Johnson’s Late Home Run Lifts Virginia Over North Dakota StateJohnson’s Late Home Run Lifts Virginia Over North Dakota State

Johnson’s Late Home Run Lifts Virginia Over North Dakota State

Hoos take two of three on Florida trip

Box Score

DELAND, Fla. – In the final game of its Florida road swing, the Virginia baseball team (6-1) downed the North Dakota State Bison (1-7) 5-4 in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon (Feb. 22) at Melching Field. 

 

UVA trailed 4-2 after the opening five-and-a-half innings before plating the final three runs of the contest, including a Kyle Johnson go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth. 

 

Lucas Hartman picked this second win of the season on Sunday after tossing a pair of shutout innings to end the game.

HOW IT HAPPENED

  • North Dakota State opened the scoring on Sunday with an RBI groundout that put the Bison up 1-0 after the first inning.
  • Following the run, Virginia starting pitcher John Paone settled in and retired seven of the next eight Bison batters that he faced.
  • In the home half of the third, Eric Becker reached base with a one-out single, then came around to score on AJ Gracia’s fourth home run of the weekend, which tied the contest at 2-2.
  • The Bison regained the advantage at 4-2 in the top of the sixth with a two-run two-out triple that followed a 25-minute rain delay.
  • UVA got back within a run at 4-3 when Joe Tiroly scored on a Noah Jouras sacrifice fly to left field in the home half of the sixth.
  • After Drew Koenen sat down all three NDSU batters that he faced in the top half of the frame, Aiden Harris was hit by a pitch to open the UVA seventh. The sophomore proved to be the tying run a handful of batters later when Sam Harris drove him in with an RBI single down the line in right field.
  • Hartman turned in a clean top of the eighth to set up Johnson’s game-winning pinch-hit solo home run in the eighth.
  • In the ninth, Hartman slammed the door on a potential Bison comeback with a strikeout to preserve the 5-4 Virginia victory. 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • With the win, Virginia moves to 37-7 in the month of February since the start of the 2021 season and 1-0 all-time against North Dakota State.
  • Head coach Chris Pollard matches Brian O’Connor’s 6-1 start in 2004 for the best start to a UVA head coaching tenure in program history.
  • The Virginia pitching staff fanned 13 NDSU batters in the contest, marking the fourth time this season that the Virginia pitchers have tallied double-digit strikeouts.
  • Johnson’s pinch-hit homer in the eighth was the second by a Cavalier this season. Will Mahala accomplished the feat against Wagner in game one of the doubleheader.
  • Virginia outfielder Harrison Didawick went 2-for-3 on Sunday to remain the only Cavalier to record a base knock in every game this season.

UP NEXT

Virginia returns to Disharoon Park on Tuesday for a midweek game against George Washington. The first pitch between the Cavaliers and the Revolutionaries is slated for 3 p.m. and will be carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).