No. 11 Virginia Posts 21 Runs in Series Opener at Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky.  – No. 11 Virginia (27-7, 10-6 ACC) reached the 20-run plateau for the third time this season in a 21-3 victory in the series opener at Louisville (20-12, 6-7 ACC) on Friday (April 12). The Cavaliers belted five home runs as part of a 21-hit assault by the Cavalier offense.

The 21 runs are the most in an ACC game this season and the most by the Cavaliers in a conference game since scoring 27 against Maryland on April 23, 2010. Virginia plated 10 runs in the ninth inning on nine hits and had 14 batters come to the plate. It was the most ninth-inning runs by UVA in the last 24 years.

Freshman Henry Ford and graduate student Jacob Ference each homered twice in the contest. Ford left the yard in each of his first two at bats and finished 3-for-4 with four runs scored and three RBI. Ference recorded his third multi-home run effort of the season and drove in a game-high four runs. Junior Ethan Anderson scored four times and put forth a 5-for-5 effort at the plate, his second five-hit game of his career.

 

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On the mound, Evan Blanco delivered the best pitching performance by a Cavalier this season, registering his second consecutive quality start. The lefthander allowed three runs over six innings and struck out a career-high 11 batters.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• UVA never trailed in the contest and scored the first two runs of the game on a two-run homer by Ford in the top of the first inning.
• Ference jumpstarted a three-run second inning by leading off the frame with a 450-foot homer off the batter’s eye in center field. Griff O’Ferrall and Bobby Whalen also added runs scoring hits in the frame, giving UVA a 5-1 advantage after two innings.

• Ford blasted his second homer of the game to lead off the third inning. Ford now has 12 home runs on the season, second only to Mark Reynolds’ 15 in 2002 for the most ever by a UVA freshman.

• Three of the next four UVA runs went unearned as the Cavaliers capitalized on three Louisville fielding miscues. The Cavaliers led 11-3 after seven innings.
• Virginia poured it on in the ninth with their highest single-inning output of the season and the most runs in an inning since plating 10 in the sixth inning against Longwood on Feb. 21, 2023. Five of the 10 runs were scored with two outs, three coming off the bat of Eric Becker who hit his second homer of the season.

• Chase Hungate (2.0 IP) and Patric Menk (1.0 IP) combined for three hitless innings of relief.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Friday was the first time two Cavaliers have hit two or more homers in a game since 2017 when Robbie Coman and Adam Haseley homered twice against Rutgers on Feb. 24.
• It marked fifth time in program history UVA has scored 20 or more runs three times in one season -1889, 1898, 1905, 2023, 2024
• Anderson is the third Cavalier to record a five-hit game this season (Ference vs. VMI – 2/28 & Whalen vs. Hofstra – 2/27).
• UVA scored 13 of its 21 runs with two outs.
• Virginia has won four-straight games against Louisville, the first time either team has won four-consecutive games against one another. The all-time series is tied a 13-13.
• The 18-run victory was the largest by either team in 26 all-time meetings.

UP NEXT

Game two of the three game series is set for Saturday (April 13) at 1 p.m. The Cavaliers will have righthander Kevin Jaxel (4-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by lefty Evan Webster (3-1). The contest will air live on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA.com).