No. 15 Virginia wraps up ACC pool play Friday against Notre Dame

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Fifth-seeded Virginia will play its final game at the 2022 ACC Tournament when the Cavaliers take on fourth-seeded Notre Dame on Friday. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C.

GAME COVERAGE:  Friday’s contest will air on ACC Regional Sports networks. For a complete list of networks that are carrying the game, visit: https://theacc.com/sports/2017/9/8/acc-on-rsn.aspx. The game is an available on the WatchESPN app but is subject to blackout. Wednesday’s matchup can be heard in its entirety locally on Charlottesville on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) and anywhere on WINA.com. A national audio broadcast will be available on SiriusXM channel 371. Links to live stats can be found on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Friday – 11 a.m.

Virginia: LHP Nate Savino (5-5, 4.03 ERA, 67.0 IP, 29 BB, 70 SO)

Notre Dame: RHP Liam Simon (1-0, 6.63 ERA, 19.0 IP, 18 BB, 33 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Notre Dame (34-13) will be the 13th ACC school Virginia has squared off against this season. The Cavaliers (38-16) did not play either of their Pool D opponents in the regular season. The only school UVA hasn’t played in 2022 is NC State.
• With a loss on Wednesday against Florida State, Virginia will not have a chance to advance to the weekend semifinals.
• The Cavaliers come into tournament action winners of 11 of the last 16 regular season games.
• Virginia finished the regular season ranked 9th in the NCAA in team batting average (.313) and 22nd in team ERA (4.05). UVA and consensus No. 1 Tennessee are the only two programs in the country to be ranked in the top-22 in both categories.
• The Cavaliers also boast the ninth-best scoring offense in the country (9.0 runs/gm) and strike out 10.8 batters per game, the sixth most of any NCAA pitching staff.
• Virginia enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 15 team in the country according to D1Baseball.com. The Cavaliers highest ranking comes from USA Today/Coaches poll at No. 13. UVA enters play on Friday with an RPI of 20, one of seven ACC teams with a top-20 RPI ranking.

ACC TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Virginia earned the fifth seed, its highest seed since 2017 ACC Tournament when it was the fourth seed.
• The last time Virginia was the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament was 1996, the program’s second ever tournament title.
• UVA has been the fifth seed six previous times (1974, 1975, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1996) and owns a 7-9 record in those six tournaments.
• The Cavaliers have won the ACC Tournament three times, 1996, 2009 and most recently 2011.
• Virginia has been part of every ACC Tournament since its inception in 1973 and will make its 48th overall appearance. Only Virginia and Clemson have participated in every ACC Tournament.
• The Cavaliers own a 54-79 overall record in the ACC postseason.
• Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers have a record of 29-25 overall mark in the ACC Tournament.

AGAINST NOTRE DAME

• Friday will mark the second-straight season and the third time ever Notre Dame and Virginia will meet in the ACC Tournament. The Cavaliers have won two of three in ACC postseason action.
• In last year’s tournament, Virginia erupted for 14 runs, tied for the most it has ever scored in ACC tournament play. The win propelled UVA into its first ACC Tournament semifinal since 2011.
• Virginia owns an 11-8 all-time mark against the Fighting Irish in series that dates back to 1991.
• Since entering the league in 2015, the Cavaliers are 8-6 against Notre Dame.
• Notre Dame won its first ever series against Virginia, taking all three in Charlottesville by a combined score of 30-12. It sent Virginia to 2-7 in league play over the first three ACC series of the season. The Cavaliers went on to win 14 of the last 20 ACC games last season to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and eventually reach the program’s fifth College World Series.
• O’Connor spent 14 years as an assistant under Paul Mainieri at Notre Dame and was on staff for the Fighting Irish’s last College World Series appearance in 2002.

NOTING WEDNESDAY

• Virginia was upset by ninth-seeded Florida State in its pool play opener on Wednesday, 13-3. The Seminoles blew the game open in the third inning with a six-run rally, tied for the largest single inning output by an opponent this season.
• It marked the first time Virginia was run-ruled in the ACC Tournament for the first time since 2006 (11-0 – 7 inn.), also against Florida State.
• Virginia racked up 10 hits in the contest and lost for only the fourth time when accumulating double-digit hits. The Cavaliers are 25-4 this season when collecting 10 or more hits.
• The Cavaliers did not walk in the contest and left seven runners on base, including four in scoring position. It was only the second time this season UVA did not draw a walk.
• UVA’s three runs in the contest came on consecutive two-out hits by Kyle Teel (3B), Casey Saucke (2B) and Ethan Anderson (1B) in the fourth inning.

ON THE MOUND

• Lefthander Nate Savino is scheduled to make his 14th start of the season on Friday.
• Savino recorded his first win since March 25 in his final regular season start at Louisville. He scattered five hits over five innings of work and was charged with one earned run.
• The Cavaliers have allowed 7.92 hits per game the third fewest of any staff in the ACC. UVA ranks 19th in the country in hits allowed per game.
• Virginia ranks seventh in the country with 574 strikeouts this season. The 574 punchouts are the fourth most in program history. Including this season, UVA has struck out 500-plus batters 11 times including a school-record 687 batters last season.
• Virginia has seven shutouts this season, one behind national leader Vanderbilt. Virginia is one of seven teams in the country with seven or more shutouts (Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Stanford, Central Michigan, Omaha).

CAVALIERS AT THE PLATE

• Virginia is the No. 9 scoring offense in the country, averaging 9.0 runs per game. The Cavaliers have totaled 484 runs in 54 games, the 11th most nationally. The 484 runs are the fourth most in a single season in program history.
• The Cavaliers have scored 10 or more runs in a game 24 times this season.
• Virginia has scored five or more runs in a single inning 28 times this season. The seven runs in the fourth inning of game one against Clemson marked the 10th time UVA has scored seven or more in a single frame.