Cavaliers Cage Louisville in Series Opener on Thursday

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – To open the final weekend of the regular season, the Virginia baseball team (35-18, 14-14 ACC) downed the Louisville Cardinals (28-26, 11-17 ACC) 8-3 on Thursday night (May 14) at Jim Patterson Stadium.

 

The Cavaliers jumped out to a 6-0 lead after three frames in the series opener by plating three runs in the second and third innings each. To secure the win, the UVA bullpen held the Louisville offense to a pair of runs over the final two innings.

 

After missing 13 games with an upper-body injury, Eric Becker led the Virginia offense by going 3-for-6 with a double and a run driven in. Harrison Didawick and Joe Tiroly also tallied multi-hit games in the victory.

 

UVA starter Henry Zatkowski picked up his seventh win of the campaign by tossing six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• After Zatkowski retired the side in the first, Virginia struck first on a Louisville fielder error with the bases loaded before Tiroly made it a 3-0 contest a few pitches later with a two-out two-run single to left center.
• An inning later, UVA cashed in on another Cardinal fielding error with the bases loaded when two Cavaliers scored thanks to a misplay by the Louisville catcher. Becker capped off the three-run third for Virginia with an RBI single to left center that plated Zach Jackson.
• Virginia extended its advantage in the sixth when Jackson worked a bases-loaded walk that brought Sam Harris home.
• The lone blemish on Zakowski's line came in the bottom of the sixth when Ben Slanker singled through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded to get Louisville on the board.
• Becker opened the top of the seventh with a double down the line in left and later scampered home to score when Gracia got caught in a rundown.
• Louisville tacked on two more runs in the eighth before Tyler Kapa pitched a scoreless ninth to seal the 8-3 Virginia victory.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia’s eight runs on Thursday night were the most in an ACC win this season without hitting a home run.
• UVA has won seven of its ten series openers in ACC play.
• The Cavaliers have now recorded 35 wins in a season for the 19th time in the last 25 years, which is the third most in the ACC during that time.
• Virginia moves to 25-3 when scoring six or more runs and 25-5 when scoring first on the year.
• Sam Harris reached base on a fielder’s choice in the first inning to extend his team-best reached base streak to 19 games.
• Tyler Kapa has not allowed a run in 19 of his 23 appearances this season.

FROM COACH CHRIS POLLARD:

"First and foremost, welcome back, Eric Becker. What an incredible stepping back in after being out close to a month. He played an incredible ballgame. It’s ironic that it's the first game back and we have to handle more baseballs at short than any other game this year and he did it flawlessly. It was an incredibly well-pitched game by Henry Zatkowski and Tyler Kapa there at the end.”

UP NEXT

Virginia will look to win the series on Friday in the middle game of the three-game series. John Paone (1-3) will toe the rubber in the contest that is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch. ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) will carry the matchup.