No. 13 Virginia Readies for a Pair of Midweek Contests

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 13 Virginia (10-1) will close out a five-game homestand at 1 p.m. on Tuesday (March 5) when it hosts Penn State (7-3) at Disharoon Park. The Cavalier will turnaround Wednesday (March 6) to play a road, non-conference game at George Washington (5-4). First pitch on Wednesday is slate for 2:30 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX (Tuesday) | ESPN+ (Wednesday)
Listen: n/a
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

Probable Starting Pitchers
Tuesday – 1 p.m.
Penn State: RHP Mason Butash (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 4.0 IP, 1 BB, 6 SO)
Virginia: LHP Owen Coady (0-0, 2.70 ERA, 6.2 IP, 3 BB, 5 SO)

Wednesday – 2:30 p.m.
Virginia: TBA
George Washington: TBA

LEADING OFF

• Entering midweek, Virginia is one of 21 programs in the country with 10 or more victories this season. Five of those teams are from the ACC, including Florida State who remains the lone unbeaten in the league.
• The Cavaliers enter Tuesday with a team batting average of .347, the sixth-highest in the country and the second-highest in the ACC. UVA co-led the country in 2023 with a .332 mark, second highest in program history.
• Head coach Brian O’Connor enters Tuesday’s contest with 849 career wins. His .705 career winning percentage is the highest among active head coaches (min. 10 years). He is one of eight coaches in ACC history with 800 career wins while a member of the league.
• Virginia has recorded 10 or more wins in the first 11 games of the season 11 times in 21 seasons under the direction of head coach Brian O’Connor. The Cavaliers started this season 9-0 for the consecutive year.
• Virginia took two out of three games at home against UMass over the weekend. The Cavaliers dropped the middle game, which was their first loss to a non-conference opponent in the regular season since April 19, 2022, snapping a streak of 38 consecutive victories.
• UVA has faced a deficit in eight of the 11 games this season and have recorded two walk-off victories. The largest come-from-behind win came against then-No. 18 Iowa on Feb. 24 in Jacksonville, Fla. where UVA trailed by six runs.
• Virginia is 5-0 this season in games decided by one or two runs. The Cavalier had seven one or two-run victories in all of 2023.

AGAINST PENN STATE

• The Nittany Lions will pit stop in Charlottesville for the second time in the last three seasons. PSU is scheduled to play a three-game series against Harvard beginning Friday at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, N.C. In 2022, the Cavaliers swept a weekend series and outscored Penn State, 33-6.
• In his first season at Penn State, Mike Gambino is no stranger to ACC baseball after serving as the head coach at his alma mater, Boston College for the past 13 years. Gambino was 6-13 against UVA in his time at BC.
• Penn State is UVA’s second game against a Big Ten team this season. UVA has now played eight schools from the Big Ten in the program’s history – Illinois (1893), Iowa (2024), Maryland (2015), Michigan (1983), Ohio State (2005), Penn State (2022), Rutgers (2017) and Wisconsin (1893).

PRESIDENTIAL MATCHUP

• Wednesday will be the 42nd meeting between Virginia and George Washington, an all-time series that was first played on April 19, 1905, a 22-1 UVA victory.
• The Cavaliers have won 14-consecutive games against the Revolutionaries and 19 of the last 20 dating back to the 2003 season.
• UVA holds a 29-12 advantage against GW, including an 18-1 mark under head coach Brian O’Connor.
• The Cavaliers will visit GW for only the fourth time since 1984 and first time since the 2021 season.
• Last season the Cavaliers matched a program record with their third, 20-run output of the season. The Cavaliers scored in all but one turn at the plate, a 20-5 victory over the Revolutionaries in Charlottesville.

ON THE MOUND

• Lefthander Owen Coady will make his second start on the mound in a UVA uniform when he toes the rubber against Penn State on Tuesday. He pitched the first 3.2 innings in the championship game of the Jax College Classic in Jacksonville, Fla., an eventual 6-4 UVA victory on Feb. 25.
• Against the Tigers, Coady allowed scattered four hits, allowed one earned run and struck out a pair. The Penn transfer has made three relief appearance for the Cavaliers, allowing one run over three innings of work while striking out three.
• Coady was a Second Team All-Ivy League selection last season for the Quakers and served as Penn’s primary Friday night starter.
• Righthander Aidan Teel has three saves and two wins in six appearances out of the bullpen for UVA. He is one of six pitchers in the ACC with six appearances this season and is tied for the second-most saves in the ACC.

MONDAY POLLING

• Virginia remained No. 13 in the D1Baseball.com Top-25 poll after a 3-1 week. Virginian spent the preseason and first week at No. 14.
• The Cavaliers are ranked as high as No. 8 according to Baseball America, the same spot they occupied last week. The Cavalier slid back one spot in the Perfect Game and NCBWA polls to No. 10 and No. 11, respectively. UVA dropped three spots to No. 12 in the USA/Today Coaches Poll

AMONG THE NATION’S BEST

• Last season, UVA led the country and broke the program’s single-season record for doubles with 172. Going into Tuesday’s action UVA is sixth in the country with 31 doubles, one shy of last year’s pace through 11 games. The 3.09 doubles per game this season are the third most of any NCAA program.
• Virginia has tallied 137 hits through 11 games (12.45 hits per game), the 11^th most base knocks of any team in the country.

SOPHOMORE STANDOUT

• Sophomore Henry Godbout reached base 12 times (6 hits, 6 walks) in four games last week. Entering the midweek, he is batting .515, the third-highest batting average in the ACC and the 13th-highest in the country. He is one of nine hitters in the country with 30 or more at bats batting .515 or higher.
• In Friday’s extra-inning win over UMass, Godbout came through with a walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning to give Virginia a 4-3 victory. He delivered again for UVA with a three-RBI performance which included his first homer of the season in the series finale on Sunday.
• Godbout is one of four players in the country with 30 or more at bats that has yet to strikeout this season. He co-leads the ACC with seven doubles and is second in the league in on-base pct. (.609).

PLAYER NOTABLES

• Casey Saucke has successfully reached base in all 11 games this season, extending his reached base streak that dates back to last season to 19 games. Saucke reached base safely in all eight UVA NCAA Tournament games to close out his 2023 season. He co-leads the 2024 squad with six multi-hit efforts.
• Bobby Whalen has a hit in 10 of his 11 games in which he’s appeared including a team-high, four hits as pinch-hitter. He is batting .519 (14-for-27), which is the second highest average in the ACC, 11th-best in the country.
• Through 11 games, Anthony Stephan has already eclipsed his 2023 stolen base total with five this season. His five swipes are tied for the sixth-most in the ACC and is 9-for-10 in his career in stolen base attempts.
• Ethan Anderson, Godbout, Saucke and Stephan have each reached base in all 11 games this season.