Hodges Shines as Cavaliers Secure Series Win Over No. 24 Georgia Tech

ATLANTA, Ga. – Behind a career effort from Bradley Hodges, the Virginia baseball team (24-15, 11-9 ACC) defeated No. 24 Georgia Tech (29-14, 14-9) 6-5 at Russ Chandler Stadium on Saturday afternoon (April 26).

 

In the first ACC start of his career, Hodges surrendered one run on two hits over a career-best seven innings pitched. The junior also struck out seven Yellow Jackets to tie a career-high.

 

At the plate, Henry Godbout paced the Cavalier offense with a 3-for-4 day. The Virginia trio of Eric Becker, Harrison Didawick and Henry Ford each had a home run on Saturday to propel the Cavaliers to a series win.

• Becker opened the scoring on Saturday when he deposited the game’s fourth pitch over the wall in right-center for a solo home run. The homer was the sixth of the season and put UVA up 1-0.

• Georgia Tech evened the score at 1-1 in the bottom of the frame with a leadoff double that later came around to score on an RBI groundout.
• Following the leadoff double, Hodges retired the next seven Yellow Jackets he faced until the junior surrendered a one-out walk in the third inning.

• Hodges concluded his masterful performance on Saturday by only allowing one baserunner over his 3.1 innings pitched.

• Ford put the Cavaliers out front for good with a solo blast of his own in the top of the sixth. The home run was Ford’s sixth blast of the season, putting Virginia up 2-1.

• More insurance runs came an inning later when Becker made it a 4-1 contest by singling home Luke Hanson and James Nunnallee with the bases loaded.
• The final two UVA runs of the game came in the top of the eighth when Didawick extended the Cavalier advantage with a two-run blast to right field. The home run was Didawick’s fourth of the season and his third in the last six games.

• Georgia Tech got a run back in the home half of the eighth with a solo homer from the Yellow Jackets’ Connor Shouse that made it a 6-2 contest heading to the ninth.
• In the bottom of the ninth, the first three Yellow Jackets of the frame reached to load the bases. Georgia Tech cut the Virginia lead in half with an RBI groundout.
• Shouse struck again for Georgia Tech with a two-run double that brought the Yellow Jackets to within a run at 6-5.
• With the tying run in scoring position, Alex Markus relieved Matt Lanzendorfer and struck out the lone Georgia Tech batter he faced to seal the series-winning 6-5 victory for Virginia.

 ADDITIONAL NOTES

• With the win, Virginia moves to 5-1 on the season against ranked opponents.
• Virginia improves to 14-4 on the season when Aidan Teel bats leadoff.
• On the year, the Cavaliers are 22-3 when scoring six or more runs in a game.
• Saturday’s contest was the fifth time this season that Virginia batters hit three home runs in a game.
• Henry Ford extended his on-base streak to 23 games with his home run in the sixth.
• Bradley Hodges’ seven-inning start was the longest outing by a Virginia pitcher this season.

 UP NEXT

The series with Georgia Tech concludes on Sunday (April 29) with the final game of the three-game set. Virginia will have lefthander Tomas Valincius (4-1) on the mound for Sunday’s 1 p.m. first pitch that will be carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).