Virginia Bats Finally Come Alive in 18-0 Beatdown at Pittsburgh

After a record-breaking begin to the season, the Virginia bats seemingly vanished for the final six video games. Earlier than that time, the Cavaliers had been averaging over 11 runs per recreation. Since then, UVA has averaged simply 4 runs per recreation during the last six video games, the final 5 of which had been all losses – Virginia’s longest shedding streak since 2003. 

In the end, the Virginia offense awoke from its slumber and put a 17-0 beatdown on the Pitt Panthers on Saturday to even the sequence at one recreation apiece. 

The Cavaliers took no time in any respect to leap on the Panthers within the first inning, as Griff O’Ferrall led off the sport with a double and Kyle Teel adopted that up with a double of his personal. 

Jake Gelof singled to attain Teel and the Cavaliers rapidly took a 2-0 lead within the high of the primary. 

Pittsburgh starter Logan Evans bought the following 4 outs after which used a double-play to get out of a jam within the second inning, however the UVA offense stored the stress up within the third. Teel bought on board with a leadoff single, then Jake Gelof hit one other single, which ended up being sufficient to attain Teel from first base as Pitt dedicated an error. Gelof moved to 3rd base on a balk after which got here residence on a groundout from Alex Tappen. 

Brian Gursky was glorious on the mound for the Cavaliers, going 6.2 scoreless inning, giving up simply two hits and hanging out six batters. Whereas the 4-0 lead was enough with Gursky dealing on the mound, UVA has seen leads like that evaporate simply over the five-game shedding streak. 

Fortunately, the Virginia offense exploded within the high of the fifth to blow the sport open. Devin Ortiz hit a double to left discipline to attain Gelof and Tappen, which ended Logan Evans’ day on the mound. Pitt introduced in CJ McKennitt, who managed to get the primary out of the inning however then struggled with location. McKennitt walked Colin Tuft after which a wild pitch allowed Alex Tappen to attain. Freshman Anthony Stephan drew a stroll after which Jake Rubin delivered a two-run single into left discipline. McKennitt’s transient look got here to an finish after giving up one other RBI single to Griff O’Ferrall. 

Pitt inserted lefty Ben Dragani, who had much more accuracy points on the mound for the Panthers. Dragani walked three consecutive batters, leading to two runs scoring for Virginia. Dylan Lester entered the sport for Pitt and bought Devin Ortiz to floor right into a double play to lastly finish the inning with UVA main 11-0. 

Miscues continued to value the Panthers for the rest of the sport. Within the high of the sixth, Colin Tuft drew a stroll, moved to second on a floor out, after which got here residence on an error. Within the seventh, one other Pittsburgh infield error allowed two extra runs to attain for the Cavaliers. Stephan flied out to left discipline, which scored Ortiz from third to make it 15-0. Pittsburgh dedicated 4 errors within the recreation. 

UVA tacked on three extra runs within the eighth inning for good measure on a two-run double from Ethan Anderson and an RBI single from Colin Tuft. 

Alex Greene got here in for Gursky within the seventh inning and pitched the rest of the sport, giving up simply two hits and preserving the shutout for the Cavaliers. 

With the win, Virginia snaps its five-game shedding streak and improves to 27-8 general and 10-7 in ACC play. The Cavaliers will look to win the sequence in opposition to Pittsburgh on Sunday at 2pm. 

See extra Virginia baseball information and content material: Virginia Baseball on Sports activities Illustrated

See extra Virginia sports activities information and content material: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports activities Illustrated

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