Virginia Travels to Jacksonville for Three-Team Tournament

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 14 Virginia (4-0) will participate in the Jax Collegiate Classic beginning Friday (Feb. 25) at 2 p.m. with a matchup against Wichita State (2-1) at 2 p.m. The Cavaliers will take on No. 18 Iowa (3-1) at 4 p.m. on Saturday (Feb. 26) and close out the weekend on Sunday against Auburn (4-0). All three games will take place at 121 Financial Ballpark, home of the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp, Triple-A affiliate of the Miami Marlins and be streamed on D1Baseball.com

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: D1Baseball.com (All three games)
Visit: https://d1ba.se/stream to subscribe
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA) – Friday only
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday – 2 p.m.
Wichita State: LHP Caden Favors (1-0, 6.35 ERA, 5.2 IP, 1 BB, 8 SO)
Virginia: LHP Evan Blanco (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 0 BB, 3 SO)

Saturday – 5 p.m.
Virginia: RHP Jack O’Connor (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 2 BB, 3 SO)
Iowa: RHP Marcus Morgan (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.2 IP, 2 BB, 9 SO)

Sunday – 4 p.m.
Virginia: TBA
Auburn: LHP Carson Myers (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 6.0 IP, 1 BB, 8 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia enters the weekend as one of 38 unbeaten teams in college baseball. The Cavaliers are 4-0 for the third-straight season and the 10^th time under Brian O’Connor.
• At 12.5 runs per game, Virginia ranks eighth in the country in scoring coming into the weekend.
• UVA is away from Charlottesville on the second weekend of the year for the third time (2015, 2021, 2024) since 2004.
• Saturday’s matchup against No. 18 Iowa is the first ranked non-ACC team UVA has faced in the regular season since 2019 at the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. that featured then-No. 2 Vanderbilt, No. 17 TCU and No. 24 Cal State Fullerton.
• Dating back to the 2022 season, Virginia has won its last 33 games against non-conference opponents in the regular season. UVA went 25-0 against non-ACC foes in the regular season in 2023 and won its last four non-conference games in the 2022 regular season.
• The Cavaliers have won 20-straight games in the month of February going back to 2022.

AGAINST THE FIELD

• The Cavaliers will play Wichita State and Iowa for the first time in program history. Virginia will play for Auburn for the 14^th time ever and the first time since the 2011 season.
• Iowa will be the sixth Big Ten school UVA has played in its history. The Cavaliers will also play Penn State on March 5.
• Auburn will be the first SEC regular season opponent for Virginia since squaring off against Vanderbilt in the 2019 season opener. The last three SEC opponents UVA has faced have been at the College World Series – Tennessee and eventual national champion Mississippi State in the 2021 MCWS and Florida in last year’s MCWS.
• Ranked No. 13 at the start of the 2011 season, Virginia topped then No. 23 Auburn, 6-4 on the road in the last meeting between the two programs.
• The Cavaliers are 16-17 against SEC schools in the O’Connor era (2004-present).

NATIONAL NOTORIETY

• Virginia is batting .374 as a team, the top team batting average in the ACC and the sixth-highest in the country. Last year, UVA co-led the country in hitting (.332) and also ranked fourth in ERA (3.81)
• As a team UVA has accumulated 16 doubles in four games, ranked sixth in DI college baseball. The Cavaliers broke the program’s single-season record and led the nation with 172 doubles in 2023.
• The Cavaliers are averaging 12.5 runs per game, only behind North Carolina (13.5) for tops in the ACC. Sophomore Henry Godbout is the ACC leader with four two-baggers, also good for the 10^th-most in the NCAA.
• As a team, UVA is slugging .662 with eight home runs and 16 doubles. Only seven teams in the country have a higher slugging percentage going into weekend action.

RETURN TO JACKSONVILLE

• Virginia will play in Jacksonville for the first time since the 2008 season. The ACC Tournament was played at 121 Financial Field from 2005-2008.
• Of the four ACC Tournaments in Jacksonville, the Cavaliers were ACC runner-up twice – 2005 and 2008.
• The Cavaliers went 8-6 in 14 total ACC Tournament games played in Jacksonville.
• Cavalier pitchers Bradley Hodges (St. John’s Country Day) and Patric Menk (The Bolles School) each played high school baseball in the Jacksonville area. Including Menk and Hodges, UVA has five student-athletes on the roster from the state of Florida.

ON THE MOUND

• Evan Blanco will get the start for the Cavaliers on Friday against Wichita State, his second career start. Last weekend against Hofstra, Blanco pitched the first three innings of a 21-3 win over Hofstra. He did not allow an earned run and struck out three batters in the contest.
• Righthander Jack O’Connor slides into the Saturday role to face No. 18 Iowa after serving as UVA’s opening day starter last weekend. O’Connor threw 69 pitches over four innings and struck out three batters in an eventual no-decision.
• Both Blanco and O’Connor saw significant time as true freshmen on UVA’s college world series team. O’Connor was a weekend starter for the majority of the year before transitioning to the bullpen for UVA’s stretch run. Blanco made 24 appearances out of the bullpen, tied for second-most on the staff last season.

HOOS HOT

• Leadoff man Griff O’Ferrall comes into the weekend riding a 12-game hit streak that includes his last eight games of 2023. He has put together four, multi-hit efforts in four games this season.
• Harrison Didawick has three home runs in four games, including a solo shot against ODU in the midweek. Last year as a true freshman he powered four out of the yard in 159 at bats. The four long balls this season are tied for the ACC lead and tied for the seventh most in the country.
• O’Ferrall has already eclipsed his career home run total in four games, with a pair of home runs on opening weekend. He started the 2024 season off with a bang, homering on UVA’s fifth pitch of the season. His only other home run prior to that point was a lead-off long ball against Duke in game two of the 2023 Super Regional.
• Freshman Henry Ford made a big splash in first weekend of college baseball. He put forth multi-hit efforts in each of his first three games, blasted two homers and drove in six runs. His three-run homer in the bottom of the sixth of the series finale proved to be the difference in the game..
• Luke Hanson scored five times in game two, matching a single-game UVA record. He reached base five times – two walks, two hit by pitches and his first career home run in the third inning.
• Graduate transfer Bobby Whalen put forth a career effort in his first Cavalier start on Saturday by going 4-for-4 with two doubles, six RBI and a run scored. It was the fourth four-hit game of his career and the six RBI established a new career-high.