Cavalier bats come alive in 18-0 rout of Pitt

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

An offensive outburst and a stellar effort on the mound by graduate student Brian Gursky powered No. 8 Virginia (27-8, 10-7 ACC) to an 18-0 win over Pitt (20-13, 8-8 ACC) on Saturday. The Cavaliers evened the weekend series to force a Sunday rubber match at 2 p.m. on ACC Network.

Gursky limited the Panthers to two hits over a career-high 6.2 innings of work to earn his team-leading, sixth victory of the season. The lefthander fanned six batters and delivered his second quality start of the season.

The Cavalier offense drew 15 walks in the contest and took advantage of four Panther fielding miscues. Every batter in the Cavalier starting lineup recorded an RBI in the contest. Sophomore Jake Gelof led the way by going 4 for 4 with a double, three runs scored and two RBI.

Griff O’Ferrall and Kyle Teel started the game with back-to-back doubles to give UVA a quick 1-0 advantage. Teel advanced to third on his two-bagger and scored on a Gelof RBI single. Virginia made it a 4-0 game in the third inning when Teel scored from first on a Pitt error in the outfield. Gelof also scored in the frame on an RBI groundout by Alex Tappen. The RBI for Tappen was his 49th of the season.

Already leading 4-0, Virginia sent 12 batters to the plate in the fifth inning and plated seven runs. It was the 19th time this season that the Cavaliers have scored five or more runs in an inning and eighth time that UVA has scored seven or more in a single frame. Devin Ortiz, Justin Rubin and O’Ferrall had RBI hits in the frame.

The Cavaliers added seven additional runs after the fifth-inning outburst, including three-run rallies in the seventh and eighth. Coming on a pinch-hitter in the eighth, freshman Ethan Anderson had a two-run double and he was followed by a Colin Tuft RBI single to cap the Virginia scoring.

Sophomore Alex Greene pitched the final 2.1 innings to preserve UVA’s seventh shutout of the season. He stranded a runner in scoring position in the seventh and faced six batters over the final two innings.

“It was a terrific bounce back day for us,” said UVA coach Brian O’Connor. “Our guys accepted the challenge and Pitt has got a very good team, they showed that on Friday night. Our guys responded and [Brian] Gursky was outstanding. When you’re in a tough spot, you need guys to step forward and he did. Jake Gelof had five quality at bats today, everybody in the lineup had an RBI and it was just a complete team effort. We needed a really well-played game today. I was just proud of our guys, having bounced back on the road for an ACC win.”

Box Score

UP NEXT

The weekend ACC series will conclude on Sunday at 2 p.m. with a rubber match on ACC Network. The Cavaliers will have lefthander Jake Berry (4-1) on the mound and he will be opposed by Panther righty Billy Cocoran (4-2).

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The 18-run margin of victory over the Panthers was the largest of any of the 29 all-time meetings between the UVA and Pitt. The 18 runs were the second-most UVA has scored against Pitt. The Cavaliers scored 19 in the first ever meeting against the Panthers in 1940.
• Virginia is the only school in the country with seven shutouts this season.
• In Gursky’s eight starts this season, the UVA offense is outscoring opponents 101-25.
• Virginia has 11 doubles in two games against the Panthers, six on Friday night and five in Saturday’s contest.
• O’Ferrall has reached base in 11-straight games and has hit safely in five-straight.