Program Record, Nine Cavaliers Claim All-ACC Honors

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Headlined by First Team All-ACC selections, Ethan Anderson and Griff O’Ferrall, a total of nine Virginia baseball student-athletes were recognized as part of the Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball postseason accolades on Monday (May 20). The nine Cavaliers honored were the second-most of any program.

O’Ferrall is one of 12 Cavaliers in the history of the program to earn First Team All-ACC honors twice and one of three UVA shortstops (Mark Meleski (1980, 1981), Dean Pallotta (1973, 1974) ever to land on the first team in back-to-back seasons. Anderson was also recognized for the second time in his career after earning third team honors as a sophomore in 2023.

Harrison Didawick (Second Team), Jacob Ference (Second Team), Casey Saucke (Second Team), Evan Blanco (Third Team) and Henry Godbout (Third Team) earned All-ACC honors for the first time in their careers. First years Eric Becker and Henry Ford collected Freshman All-ACC honors, the fourth time since 2015 UVA has placed multiple players on the All-Freshman squad.

PROGRAM RECORD9️⃣ Cavaliers garner postseason recognition from @ACCBaseball! #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/lYrFYt80dh

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) May 20, 2024

First Team All-ACC

Ethan Anderson, DH/UT – Batted .329 (.71-for-216) with 19 doubles, seven homers and 36 RBI. Anderson’s 19 doubles on the season are the third-most in in the ACC. He finished the regular season reaching base in his final 26 games. The switch hitter has accumulated 57 doubles in the last three years, the third-most of any Cavalier in program history.

Griff O’Ferrall, SS – Proved to be the ACC’s top shortstop for the second-straight season after he hit .328 (81-for-247) with 17 doubles, a triple four homers and 45 RBI. He’s scored 55 runs and was successful on 15 of 19 stolen base attempts. O’Ferrall is statistically the toughest player in the ACC to strikeout, fanning once every 12.4 at bats. The junior has collected 259 career hits, the most by any three-year player in program history.

Second Team All-ACC

Harrison Didawick, OF – The sophomore is on the doorstep of history with 22 home runs in his 54 games played this season. He is one long ball shy of matching the program record set last year by Jake Gelof. Didwick hit .306 (64-for-209) with 10 doubles, 22 homers and 65 RBI. His 70 runs scored are the second most in the ACC and five off the UVA single-season mark.

Jacob Ference, C – A transfer from Salisbury University, Ference adapted quite well to ACC pitching after he hit .367 (78-for-220) with 11 doubles, three triples, 17 homers and 40 RBI in the regular season. Of his 17 homers, 13 came against ACC opponents, the fourth-most of any ACC hitter. Ference’s .769 slugging percentage ranked fourth amongst his ACC peers.

Casey Saucke, OF – Put forth a career year in his third season as a Cavalier, eclipsing career-bests in hits (78), homers (11), RBI (57) and runs scored (51) to go along with a blistering .355 batting average. Saucke is fourth in the ACC in hits and 11th in RBI.

Third Team All-ACC

Evan Blanco, SP – The lefthander was the lone mainstay in the Cavalier rotation going back to opening weekend. Blanco went 6-3 with 3.79 ERA and struck out 76 batters in 73.2 innings pitched in 14 regular season starts. He ranks in the top-10 in the ACC in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.30 – 8th) strikeouts (9th) and wins (7th).

Henry Godbout, 2B – Batted .376 (53-for-141) with 17 doubles, six homers and 39 RBI, all career-bests. Godbout ranks in the top-10 in the league in batting average (8th), doubles (8th), on-base percentage (.469 – 9th) and is statistically the fifth toughest player in the ACC to strikeout.

All-Freshman Team

Eric Becker, INF – started 34 of the 39 games in which appeared in his first season on grounds. Becker batted .354 (40-for-113) with six doubles, two triples, eight homers and 41 RBI. He hit six of his eight home runs in conference play.

Henry Ford, INF – put together one of the top offensive seasons ever by a UVA freshman. He broke the program’s single-season freshman records for home runs (17) and RBI (63). His 63 RBI are the second-most of any freshman in the country. Against then-No. 10 North Carolina on April 6, Ford mashed three homers in one game, including a grand slam, game-tying shot and go-ahead blast in a 14-11 come-from-behind UVA victory. It marked the first three home run game by a Cavalier since Dan Street in 2002 and only the fifth time in program history that a player has hit three home runs in a single game. Ford finished the regular season with a .352 (75-for-213) batting average, the 13th highest in the ACC.

2024 ACC Season Awards & All-Conference Teams
Player of the Year: James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
Pitcher of the Year: Chase Burns, SP, Wake Forest
Freshman of the Year: Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
Defensive Player of the Year: Vance Honeycut, OF, North Carolina
Coach of the Year: Scott Forbes, North Carolina

All-ACC Teams
First Team
Aidan Knaak, SP, Clemson*
Charlie Beilenson, RP, Duke
Ben Miller, 3B, Duke
Zac Morris, 2B, Duke
Jonathan Santucci, SP, Duke
Jamie Arnold, SP, Florida State
James Tibbs III, OF, Florida State
Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
Gage Ziehl, SP, Miami*
Casey Cook, OF, North Carolina*
Vance Honeycutt, OF, North Carolina
Jacob Cozart, C, NC State
Ethan Anderson, DH/UT, Virginia
Griff O’Ferrall, SS, Virginia
Chase Burns, SP, Wake Forest
Nick Kurtz, 1B, Wake Forest

Second Team
Blake Wright, 2B, Clemson
Alex Stone, C, Duke*
Cam Smith, 3B, Florida State
Matthew Ellis, DH/UT, Georgia Tech
Payton Green, SS, Georgia Tech
Evan Webster, SP, Louisville
Daniel Cuvet, 3B, Miami*
Jason DeCaro, SP, North Carolina
Parks Harber, 1B, North Carolina
Shea Sprague, SP, North Carolina
Alex Makarewicz, 3B, NC State*
Phil Fox, RP, Pittsburgh
Harrison Didawick, OF, Virginia
Jacob Ference, C, Virginia
Casey Saucke, OF, Virginia
Ben Watson, OF, Virginia Tech

Third Team
John West, SP, Boston College*
Cam Cannarella, OF, Clemson
AJ Gracia, OF, Duke
Marco Dinges, DH/UT, Florida State
Jaime Ferrer, OF, Florida State
Gavin Kilen, SS, Louisville
Matthew Mattthijs, RP, North Carolina*
Dalton Pence, RP, North Carolina
Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina
Sam Highfill, SP, NC State
Garrett Pennington, 1B, NC State
Evan Blanco, SP, Virginia
Henry Godbout, 2B, Virginia
Chris Cannizzaro, OF, Virginia Tech
Brett Renfrow, SP, Virginia Tech
Marek Houston, SS, Wake Forest*
Seaver King, 3B, Wake Forest
*Designates At-Large Selection
% 17 players on the Third Team due to a tie in the voting

All-ACC Freshman Team
Aidan Knaak, SP, Clemson
AJ Gracia, OF, Duke
Kyle Johnson, OF/SP, Duke
Drew Burress, OF, Georgia Tech
Zion Rose, C, Louisville
Daniel Cuvet, 3B, Miami
Jason DeCaro, SP, North Carolina
Gavin Gallaher, 3B, North Carolina
Luke Stevenson, C, North Carolina
Luke Nixon, SS, NC State
Eric Becker, INF, Virginia
Henry Ford, INF, Virginia
Brett Renfrow, SP, Virginia Tech