No. 18 Virginia Clashes with Virginia Tech to Finish Regular Season

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 18 Virginia (37-14, 15-12 ACC) will close out its eight-game homestand with a three-game Atlantic Coast Conference series against Virginia Tech (32-17, 14-13) beginning Thursday (May 16) at Disharoon Park. First pitch for the series opener on will be at 6 p.m. The middle game on Friday (May 17) has been moved to noon and the finale will be played on Saturday (May 18) at 5 p.m.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCX (Thurs. & Fri.) | ACC Network (Sat.)
Listen: WINA – 98.9 FM/1070 AM/WINA.com/Virginia Sports App
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

Probable Starting Pitchers
Thursday – 6 p.m.
Virginia Tech: RHP Brett Renfrow (6-2, 3.88 ERA, 69.2 IP, 2 BB, 75 SO)
Virginia: LHP Evan Blanco (5-3, 4.21 ERA, 66.1 IP, 19 BB, 74 SO)

Friday – Noon
Virginia Tech: TBA
Virginia: TBA

Saturday – 5 p.m.
Virginia Tech: TBA
Virginia: TBA

LEADING OFF

• Virginia slipped to No. 18 in the D1Baseball top-25 poll, its lowest ranking of the season and lowest since coming in at No. 21 at the exact same juncture of the 2023 season (week 13). Last year the Cavaliers went on to earn the No. 7 overall national seed in the NCAA tournament and earned the program’s sixth berth into the College World Series.
• UVA is amid its longest home stretch of the season (eight games) and will not play a regular season road game in the month of May.
• The Cavaliers will finish at home in the regular season for the first time since 2016 when it completed a three-game sweep of Virginia Tech and only the fifth time in Brian O’Connor’s tenure.
• Virginia Tech has won the last two meetings against UVA and has not won three-straight against the Cavaliers since a sweep in March of 2015 prior to UVA going on its run to program’s first National Championship later that season.
• Head Coach Brian O’Connor needs one win to pass former North Carolina coach Mike Fox (1999-2020) on the league’s all-time ACC wins list. O’Connor and Fox are currently tied for seventh in league history with 359 career ACC wins.
• Virginia has won four of the last five series on the final weekend of the year. After its annual exam break, UVA has won eight of its last 10 series and own a 77-39 (.664) mark in ACC games after the break.
• UVA’s 37 wins are tied for the second most in the ACC, two behind North Carolina’s league-high 39 victories. Entering Thursday, Virginia is tied for 12th in the country with 37 overall wins.
• Virginia has clinched a spot in next week’s ACC Tournament in Charlotte but will jockey for seeding this weekend as one of five teams in the league with 15 league wins. The Cavaliers are still in striking distance for one of the top four seeds in the field.

CLASH NOTES

• Thursday will be the 201st meeting between the two schools. Virginia Tech is one of three schools that UVA has played 200 games against – NC State (205 games), North Carolina (314 games).
• The Cavaliers lead the all-time series 108-92 that was first played in 1900, a 12-0 UVA win in Charlottesville.
• Six of the last nine meetings have been decided by three or less runs, including all three games in Charlottesville in 2022.
• Virginia has won 13 of the 18 all-time ACC series since Virginia Tech joined the league in 2005.
• Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers are 37-18 all-time against the Hokies.
• The last series with Virginia Tech in Charlottesville back in 2022 attracted a Disharoon Park record, 16,277 fans over the three-game series. The weekend included the number retirement ceremony of Ryan Zimmerman.

ON THE MOUND

• Evan Blanco will get the start for the Cavaliers in the opener on Friday, his fifth-straight series-opening start. The lefthander has been in the weekend rotation since opening weekend, the only Cavalier hurler to make that claim.
• Blanco has pitched into the fifth inning in each of his last 12 starts.
• Against NC State last weekend, Blanco allowed three runs (one earned) and exited with two outs in the fifth. His fanned eight batters, the third time this season he’s sat down eight or more on strikes. The final punchout of the day was his 100th of his career.
• The lefthander ranks fifth in the ACC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.89), ninth in strikeouts (74) and 10th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.04)
• Virginia co-leads the ACC with four shutouts, including a 4-0 clean sheet in ACC play against Boston College on April 27.
• Angelo Tonas is the NCAA’s career leader (all levels) in appearances with 114. He leads the team with 26 this season, fifth-most in the ACC.
• Aidan Teel has recorded multi-inning saves in back-to-back outings and now has six on the season, fifth most in the ACC.

PLAYER NOTABLES

• Griff O’Ferrall is statistically the toughest batter in the ACC to strikeout. He has struck out 18 times in 234 at bats. He has recorded a strikeout in his last 31 plate appearances.
• O’Ferrall, who led the ACC and broke the UVA single season record last season with 108 hits, currently ranks third in the ACC with 77. Four of his five hits in the three-game series against then-No. 23 NC State were doubles.
• Henry Godbout has started nine of the last 10 games and is 12-for-31 (.387) with 4 doubles, 2 homers, nine RBI, 10 runs scored. His .387 average over the last 10 games and his .444 average (8-for-18) are the best on the team.
• Three Cavaliers will bring reached base streaks of 20+ games into the final series of the season. Ethan Anderson has reached base in 23-straight, the longest active streak on the team and longest of his career. Erick Becker (22 games) and Jacob Ference (20 games) each have reached base safely in 20 or more consecutive games.
• Amongst NCAA DI freshmen, Henry Ford ranks t-2nd in RBI, fifth in home runs (16), t-7th in hits (69), and 7th in runs (55).
• In addition to ranking seventh in the ACC in home runs, Harrison Didawick has scored 64 runs, the third-most of any player in the ACC. He needs one more run to enter the top-10 in a single season in UVA history.
• Bobby Whalen sports the ACC’s fourth-best batting average (.388) and also owns the team’s top average in ACC play (.360).
• Jacob Ference homered twice in the series against NC State. A total of 11 of his 15 homers this season have come against ACC foes.

The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash
The Smithfield Commonwealth Clash, originally called the Commonwealth Challenge (2005-2007), has been a part of the UVA-Virginia Tech rivalry since 2014. It is an all-sports, points-based program with the Commonwealth Clash trophy presented to the winning school each year for its dominance in head-to-head competitions. Virginia has already clinched the title for the 2023-24 academic year, but can add its 14-6.5 lead this weekend with a series victory.