Baseball: Virginia set to host Cornell in weekend series

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Virginia (4-0) will host a three-game series against Cornell (0-0) beginning Friday at Disharoon Park. All three games will stream live on ACCNX with Friday and Sunday featuring an additional audio broadcast on WINA (98.9 FM/1070AM).

***SCHEDULE NOTE: Game two of the series will now be played at noon. With additional athletic events occurring simultaneously Please note the parking details below.***

GAME COVERAGE

ACCNX is available to authenticated subscribers of the ACC Network through the ESPN app and ESPN.com. In addition, Friday’s game can be heard live in the Charlottesville area on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) or anywhere on WINA.com. Links to live stats are available on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

PARKING INFORMATION

Due to the men’s basketball game against Florida State at John Paul Jones Arena on Saturday afternoon, baseball fans without a men’s basketball parking pass will have to vacate the JPJ South lot by 2:30 p.m. Vehicles that are not vacated will be subject to towing.

Baseball fans are encouraged to utilize the Emmett/Ivy garage for free parking with no vacate times. The ParkMobile app is needed to take advantage of free parking. Use the access code “GOHOOS226” for Saturday. Those who do not have the ParkMobile app, can register for free parking in advance online at uva.pmreserve.com and follow the instructions here.

Virginia athletics will provide a shuttle from Emmett/Ivy Garage to Disharoon Park. The shuttle will run from 11 a.m. -5 p.m., with a break at 3:00 p.m. for half an hour. Please see map for the shuttle route: https://storage.googleapis.com/virginiasports-com/2022/02/82b254e8-parking-map-2.24.22.png

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Friday

Cornell: RHP Luke Yacinich (0-0, 4.70 ERA, 7.2 IP, 11 BB, 7 SO)*

Virginia: LHP Nate Savino (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 3.1 IP, 0 BB, 5 SO)

Saturday

Cornell: LHP Spencer Edwards (0-3, 9.00 ERA, 10.0 IP, 11 BB, 13 SO)*

Virginia: LHP Brian Gursky (1-0, 3.60 ERA, 5.0 IP, 1 BB, 8 SO)

Sunday

Cornell: RHP Kevin Cushing (0-0, 7.94 ERA, 5.2 IP, 3 BB, 8 SO)*

Virginia: LHP Brandon Neeck (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP, 1 BB, 4 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia is 4-0 for the first time since 2017 when the Cavaliers rattled of 10-straight win to start the season. The Cavaliers have been 4-0 under Brian O’Connor seven times (2004, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2021).
• Cornell and Virginia will meet for the first time since 2015. The two teams were supposed to square off for a two-game midweek series in 2020 until the COVID19 pandemic canceled the season.
• The weekend series will serve as the season opener for Cornell and the first game played by the Big Red since March 8, 2020.
• Dating back to last season, Virginia is 7-2 in its last nine home games at Disharoon Park.
• Virginia is among the 48 D-I college baseball programs without a loss on the ledger.

AGAINST CORNELL

• Virginia owns a 27-11-1 mark against Cornell in a series that dates back to 1891.
• After UVA won seven-straight from 1923 to 1939, the series took a 69-year hiatus before resuming in 2008 in Charlottesville. The Cavaliers have now won 12-straight games against the Big Red after midweek series wins in 2008 and 2011 along with a victory in Myrtle Beach back in 2015.
• In the last meeting, taking place at The Ripken Experience’s Griffith Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. because of inclement weather in Charlottesville in 2015, Adam Haseley sealed a 5-4 win on a walk-off sacrifice fly to center, scoring Thomas Woodruff for the game-winning run. The win helped UVA improve to 10-0 on the season.
• Cornell is the third Ivy League school to visit Charlottesville in the last four years. Yale came to the Dish 2018 and Dartmouth played a three-game series in 2020. UVA was 5-1 in those games with three, one-run victories.

SHUTDOWN HURLERS

• The Cavaliers have blanked three of their first four opponents for only the third time in school history and the first time since 1942. UVA also produced three-consecutive shutouts in 1908 after a 9-5 opening day victory over the Fishburne School. It is one of two times (1900) in the 134 years of the program that UVA has produced three-consecutive shutouts.
• Virginia and Texas Southern currently lead all of college baseball with three shutouts.
• A total of 10 different Cavalier pitchers have contributed to the three shutouts. Devin Ortiz and Jay Woolfolk have pitched in two clean sheets this season.

MIDWEEK NOTABLES

• In the team’s home opener on Wednesday, Virginia recorded its fifth-straight win over VMI, downing the Keydets, 14-0.
• The Cavaliers erupted for six runs in the third inning, all coming with two outs. Colin Tuft ignited the rally with a two-run single which enabled the ensuing batters, Chris Newell and Jake Gelof to hit back-to-back homers.
• Two-way graduate student Devin Ortiz pitched four shutout innings and matched a career-high with six strikeouts. At the plate he lifted his first home run of the season over the left field wall. He has now homered in the last two games he’s started on the mound.
• Every Cavalier in the lineup had a hit in the contest.

ON THE MOUND

• For the second-straight week the Cavaliers will look to three lefthanded starters on the mound for the series. Opening weekend was the first time in Brian O’Connor’s tenure at Virginia (since 2004) that three lefties served as weekend starters.
• Junior Nate Savino slides to the Friday slot after pitching 3.1 innings in UVA’s 7-0 shutout of Gardner-Webb last weekend. Savino struck out five batters and was lifted with a runner on and one out in the fourth. The five strikeouts were one shy of matching a career-high.
• Graduate transfer Brian Gursky pitched five innings in the opening weekend finale against NJIT, the longest of any UVA starter through four games. He fanned a career-high eight batters in his UVA debut.
• Brandon Neeck was UVA’s opening day starter and the start was the senior’s first of his collegiate career. He retired the first six batters he faced and struck out the side in the fourth inning

CAVALIER NOTABLES

• Gelof, who went back-to-back with Newell against VMI, was also part of the last time UVA hit back-to-back homers. Gelof followed Alex Tappen in the Super Regional against Dallas Baptist last season.
• Kyle Teel, Griff O’Ferrall, Devin Ortiz and Jake Gelof have all reached safely in UVA’s first four games.
• Teel has reached base safely in 30-straight games dating back to last season.
• Virginia climbed up to No. 4 in the Baseball America Top-25. The Cavaliers ascended as high as No. 2 after the first week of action last season according to Baseball America.
• At the plate Devin Ortiz is four hits away for 100 for his career.