No. 14 Virginia Walks Off Wichita State in Extras

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – No. 14 Virginia (5-0) never led until freshman Henry Ford hit a double off the right centerfield wall in the bottom of the 10th that plated the tying and winning runs in a 5-4 comeback win over Wichita State (2-2) on Friday (Feb. 23). The victory came after rain delays totaling three hours 16 minutes before and during the contest.

Virginia trailed 4-3 after Wichita State’s Derek Williams hit a solo home run in the top half of the 10th inning. Graduate student Bobby Whalen led off the frame by earning a 10-pitch walk. A batter later Anthony Stephan singled through the right side to put runners on the corners and the bases were full after Ethan Anderson was hit by a pitch. Ford drove a 2-0 fastball off the wall in right center to seal Virginia’s fifth-straight win.

Ford went 3-for-5 with two RBI in the contest and is now batting .550 (11-for-20) in his first five collegiate games. Whalen went 3-for-4 with a run scored an RBI.

Righthander Aidan Teel was credited with his first collegiate win and struck out five batters in two innings pitched.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Shockers starting pitcher Caden Favors scattered eight Cavalier hits and limited the potent UVA offense to just two runs (one earned) over the first 6.2 innings. The lefthander fanned seven batters and walked two.
• Cavalier starting pitcher Evan Blanco escaped a bases loaded jam in the top of the first inning, inducing an inning-ending double play. Making his second career start, the lefthander logged a career-high 4.1 innings pitched and matched a career-high with five strikeouts.
• The two-teams traded two-out, run-scoring hits and were even after four innings. The Cavaliers got on the board with an RBI single by Luke Hanson that leveled the game in the fourth.
• Wichita State recaptured the lead with a pair of back-to-back RBI hits with two outs, that spelled the end of Blanco’s day after 68 pitches.
• Virginia pulled within one in the sixth, plating an unearned run that came around on a two-out RBI single by Whalen that scored Henry Godbout.

• First year righthander Bryson Moore pitched 2.2 innings of scoreless relief and Blake Barker came up with a big strikeout to end the eighth inning, stranding runners on the corners. After Barker’s strikeout, the two teams sat through a one hour, 43-minute rain delay

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The walk-off victory is the first for the Cavaliers since a 3-2, 10-inning win in the series opener against Florida State on March 24, 2023. It was the only extra inning contest of the 2023 season.
• Virginia has trailed in four of its five wins this season.
• The Cavaliers are winners of 21-straight February games and have won 34-straight games against non-conference opponents in the regular season.
• Virginia is 5-0 to start the season for the 10th time in 21 years under head coach Brian O’Connor.
• Friday marked the first ever meeting between Wichita State and Virginia.
• First pitch, originally scheduled for 2 p.m., was delayed one hour and 33 minutes due to rain. The second rain delay came in the middle of the eighth and lasted one hour and 43 minutes. 

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will play the second game of the day on Saturday when they match up against No. 18 Iowa at 5 p.m. Righthander Jack O’Connor (0-0) will be on the mound for UVA and he will be opposed by righty Marcus Morgan. The game will be streamed live on D1Baseball.com.