No. 23 Virginia Drops Series Opener at Cal

BERKLEY, Calif.  – The No. 23 Virginia baseball team (10-6, 1-3 ACC) fell on Friday night (March 14) in a 6-1 contest to the Cal Golden Bears (9-8, 2-2 ACC) at Stu Gordon Stadium.

Virginia starting pitcher Jay Woolfolk (1-1) was dealt in the series opener after surrendering four earned runs on six hits and four walks in five innings of work.

Luke Hanson tallied two of the four Cavalier hits on the evening, while Chris Arroyo and Aidan Teel each recorded a base knock.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After a scoreless inning and a half, Cal plated three runs in the bottom second. The Bears opened the scoring with an RBI single to left single. A Virginia error on the play allowed another Bear to score, putting Cal up 2-0.
• Two batters later, Cal scratched across the final run of the frame on a sacrifice fly that was caught in foul territory.
• Cal extended its advantage to 5-0 with a two-run home run off the bat of Seth Gwynn to left field in the bottom of the fourth.
• The lone run of the contest for Virginia came in the top of the fifth. With one out in the frame, James Nunnallee was hit by a pitch to get on base before a wild pitch and a Hanson base hit moved him to third. The freshman scored on an Eric Becker sacrifice fly to left field two batters later.
• The homestanding Bears added a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single to make it a 6-1 contest after six innings played.
• In relief, UVA’s Wes Arrington and Matthew Buchanan held the Cal bats in check by retiring the final eight Bears of the game.
• In the top of the ninth, Nunnallee was hit by his second pitch of the game, which led to a Hanson walk, giving the Cavaliers two on with one out. Cal answered with a strikeout and ground ball to secure the 6-1 Friday night win.

 ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia’s one run is the least amount of runs scored by UVA in a game since being shutout by North Carolina on March 11, 2023.
• Henry Godbout’s on-base streak of 35 games ended on Friday with a 0-for-5 night.
• Teel extended his on-base streak to 16 games when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning. Teel has reached safely in every game this season.

UP NEXT

Virginia will look to even the series on Saturday (March 15) with the middle of a three-game set. Lefthander Tomas Valincius (2-0) will get the start on the mound for Virginia against Cal’s righthander Gavin Eddy (1-1). First pitch is slated for 5 p.m. ET on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).