Virginia Hosts No. 20 Stanford to Open Homestand

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  The Virginia baseball team (12-11, 3-6 ACC) is set to host a three-game series against No. 20 Stanford (16-6, 5-4 ACC) at Disharoon Park. The series opener is scheduled for Thursday (March 27) at 7 p.m. and will be broadcast on ACC Network.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACC Network (Thursday) | ACCNX (Friday) | ESPN2 (Saturday)
Listen: WINA (98.9/1070 AM/WINA) – Thursday & Friday only
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

Probable Starting Pitchers:

Thursday – 7 p.m.
Stanford: RHP Matt Scott (4-1, 4.71 ERA, 28.2 IP, 12 BB, 32 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jay Woolfolk (1-1, 4.40 ERA, 28.2 IP, 11 BB, 39 SO)

Friday – 6 p.m.
Stanford: LHP Christian Lim (2-3, 7.39 ERA, 28 IP, 13 BB, 21 SO)
Virginia: LHP Tomas Valincius (2-1, 5.34 ERA, 28.2 IP, 5 BB, 37 SO)

Saturday – 1 p.m.
Stanford: RHP Joey Volchko (2-0, 6.56 ERA, 28 IP, 13 BB, 21 SO)
Virginia: LHP Evan Blanco (1-1, 5.56 ERA, 11.1 IP, 4 BB, 11 SO)

GAME PROMOTIONS: STANFORD

Thursday, March 27: Bring a Friend to the Dish! It’s the final Sabre Rewards Night for UVA students. This will include a Virginia Baseball friendship bracelet giveaway for the first 500 UVA students while supplies last. So grab your friend and head to the Dish.

Friday, March 28: Where’s Big Foot? Join us as Virginia Baseball tries to unravel the mysteries surrounding Big Foot. Keep an eye out and be one of the first 1,000 fans to take home a UVA Big Foot sticker at the marketing table.

Saturday, March 29: Youth Day presented by Flow is back to complete the weekend against Stanford with inflatables, a balloon artist, face painting, bubbles, and post-game kids running of the bases along with autographs with the team. The fourth of six sets of 2025 Virginia Baseball trading cards will be given out to the first 500 fans, at the marketing table.

BASEBALL PARKING

Saturday: Due to a concert at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday night, all JPJ lots must be vacated by 4:30 p.m. on Saturday.

LEADING OFF

• The Virginia Cavaliers return to ACC play on Thursday as they welcome the Stanford Cardinal to Disharoon Park for the first time in program history.
• Virginia enters the weekend looking to snap a five-game losing skid, which is the longest since 2022 and tied for the longest of the Brian O’Connor era (2004-present).
• On the season, Virginia has a home record of 6-6.
• Entering the weekend, the Cavaliers have seven comeback wins on the season. The Hoos are also outscoring opponents 32-16 in the second inning compared to being outscored 14-5 in the first inning this season.

AGAINST THE CARDINAL

• Thursday will mark the first-ever meeting between the Stanford Cardinal and the Virginia Cavaliers.
• UVA is 13-5 all-time against current D1 programs located in the state of California, including a series win over Cal earlier this season.

RANKING THE HOOS

• Entering the weekend UVA’s arms ranked 24th nationally and eighth in the ACC with an average of 10.5 strikeouts per nine innings. Virginia has also turned 16 double plays this season, which ranks sixth in the ACC.
• Individually, Henry Ford ranks 12th in the ACC averaging 1.48 hits per game. Eric Becker’s team-leading nine doubles ranks the sophomore with the tenth-most two-baggers in the league. Junior outfielder Aiden Teel has been hit by a team-high 10 times over the opening 23 games of the season, which ranks the junior third in the ACC and 55th in the country.
• Elsewhere in the lineup, Henry Godbout and James Nunnallee are proving to be two of the hardest outs in the country. Nunnallee has a strikeout rate of 13.5 to rank 33rd nationally while Godbout enters the weekend with a K rate of 12.7 to place him 39th in the country.
• Over the first six starts of his collegiate career, Tomas Valincius has racked up 37 strikeouts. The 37 Ks rank Valincius 76th nationally and 15th in the ACC. Valincius also sits fourth among all freshmen across the country in strikeouts. To go along with his strikeouts, Valincius has only surrendered five of walks on the season, giving the lefty a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 7.40, which ranks him third in the ACC an 26th in the count
• After his 10-strikeout performance against Duke, Jay Woolfolk overtook the team lead in strikeouts with 39. His punchouts rank the senior 56th nationally and 10th in the league. His outing also vaulted him to 47th in the country with a strikeout-per-nine rate of 12.24.

ON THE MOUND

• Jay Woolfolk will get the ball to open the series for UVA. The righthander fanned a combined 24 batters throughout 16 innings in his three starts at home this season.
• Tomas Valincius will get the nod in the middle game. The freshman has struck out six or more batters in four of his six starts this season.
• To close out the weekend, UVA will turn to Preseason All-American Evan Blanco. The Junior went a season-long five innings in the series clincher at Cal with a season-best four strikeouts.

HOME FIELD ADVANTAGE

• The home-opening series against Dartmouth saw a combined attendance of 12,641, which was the largest crowd ever for a home-opening series.
• The ACC opening series against Boston College saw 16,301 fans packed Disharoon Park. The most for a regular season home series in program history including the earliest sell out in program history in the weekend finale.
• UVA ranked 14th in the NCAA in total attendance, second highest in the ACC during the 2024 season.  The per game average of 4,197 ranked 18th in the country and third in the ACC.
• Disharoon Park was sold out a program single-season record, six times in 2024 including the final four games of the season.
• Virginia went 31-7 at Disharoon Park, the second-straight season UVA has 30 or more wins at home. It was the ninth time the Cavaliers have posted 30 or more home wins.
• Nine of the largest 25 Disharoon Park crowds were in 2024.