Cavaliers Welcome Miami For Senior Weekend

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. –  For the final home series of the regular season, the Virginia baseball team (27-16, 11-10 ACC) is set to host the Miami Hurricanes (30-18, 14-9 ACC) for a three-game series at Disharoon Park.

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

Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday – 6 p.m.
Miami: RHP Griffin Hugus (5-4, 3.68 ERA, 66 IP, 25 BB, 72 SO)
Virginia: RHP Jay Woolfolk (2-2, 5.11 ERA, 49.1 IP, 19 BB, 60 SO)

Saturday – 4 p.m.
Miami: RHP AJ Cisar (4-1, 3.42 ERA, 47.1 IP, 11 BB, 46 SO)
Virginia: LHP Bradley Hodges (2-1, 1.21 ERA, 22.1 IP, 9 BB, 31 SO)

Sunday – 1 p.m.
Miami: RHP Tate DeRias (2-0, 2.60 ERA, 34.2 IP, 11 BB, 26 SO)
Virginia: LHP Tomas Valincius (4-1, 5.05 ERA, 51.1 IP, 13 BB, 57 SO)

FIRST PITCH

• Gretchen Walsh of the Virginia women’s swimming and diving team will throw out the ceremonial first pitch before Saturday’s game.

 SUNDAY PROMOTIONS

• Senior Day – A total of eight Cavaliers will participate in an on-field ceremony starting at 12:35 p.m. on Sunday.
• Mother’s Day – The first 300 moms in attendance can pick up a complimentary flower at the marketing table, located behind section 108.
• Youth Day – Enjoy inflatables, balloon art, face paint, postgame kids running of the bases and autographs with the team. The fifth and final set of trading cards will be available at the marketing table while supplies last.
• Flow Automotive SPCA Drive – Collection bins will be located at each gate for fans to donate pet shelter essentials on Sunday. Requested items include dog food, kitten formula, and pet toys. Adoptable dogs from the SPCA will also be on site.

LEADING OFF

• Cavalier shortstop Eric Becker was named to the Brooks Wallace Award Watch List for the nation’s best shortstop. Becker currently leads the Cavaliers in doubles (18), runs scored (47), RBIs (41), total bases (105), slugging percentage (.610) and on-base percentage (.441). The shortstop is one of four Cavaliers to start all 43 games for Virginia this season.
• Entering the final home weekend of the season, Virginia is riding a five-game win streak at The Dish after dismantling Towson on Wednesday night, 19-1.
• UVA also enters the weekend having homered in 14 straight games dating back to April 6 at NC State. The 14-game streak is the longest by the Hoos since Virginia hit a dinger in each of the last 16 games in 2021.
• 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 weekend, 16 of UVA’s 27 wins on the season are of the comeback variety, including Wednesday’s victory over Towson.
• UVA is 17-5 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 15-5 overall with an 11-2 record at home and are averaging 9.6 runs per game over the 20-game stretch.
• Sunday’s Senior Day ceremony will feature eight Cavaliers, including Alex Markus, Blake Barker, Dean Kampschror, Jacob Ference, Jay Woolfolk, Matthew Buchanan, Matt Lanzendorfer, and Wes Arrington.

 AGAINST THE HURRICANES

• The Virginia Cavaliers and Miami Hurricanes have met on the baseball diamond 72 previous times, with Miami leading the all-time series 38-34.
• In the 2024 series that was contested in Coral Gables, Miami took the final two games of the three-game series.
• The last time that the two squads faced off in Charlottesville, Virginia swept Miami in April of 2023.

 RANKING THE HOOS

• Entering the weekend, UVA’s arms ranked 25th nationally and fifth in the ACC with an average of 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Along with the strikeouts, Virginia has turned 37 double plays on the year, which ranks third in the ACC.As a team, UVA is batting .308, good enough for 27th nationally and fourth in the league.

 ON THE MOUND

• Jay Woolfolk will get the ball on Friday for UVA. The righthander leads all Cavalier pitchers with 60 strikeouts on the season. His 60 Ks rank him 16th in the ACC. Woolfolk is averaging95 strikeouts per nine innings to place seventh in the league.
• Bradley Hodges is slated to take the mound on Saturday. In his last start, Hodges went a career-long seven innings and tied his career-high in strikeouts with seven to help UVA secure the series win over Georgia Tech.
• To close out the weekend, Virginia will turn to freshman Tomas Valincius on Sunday. The freshman ranks fourth in the conference with a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4.38, having fanned 57 opposing batters this season against 13 walks.

 PLAYER NOTABLES

• Henry Ford ranks seventh in ACC with a batting average of .360. The sophomore is also averaging49 hits per game to rank sixth in the league and 68th nationally.
• Aidan Teel’s 16 doubles rank the junior with the sixth-most two-baggers in the league.
• Elsewhere in the lineup, Henry Godbout and James Nunnallee are proving to be two of the hardest outs in the conference. Nunnallee has a strikeout rate of 12.7 to rank first in the ACC, while Godbout enters the weekend with a K rate of 11.4 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 18 doubles, eighth with 1.42 hits per game and 11th with a .361 batting average.

 HOT BATS IN HOTLANTA

• In the final ACC weekend of April, the Cavaliers went down to Atlanta and took two of three from then-No. 24 Georgia Tech.
• In the series opener, Virginia rode a seven-run fourth inning to a 12-9 victory. The seven-run fourth featured a pair of two-run home runs from James Nunnallee and Aidan Teel, along with a three-run bomb from Henry Godbout.
• To capture the weekend series, Bradley Hodges dazzled in the first weekend start of his career. The junior surrendered one run on two hits over a career-best seven innings pitched. Hodges also struck out seven Yellow Jackets to tie a career-high.
• Throughout the three-game series, the Hoos hit a total of eight home runs, which is two more than the squad hit in the entire month of February.