No. 14 Virginia Powers Past Hofstra to Clinch Series

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 14 Virginia (2-0) hit four home runs and scored 17 runs between the third and fifth innings to produce a 21-3 victory over Hofstra (0-2) on Saturday at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers extended their regular season non-conference win streak to 31 games.

The Cavaliers blew the game open with an eight-run, third inning in which 11 batters came to the plate. Graduate transfer Bobby Whalen had two doubles in the third inning, the second plated three runs and gave UVA an 8-1 advantage. Whalen, in his first start as a Cavalier, finished 4-for-4 with two doubles and six RBI. Junior Griff O’Ferrall homered for the second-straight day and went 2-for-4 with four RBI.

On a pitch count, sophomore Evan Blanco was credited with the win after pitching the first three innings. He did not allow an earned run in three innings of work. Blanco fanned three batters in the first start of his career including the final two of the third inning with two runners on base.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Luke Hanson led the eight-run, third inning off with the first home run of his career. It was the first at bat of the season for the second year.

• A batter later in the third, Griff O’Ferrall hit his second home run in as many games to give UVA a 3-1 advantage.

• Virginia sent 11 more batters to the plate in the fourth inning and tacked on five more runs. Freshman Henry Ford hit his first collegiate homer, a solo shot to left field with two outs. The second of four Hofstra errors extended the inning and allowed four unearned runs to cross, giving a UVA 13-1 lead.

• The Cavaliers made it 17-1 with a four-run fifth. Run scoring hits from Harrison Didawick, Henry Godbout and Whalen helped put the game out of reach.
• Didawick hit his second homer in as many days with a two-run, 427-foot shot to right field in the eighth to cap the Cavaliers scoring on the afternoon. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

•  The 21-run scoring output was the 61^st time in program history UVA has scored 20 or more runs in a game. UVA had three, 20-run efforts last season.
• Hanson scored five times, matching a single-game school record. He is the 12th Cavalier ever to score five runs in a game and the first since Max Cotier against UMass-Lowell on March 10, 2020.
• Dating back to last season, O’Ferrall has now hit safely in 10-straight games, the longest active streak on the team.
• The six RBI by Whalen were a career high and it marked the fourth time in his career he’s had four hits in a game. It’s the most RBI by a Cavalier in a game since Jake Gelof had eight against Cornell on Feb. 25, 2022.
• Virginia has won 18-straight February games dating back to the 2021 season.
• Collegiate debuts: Tristan Head (pinch hitter), Antonio Perrotta (pinch hitter/first base), Walker Buchanan (pinch hitter/right field) and Dean Kampschror (reliever). Graduate transfer Owen Coady pitched a scoreless ninth inning in his first appearance for the Cavaliers.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will go for the series sweep on Sunday (Feb. 18) with a 1 p.m. first pitch scheduled for the finale. Virginia will have righthander Jay Woolfolk on the mound and he will be opposed by Hofstra righty Carlos Martinez.