Virginia Closes Out Homestand with Liberty on Tuesday

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team (20-14) is set to host Liberty (22-14) on Tuesday night (April 15) at Disharoon Park in the finale of a four-game homestand.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: WINA (98.9/1070 AM/WINA)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Tuesday – 6 p.m.
Liberty: RHP Copper Harrington (2-0, 5.66 ERA, 20.2 IP, 12 BB, 18 SO)
Virginia: RHP Kevin Jaxel (1-0, 2.51 ERA, 14.1 IP, 7 BB, 14 SO)

MIDWEEK CONCESSION DEALS

• Fans can enjoy discounted hot dogs for every home Tuesday midweek during the 2025 season.

 BASEBALL PARKING

• Due to a concert at John Paul Jones Arena on Tuesday night, all JPJ lots will not be available. A shuttle will operate continuously from the garage to the ticket booth on Copeley Road. Shuttle services will begin at 4 p.m. and run through 10 p.m.

LEADING OFF

• Virginia is coming off a series win over Pitt in which the Cavaliers outscored the Panthers 32-12 in the three-game set.
• March 29’s win over Stanford was coach Brian O’Connor’s 900th career victory. With the win, O’Connor became the 15th active head coach in Division I with 900 career wins.
• Entering the midweek, 12 of UVA’s 20 wins on the season are of the comeback variety including the game one victory to open the series vs Pitt.
• Virginia is 13-7 at the friendly confines of Disharoon Park this season including a 6-1 record since the start of the Stanford series on March 27.
• UVA is 10-3 on the season when junior Aidan Teel is batting leadoff for the Cavaliers.
• Since the start of the Stanford series on March 27, the Cavaliers are 8-3 overall and are averaging 9.7 runs per game over the 11-game stretch.
• A total of 10 former Hoos found themselves on MLB Opening Day rosters, which ranks second in the country only behind Vanderbilt (11).

 AGAINST THE FLAMES

• The Cavaliers and Flames have played 68 previous times with Virginia leading the all-time series, 44-23-1.
• Tuesday will be the second meeting of the season between Virginia and Liberty. The Flames took game one, 5-3, on March 25 in Lynchburg
• Virginia is 29-9-1 all-time at home against Liberty and has won the last 10 meetings in Charlottesville dating back to 2014.
• The last time that these two squads played in Charlottesville, Virginia run-ruled Liberty 14-4 on April 23, 2024. The Cavaliers rode home runs from Bobby Whalen, Casey Saucke, Henry Ford and Jacob Ference to victory.

 RANKING THE HOOS

• Entering the midweek, UVA’s arms ranked 31st nationally and eighth in the ACC with an average of 9.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Virginia has also turned 28 double plays on the year, which ranks third in the ACC. As a team, UVA is batting .304, good enough for 44th nationally and sixth in the league.

 ON THE MOUND

• Junior Kevin Jaxel is slated to make his first start of the 2025 season on Tuesday for the Cavaliers. 
• On the year, Jaxel is 1-0 with a 2.51 ERA in 14.1 innings with 14 strikeouts
• Jaxel’s lone win of the season came in the home opener against VMI ( 25) when he threw 3.1 shutout innings with a season-high four Ks.
• Last time out, the junior gave up a run in two innings of work against Richmond on March 19.

 PLAYER NOTABLES

• Henry Ford ranks 19th in ACC with a batting average of .359 and ninth with 51 total base knocks. The sophomore also is averaging50 hits per game to rank eighth in the league and 75th nationally.
• Aidan Teel’s 14 doubles ranks the junior with the sixth-most two-baggers in the league and 31st nationally. Teel has also been hit by a team-high 11 times over the opening 34 games of the season, which ranks the junior eighth in the ACC.
• Elsewhere in the lineup, Henry Godbout and James Nunnallee are proving to be two of the hardest outs in the conference. Godbout has a strikeout rate of 10.8 to rank third in the ACC while Nunnallee enters the midweek with a K rate of 10.6 to place him fourth in the league.
• Along with the likes of Ford and Teel, Eric Becker ranks among the league’s best when it comes to The sophomore ranks third in the league with 16 doubles, fourth with 53 hits and ninth with a .381 batting average.