Blanco Deals, Virginia Baseball Homers Three Times to Beat Virginia Tech 7-3

In need of a reset in their final regular season series after suffering a disappointing series loss last weekend, the Cavaliers got just that and did so with a combination of excellent pitching and power hitting.

Evan Blanco allowed only two unearned runs in 7.1 innings and UVA hit three home runs as No. 18 Virginia (38-14, 16-12 ACC) got back in the win column with a 7-3 victory over Virginia Tech (32-18, 14-14 ACC) in the Commonwealth Clash series opener on Thursday night at Disharoon Park.

For Blanco, who has been responsible for most of UVA’s quality starts in what has been a difficult season from a pitching staff perspective, Thursday’s outing was the longest of his career and the longest by any UVA pitcher since Brian Edgington tossed a complete game in the Super Regional against Duke last June. He allowed only five hits, issued only four walks, and the two runs the Hokies scored on his watch were unearned due to an error.

After a scoreless first inning, Virginia gave Blanco some early run support as Harrison Didawick drew a one-out walk and then Eric Becker drilled a two-run home run off the scoreboard in right-center field.

The Cavaliers kept it coming in the third and did so again with the long ball as Henry Ford reached on a single and then Jacob Ference went yard with a hard-hit line drive that cleared the fence in left field for a two-run homer.

Harrison Didawick followed that up with a double down the right field line and he scored on a Henry Godbout grounder that found the gap in the right side of the infield for an RBI single to make it 5-0.

The lone blemish on Blanco’s brilliant outing came in the top of the fourth. After giving up a one-out single, he appeared to have gotten out of it with a routine grounder to third base, but Becker airmailed the throw to first base, turning the final out of the inning into a scoring play to get Virginia Tech on the board. Blanco then issued a walk and an RBI single to Christian Martin before inducing the inning-ending fly-out with UVA still ahead 5-2.

Virginia answered in the bottom of the fifth with its third homer of the day and an historic one for Harrison Didawick, who smashed a solo shot into the bullpen in right field to become just the third Cavalier to ever hit 20 home runs in a single season, joining Brian Buchanan (1994) and Jake Gelof (2022, 2023).

After a 1-2-3 frame from Blanco in the top of the sixth, the Cavaliers scored their seventh and final run of the game in the bottom half, as Luke Hanson hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a Bobby Whalen bunt, and scored on a two-out single from Casey Saucke to make it 7-2.

Blanco worked around a single in the seventh and retired the first batter of the eighth before exiting to a well-deserved ovation from the crowd of 4,275 at Disharoon Park.

He was replaced by Chase Hungate, who gave up a run on a pair of singles, but got UVA to the ninth still leading 7-3. Angelo Tonas closed it out in the final frame, retiring the Hokies in order to secure Virginia’s 7-3 victory.

Blanco was the player of the game, giving up zero earned runs over a career-high 7.1 innings pitched. Though nine different Cavaliers recorded a hit in the game, Harrison Didawick was the only batter with multiple hits, going 3 for 3 with three runs scored, including his 20th home run of the season.

Virginia will look to take the series in Friday’s game 2, which has an adjusted start time of 12pm due to expected inclement weather on Friday evening. The game will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.