Seven-Run First Inning Lifts No. 9 Virginia Over LibertySeven-Run First Inning Lifts No. 9 Virginia Over Liberty

Seven-Run First Inning Lifts No. 9 Virginia Over Liberty

Hoos ride big first inning in midweek victory over Liberty

Box Score

LYNCHBURG, Va. – In the second of back-to-back midweeks, the No. 9 Virginia baseball team (18-4) outslugged the Liberty Flames (13-7) in a 14-12 contest on Wednesday evening (March 18) at Worthington Field.

 

The Cavalier offense scored early and often as UVA plated a total of nine runs over the opening two innings, including a seven-run first.

 

The offensive trio of Jake Weatherspoon, Harrison Didawick and Eric Becker combined for six of UVA’s nine hits on the day and drove in nine runs. In his first start in over two years, Matt Augustin picked up the win for the Cavaliers on Wednesday.

  • HOW IT HAPPENED

    • Virginia wasted no time on Wednesday as the Cavaliers plated seven runs in the top of the first inning. UVA sent 12 batters to the plate in the frame and that was highlighted by a Weatherspoon bases-clearing double.
    • An inning later, back-to-back RBI sacrifice flies from Noah Murray and Kyle Johnson put the Cavaliers up 9-0.
    • After the first three batters reached in the bottom of the second, Liberty scratched across a run on a fielder’s choice. Michael Yeager induced a pair of flyouts to neutralize any further threat in the inning.
    • Liberty cut the Virginia lead in half at 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth with a solo home run and a two-run triple.
    • The Virginia offense tacked on three more runs in the top of the fifth on a pair of RBI base knocks off the bats of Weatherspoon and AJ Gracia.
    • Didawick extended the UVA advantage to 14-4 in the sixth with a two-run moonshot to right field. The home run was Didawick’s second of the season and 35th of his career.
    • Following the seventh inning stretch, the Flames cut into the Virginia advantage with a three-run frame that was aided by a couple of UVA miscues.
    • Liberty continued to mount a potential comeback in the eighth with a three-run home run from Riley DeCandido that made it a 14-10 contest.
    • The Flames made it interesting in the ninth by scoring a pair of runs before Lucas Hartman secured the 14-12 Virginia victory with a strikeout of John Simmons.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

  • Virginia improves to 45-24-1 all-time against the Liberty Flames and 15-14 in Lynchburg. 
  • Wednesday’s start was the first by Matt Augustin since being handed the ball in a 26-12 victory over George Washington on March 6, 2024.
  • Harrison Didawick’s two-run blast in the sixth inning was the 35th of his Virginia career. Didawick will enter the weekend tied with Mark Reynolds (2002-04) and Jon Benick (1998-01) for the third most career home runs by a Virginia player.
  • UVA moves 9-0 on the season when scoring 10 or more runs and 6-1 in midweeks.

FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS POLLARD

“It is a really good club. They are a top-50 team in the country, playing in their own ballpark. They are hungry for a win after kind of scuffing on the weekend and a tough loss yesterday. We talked about the fact that we were going to throw a lot of arms and see what we had. Some of those guys pitched really well and some of those guys have some work to do. That is the reality of playing a double midweek and we knew that would be the case. I told our guys yesterday that our pitching really stepped up and had our offense’s back against a tough arm and today our offense stepped up and had our pitchers' back. That is just the way it happens. You don’t get any pretty points, you don’t get any style points, it’s did you get the job done or not and we got the job done.”  

UP NEXT

No. 9 Virginia will return to Disharoon Park on Friday (March 20) for the start of a three-game weekend series against No. 24 Wake Forest. The series opener is slated for 6 p.m. while being carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1080 AM).