Cavaliers Drop Series Finale To NC State On Walk-Off

RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State Wolfpack (21-11, 7-5 ACC) walked off the Virginia baseball team (17-13, 7-8 ACC) in a 9-8 contest on Sunday (April 6) at Doak Field.

Virginia built an 8-2 lead heading into the seventh inning stretch before surrendering a grand slam in the seventh and a three-run home in the ninth to drop the rubber match.

Henry Ford led the Virginia offense on Sunday with a 3-for-5 effort that included a pair of two-run home runs from the sophomore. Aidan Teel also with 3-for-5 on the day with two doubles and run driven in.

UVA starting pitcher Tomas Valincius allowed four earned runs over 6.1 innings of work with seven strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Teel jump-started the Cavalier offense on Sunday with a leadoff double and scored one pitch later when Eric Becker tallied a double of his own to right field.
• In the next UVA at-bat, Ford clubbed his first two-run home run over the wall in right field to put Virginia up 3-0 after the top of the first.
• NC State answered with a two-run shot of its own in the home half of the frame.
• An inning later, Virginia extended its lead to 4-2 when Chone James scampered home to score on a Teel single to left.
• Following the two-run first, Tomas Valincius retired the next eight batters he faced to keep the Wolfpack bats at bay.
• The 4-2 score held until the sixth when Henry Godbout scored on a Wolfpack rundown turned error. Later in the frame, James Nunnallee came home on a Luke Hanson single down the line in right.
• In the seventh, Ford crushed his second two-run home run of the day beyond the UVA bullpen in left field to push the Cavalier advantage to 8-2.
• NC State made it an 8-6 contest after seven innings played on a grand slam off the bat of Drew Lanphere.
• Down to their final out of the weekend, NC State singled and worked a walk to bring Josh Hogue. The Wolfpack designated hitter smacked a 3-1 over the wall in left center to give NC State a 9-8 victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Ford’s two home run day was his first multi-home run game of the season and the fourth of his career.
• With his three-hit day, Ford leads all Cavalier batters with 46 hits on the season.
• The four runs driven in by Ford were a season-high for the sophomore and his team-leading 15th multi-RBI game on the year.
• UVA falls to 15-2 on the season when scoring six or more runs.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers will close out the four-game road swing on Tuesday (April 8) when they VCU at The Diamond in Richmond. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).