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No. 14 Virginia Opens 2024 Campaign With Three-Game Set Against Hofstra

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CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The 14th-ranked Virginia baseball team will open up its 136th season of baseball on Friday (Feb. 16) with the first game of a three-game series against Hofstra at Disharoon Park. First pitch on opening day is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX (All three games)
Radio: WINA (98.9/1070 AM/WINA.com & The Virginia Sports App)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

SATURDAY PARKING

Due to the home men’s basketball game at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday (Feb. 17), baseball parking will be available only in the Emmet/Ivy garage. A shuttle will run from EIG beginning at noon on Saturday and run one hour after the conclusion of the game.

 

SUNDAY YOUTH DAY

Every home game on Sunday at Disharoon Park is Youth Day! After the game kids can run the bases and get autographs on the field. There will inflatables, a face painter, balloon artist, bubbles, chalk drawing and more!

Youth (ages 18 & under) are FREE at all Virginia baseball regular season home games with the purchase of an adult general admission ticket. Visit UVATix.com for more details.

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday – 3 p.m.
Hofstra: RHP Michael O’Hanlon (1-1, 3.62 ERA, 27.1 IP, 18 BB, 38 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jack O’Connor (6-3, 3.86 ERA, 65.1 IP, 25 BB, 64 SO)

Saturday – 1 p.m.
Hofstra: RHP Steven Kaenzig (0-1, 3.09 ERA, 23.1 IP, 8 BB, 19 SO)
Virginia: LHP Evan Blanco (1-0, 3.04 ERA, 23.2 IP, 10 BB, 26 SO)

Sunday – 1 p.m.
Hofstra: RHP Carlos Martinez (1-1, 12.83 ERA, 13.1 IP, 9 BB, 9 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jay Woolfolk (2-1, 2.91 ERA, 34.0 IP, 20 BB, 38 SO)
*All statistics from the 2023 season

LEADING OFF

  • Virginia will embark on its 136th season of baseball on Friday afternoon and the 21st under the direction of Head Coach Brian O’Connor.
  • The Cavaliers are coming off their second College World Series appearance in the last three years and their sixth overall. All six trips to Omaha have been since 2009, tied for the second most of any college baseball program in that span.
  • Virginia went 28-0 against non-conference opponents and carry a 29-game regular season win streak against non-ACC foes into the weekend.
  • UVA will open the season at home for the second-straight year. The Cavaliers have opened at home five times (2008, 2009, 2021, 2023, 2024) at Disharoon Park in the O’Connor era (2004-present).
  • Virginia has won five-straight games on opening day and own a 15-5 record in the season opener under O’Connor.
  • Since 2004, Virginia is 46-15-1 on opening weekends.
  • Virginia has won 15-straight February games and including an 8-0 mark to start the 2023 season.

AGAINST HOFSTRA

  • Virginia and Hofstra will square off for the first time in 72 years. The two schools played in back-to-back seasons beginning in 1951. The Cavaliers came away with a pair of one-run victories, taking the 1951 meeting 2-1 and the 1952 contest 5-4.
    • Hofstra is coming off a 26-25 campaign in 2023, the second season under Frank Cattalanotto, a 14-year MLB veteran.

PRESEASON RECOGNITIONS

  • Juniors Ethan Anderson and Griff O’Ferrall headlined the Cavaliers preseason awards. O’Ferrall was a unanimous preseason All-American while Anderson garnered preseason All-America honors from D1Baseball and the NCBWA.
  • The duo of Anderson and O’Ferrall were also included on the Golden Spikes Award Watch List, an award annually given to the nation’s top amateur player. Multiple Cavaliers have been featured have been featured on the preseason watch list in three of the last four years. Virginia had two semifinalists for the award last season in Jake Gelof and Kyle Teel.
    • Virginia is ranked in all four major College Baseball polls and is ranked as high as No. 10 according to Baseball America. The No. 14 ranking from D1Baseball is the program’s highest preseason slot in the poll since 2016.

ROSTER MAKEUP

  • UVA added 19 newcomers (13 freshmen, 4 grad transfers, 2 four-year transfers) to bolster its 2024 roster. D1Baseball ranked UVA’s freshman class No. 21 in the country.
  • The Cavalier offensive attack, which co-led the country in team batting average (.332) and led the nation in doubles (172), doubles per game (2.65) and hits (766), returns nearly 60 percent of its at bats from a year ago. The 1,137 returning at bats are the most since the 2017 season.
  • Virginia will need to replace three starting pitchers that all saw action the weekend rotation. Righthander Jack O’Connor, who was a weekend starter for the majority of the season will be the Cavaliers’ top returning arm.

ON THE MOUND

  • Righthander Jack O’Connor will get the opening day nod after a stellar first season on grounds. The Arlington, Va. native garnered freshman All-America honors from Perfect Game (First Team) and Baseball America (Second Team) after going 6-3 with 3.86 ERA over 65.1 innings pitched. Three of his six wins in 2024 came against ACC foes.
  • Sophomore Evan Blanco will transition into a starting role for opening weekend after making 24 appearances out of the bullpen as a true sophomore. Saturday is scheduled to be his first collegiate start on the mound. His 24 appearances were the second most on the staff. Blanco was credited with a staff-best, eight bullpen holds including one in game one of the NCAA Super Regional vs. Duke (0.1 IP, 0 R) and in the College World Series against Florida (0.1, 1 R).
  • After spending the first two seasons as a dual-sport athlete and at the backend of UVA’s bullpen, righty Jay Woolfolk will start on the mound for the first time Sunday afternoon. After making the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team this past summer, Woolfolk decided to concentrate solely on baseball for the 2024 season. In two seasons as a reliver, Woolfolk has struck out 93 batters in 70.2 innings pitched.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

  • Virginia will begin its 23rd season playing at the 5,919-seat stadium. The Cavaliers have won 77 percent (574-170) of its games at The Dish since the facility opened in 2002.
  • The program’s total attendance record (154,507) fell last season and UVA averaged it’s second-highest per game total (3,678) in program history.
  • The Cavaliers ended the season with five-straight sellouts. Six of the top eight crowds in Disharoon Park history came over the six-game postseason run.
  • Virginia finished 37-5 mark at home in 2023, the most home wins of any team in the country and a new program record eclipsing the single-season record of 35 set in 2011 and 2013.
  • The 32 regular season home wins were tied for the most in program history (2013).

2023 SEASON IN REVIEW

  • Reached the Men’s College World Series for the sixth time in program history and the second time in the last three seasons. The six trips to Omaha are tied for the second-most of any college baseball program since 2009.
  • Virginia won the ACC Coastal Division Championship for the first time since winning back-to-back titles in 2010 and 2011. Virginia has finished first or second in the Coastal in 10 of the last 14 seasons.
  • Virginia was one of five 50-win teams in college baseball in 2023. It marked the fifth 50-win season in program history, all have come in the last 14 years. Only one other team has more 50-win seasons in that span (Louisville).
  • UVA’s 44 regular season wins are the second-most in UVA history. The program record of 45, has been achieved four times (2006, 2010, 2011, & 2013).
  • UVA’s 19 ACC wins were the most since 2016.
  • Virginia was the last undefeated team in the country, winning its first 14 games. It became thefirst team in the country to reach 30 wins and the second team to attain 40 wins.
  • The 14-game win streak to start the season was the second-longest in program history and the Cavaliers later matched their best 25-game start by winning 23 of their first 25 games.
  • The Cavaliers scored 65 runs in the first four games of the season, the second-best offensive output in the recorded Virginia baseball history. The inaugural 1889 club scored 70 through its first four games of its seven-game season.
  • Virginia earned the No. 7 National Seed and hosted an NCAA Regional for the first time since 2016 and a Super Regional for the first time since 2015. It marked the fifth top-8 seed in program history.
  • UVA was a consensus top-8 team in the final national rankings. The Cavaliers ascended as high as No. 5 in the D1Baseball.com poll and lived in the top-10 for five-straight weeks from March 20 to April 17.
    • Virginia went 25-0 against non-conference opponents in the regular season, only the third team since 2010 to accomplish the feat — Virginia (2023 – 25-0), Texas A&M (2015 – 25-0) and Arizona State (2010 – 24-0)

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