No. 14 Virginia Clinches Series at Pitt With 10-4 Win

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – No. 14 Virginia (19-4, 5-3 ACC) raced out to a six-run lead after the first five innings and held on for a 10-4 victory over Pitt (11-9, 1-7 ACC) to clinch the series. The Cavaliers picked up their first road ACC series win at Pitt since 2016.

Virginia starting pitcher Evan Blanco won his second game of the season after he pitched 5.2 innings and allowed three runs while striking out six. Angelo Tonas was credited with his first save as a Cavalier after he pitched the final three innings without allowing a run.

The Cavalier offense scored double-digit runs for the fourth consecutive game and the 14th time in 23 games this season. Nine different Cavaliers had a hit in the contest and five put forth multi-hit efforts including Jacob Ference who went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Virginia scored first for the third-straight game, posting five runs on six hits in the second inning. It marked the 14th time Virginia has scored five or more runs in an inning this season. Griff O’Ferrall extended his hitting streak to 12 games with a two-run single in the frame. Eric Becker, Casey Saucke and Henry Ford each had run-scoring hits in the big inning.

• Becker collected his second RBI of the day with a two-out single up the middle in the sixth. The Cavaliers also capitalized on a Pitt fielding miscue to make it 7-1 after five innings.
• The Panthers inched closer with a pair of runs in the sixth and brought the tying run to the plate in seventh. Tonas came on with the bases loaded and no outs struck out the first batter he faced and then induced a 5-4-3 double play ball to get the Cavaliers out of the jam.

• Virginia added two insurance runs in the ninth on an Anthony Stephan RBI single and run-scoring groundout by Casey Saucke.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The series victory over Pitt is Virginia’s first since 2019 when it swept the Panthers in Charlottesville. The road series win against Pitt is the first since 2016.
• Tonas had seven saves in 2022 while at Georgetown, matching a single-season program record. It marked his first save at UVA in 32 appearances.
• The Cavaliers matched a season-low, walking only one batter in the contest.
• Harrison Didawick extended his team-best hitting streak to 13 games. O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson have hit safely in 12-straight games.

UP NEXT

The series finale will take place on Sunday (March 24) at 1 p.m and the game will air live on ACCNX.