Didawick Lifts No. 13 Virginia Over Notre Dame In Series Opener

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The No. 13 Virginia baseball team (25-10, 9-7 ACC) outslugged the Notre Dame Irish (15-14, 6-10 ACC) 8-4 on Friday (April 10) at Frank Eck Stadium.

 

After falling behind 3-0, UVA rode a pair of two-run blasts from Harrison Didawick and a go-ahead solo homer in the ninth off the bat of Zach Jackson to its eighth series-opening victory of the season.

 

Virginia starter Kyle Johnson allowed three runs over four innings of work with six strikeouts but was dealt a no-decision. Out of the bullpen, Lucas Hartman picked up his team-leading sixth win on Friday.

 

Didawick led the Cavalier offense in the series opener by going 3-for-5 with four RBIs, while Joe Tiroly added three more hits of his own.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After working around traffic in the opening two frames, Johnson surrendered the opening three runs of the contest on a solo home run and a two-run triple in the third.
• Following the triple, Johnson retired the final six Irish batters he faced, including three strikeouts.
• In the top of the fourth, Joe Tiroly walked a leadoff walk before coming home to score on Dickawick’s first home run of the evening to make it a one-run contest.
• Following a scoreless fifth inning from Kevin Jaxel in relief, Tiroly and Didawick teamed up again in the sixth to put the Cavaliers out front 4-3. With one away, Tiroly singled to center field to bring Didawick back to the plate. The senior turned on the first he saw and deposited it well beyond the wall in right field for his fourth homer of the season.
• Notre Dame tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run of its own.
• Virginia’s four-run inning was jump-started when Zach Jackson crushed his fifth home run of the season to put UVA out front 5-4.
• Later in the inning, Sam Harris drove in a run with a fielder’s choice before Jake Weatherspoon plated the final two runs of the contest with a double that ricocheted off the Notre Dame centerfielder.
• Henry Zatkowski sealed the 8-4 victory on Friday night with a strikeout and a pair of groundouts in the bottom of the ninth.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• With the win, Virginia improves to 8-1 in series-opening games on the season.
• Friday was Virginia’s 11th comeback victory of the season.
• Harrison Didawick’s two home runs on the evening push his career total to 37 and into a tie with E.J. Anderson for second-most all-time.
• Didawick also drove in four runs to give him sole possession of seventh place on the UVA career RBI list with 163.
• In his 20 appearances this season, Lucas Hartman has only allowed a run or fewer 18 times.

FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS POLLARD

“We were really tough. I thought it was a really tough performance from Kyle after giving up three in the third. You got a guy at third, nobody out and he got off the field without that runner crossing. We did a great job of having an immediate impact by running the two-run home run out of the ballpark. Kyle settles in and gives us a zero. I thought we pitched outstanding from that point forward in this ballgame. One mistake by Hartman on the 0-2 changeup, but other than that, we were outstanding on the bump the rest of the way. I thought we swung it well and they played great defense. They took multiple extra-base hits away from us. We just kept putting good swings on the baseball and we broke through in the ninth.“

UP NEXT

No. 13 Virginia will look to take the series on Saturday in the second game of the three-game series. The Cavaliers will hand the ball to lefty Max Stammel (2-3) against Notre Dame’s Jack Radel (3-2). First pitch is slated for 2 p.m. and will be carried on ACCNX.