HOW IT HAPPENED
- After a scoreless opening first frame, Virginia struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Jake Weatherspoon singled home Johnson with two outs.
- Javar Williams opened Wake Forest’s eight-run third inning with a solo home run to left field. Following the solo shot, the Demon Deacons scored seven more runs on four hits, five walks and a UVA error in the frame.
- In the home half of the inning, Eric Becker clobbered the second pitch he saw for a solo shot that landed beyond the Virginia bullpen. The home run was his fifth of the season and second of the weekend.
- An inning later, Noah Murray worked a leadoff and later scored on a Johnson double down the left field line that cut the deficit to 8-3.
- Wake Forest tacked on two more runs in the seventh and in the eighth to extend its lead to 12-3 after seven and a half innings played.
- The Final Virginia run in the bottom of the eighth when Johnson took a 1-0 off the clubhouse in left center. The homer was his second of the season and first since the Stetson game on Feb. 22.
- Wake Forest added on its final run in the top of the ninth with an RBI single through the right side of the infield to finalize the 13-4 ballgame.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- UVA falls to 12-3 when hitting two or more home runs and 15-1 when scoring first.
- The Virginia pitching staff fanned 12 batters on Saturday, marking the 12th time this season that UVA pitchers have struck out double-digit batters.
- With his home run in the third inning, Eric Becker extended his team-best hit streak to 12 games.
- AJ Gracia made his season debut at first base for the Cavaliers on Saturday.
FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS POLLARD
“Kind of a weird third inning. I thought Max Stammel was pitching really well. I thought he made a couple of really good pitches with a chance to get off the field. He had some soft contact bad luck and Torres put a good swing on it. He went to back the play up at home plate and he got shielded; he couldn’t see the throw and the ball hit his face. He put his hand up to block the ball and took the ball off the thumb and was really just having a hard time with feel after that. He was throwing a lot better than the box score indicates. We didn’t do a great job of getting off the field after that and allowed the inning to balloon a little bit. We didn’t do a great job of getting off the field in the seventh and that wound up being the difference in the ballgame.”
UP NEXT
The rubber match against No. 24 NC State is set for 1 p.m. on Sunday (March 22) at Disharoon Park. The ACC Network and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) will carry a contest that will see RHP John Paone (1-1) start on the mound for Virginia opposite of Wake Forest’s RHP Troy Dressler (3-0).
