396 times as a team this season, the second-fewest of any team in the ACC.
  • Virginia has the second largest scoring/run differential in the country.

Highest DI Scoring Margin/Run Differential

1. Wake Forest +6.0
2 Virginia +4.9
3. LSU +4.4
4. Oral Roberts +4.3
5. Campbell +4.1