No. 14 Virginia Pulls Away Late, Tops Georgetown 15-6

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 14 Virginia (17-4) put a stop to the seven-game win streak of Georgetown (13-7) on Tuesday (March 19) with a 15-6 win at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers went 4-1 on their five-game homestand and improve to 12-2 at home this season.

The lead changed hands six times and the game was tied on three different occasions before Virginia broke the game open with a five-run fifth inning. UVA scored the game’s final nine runs and racked up nine extra-base hits (six doubles, one triple, two home runs) in the process. Every Cavalier in the starting lineup recorded a hit in the contest including three-hit efforts from Casey Saucke (3-for-4, 2B, HR, RBI) and Eric Becker (3-for-4, 2B, R, 2 RBI).

Virginia used a season-high, eight different pitchers in the game. Lefthander Blake Barker was credited with the win after getting the last out of the top of the fifth and pitching a scoreless sixth. The combination of Charlie Oschell, Barker, Matthew Buchanan and Patric Menk kept Georgetown off the board for the final 4.2 innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Virginia posted crooked numbers in four-straight frames beginning in the third, matching Georgetown punch-for-punch. The Hoyas took the lead or tied the game four times and on each occasion the Cavaliers responded by tying or taking the lead in their ensuing at bat.
• Jacob Ference highlighted a two-run fourth inning with his fifth home run of the season and fourth in his last three games played. Ference, who made his first start at DH this season, has a hit in all but two of his 11 starts on the year.

• UVA sent nine batters to the plate in the game-changing fifth inning. Saucke, Henry Ford and Harrison Didawick led off the inning with consecutive doubles which were followed by RBI singles from Henry Godbout and Becker. The Cavaliers totaled six hits and it marked the 12th time this season UVA has scored five or more runs in a single inning.
• Saucke provided the game’s exclamation point with a leadoff home run to start the eighth inning. The long ball was his fifth in the last six games.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The Cavaliers are 14-1 against non-conference opponents this season and have won 43 of their last 44 games against non-conference opponents in the regular season.
• Virginia improved to 7-1 against the Hoyas under head Coach Brian O’Connor.
• UVA has won eight of the last nine meetings against the Georgetown.
• Ethan Anderson was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored. The double was the 47th of his career, tying Ryan Zimmerman for the 13th-most in program history. Anderson is the only Cavalier to reach base safely in all 21 games this season.
• Didawick’s double in the fifth inning extended his hitting streak to 11 games, the longest active streak of the team and the longest of his career.
• Lefthanded pitcher Patric Menk made his collegiate debut and pitched a scoreless ninth inning.
• Freshman Walker Buchanan recorded his first collegiate hit, a pinch-hit single through the right side in the eighth.
• Virginia has trailed in 16 of its 21 games this season and recorded its 12th come-from-behind win of the year.

UP NEXT

Virginia will play six of its next seven games on the road beginning with a three-game ACC series at Pitt this weekend. The opener is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Friday (March 22) and the entire series will be broadcast live on ACCNX.