No. 7 Wake Forest Evens Series; Sets Up Sunday Rubber Match

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 7 Wake Forest (13-5, 2-3 ACC) evened the three-game series against No. 17 Virginia (15-4, 2-3 ACC) with a 9-3 victory over the middle game. Demon Deacon starting pitcher Chase Burns limited the Cavaliers to two hits over seven innings and struck out 13 batters to improve to 4-0 on the year.

Sophomore Henry Godbout tagged Burns for a home run to tie the game at one in the bottom of the second inning, only the third long ball surrendered by the righthander in 30.1 innings this season. Godbout was 1-for-2 with a walk and an RBI in the contest. Freshman Antonio Perrotta hit his first career home run coming on a as a pinch-hitter in the bottom of the ninth.

UVA starting pitcher Evan Blanco was charged with the loss despite allowing three earned runs over five innings pitched. It marked the third-straight game he’s logged five innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Wake Forest never trailed in the contest and took advantage of a UVA fielding error in the top of the first inning for the game’s first run. Marek Houston reached on a ball lost in the sun to lead-off the game and advanced to second on an error. He came around to scored just three batters into the game on an Adam Tellier RBI single.
• Burns struck out the first four UVA batters and induced a fly ball out by Harrison Didawick before allowing the home run to Godbout, the fifth batter of the game, to even the game at one. Godbout has three home runs on the season, matching his season total from last year.
• The Demon Deacons scored the game’s next seven runs including three in the top of the ninth and take a 9-1 lead.
• Wake Forest first baseman Jack Winnay hit two home runs, including a two-run shot in the fifth to give Burns and the Demon Deacons a three-run cushion.
• Perrotta came on as a pinch-hitter with one out in the ninth and blasted a ball over the right centerfield wall. It was his second collegiate hit and the first pinch-hit homer of the year for the Cavaliers.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Ethan Anderson had one of three UVA extra-base hits in the contest, a double in the seventh inning, his team-leading eight two-bagger of the year. He now has 46 career doubles, tied with Jake Gelof (2021-23) and Adam Haseley (2015-17) for 13th-most in UVA history.
• Anderson is the only Cavalier to reach base in all 19 games this season.
• Burns was the first opposing pitcher to record 13 or more strikeouts against UVA in a game since Stephen Strasburg (San Diego State) on May 29, 2009, the opener of the Irvine Regional. Strasburg fanned 15 UVA batters, but UVA won the game, 5-1 and eventually the regional en route to its first ever College World Series appearance. 

UP NEXT

The rubber match against Wake Forest is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday at Disharoon Park. The contest will air live on ACCNX. The Cavaliers will have RHP Jay Woolfolk on the mound and he will be opposed by Wake Forest lefty Hayden Leffew.