Baseball: No. 19 Hoos sweep doubleheader against Rhode Island

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 19 Virginia swept its second doubleheader in as many weekends with a 12-6 win over Rhode Island in game one and a 13-0 shutout in game two. The Cavaliers and Rams will conclude their three-game set on Sunday at Disharoon Park with first pitch set for 1 p.m.

Virginia is 10-0 to start the season for the second-straight year and for the seventh time under head coach Brian O’Connor. The two wins on Saturday pushed O’Connor’s career win total to 799. The Cavaliers are one of five unbeaten teams remaining in all of college baseball at the end of Saturday.

In the two games, Kyle Teel went 6 for 8 with four runs scored and four RBI, including his fourth, four-hit performance of his career in game two. Ethan Anderson had five hits on the day including his second home run of the season. UVA’s game two starting pitcher, Brian Edgington, fanned 10 batters to earn his third win of the year.

GAME 1 – VIRGINIA 12, RHODE ISLAND 6

The difference in the opening game proved to be Virginia’s seven-run, first inning. The Cavaliers sent 12 batters to the plate and racked up six hits, all singles. Virginia was up 3-0 just four batters into the game. Jake Gelof plated the first run of the day with an RBI single up the middle. Teel followed with a two-run single through the right side.

The Rams (3-5) committed two errors in the first inning that led to five of the seven runs going down as unearned. Colin Tuft capped the rally with a two-run single that scored Henry Godbout and Harrison Didawick.

Rhode Island scored all six of its runs on four home runs. The Rams got on the scoreboard in the second with a solo home run by Billy Butler to leadoff the second. Addison Kopack pulled Rhode Island within four with a two-out, three-run homer in the fifth.

The Cavaliers created some separation in the late innings thanks to solo home runs by Anderson and Ethan O’Donnell. The home run by O’Donnell in the eighth inning made it 11-5 and was his second long ball of the season.

Reliever Chase Hungate was credited with his first win in a UVA uniform, taking over in the fourth for Nick Parker. Hungate struck out two, allowed two hits in 1.1 innings of work. First year Bradley Hodges was credited with the save after pitching the final three innings. He allowed two runs and struck out four.

GAME 2 – VIRGINIA 13, RHODE ISLAND 0

Edgington was lights out from the start. He fanned the first four batters he faced all looking. The righthander pitched six scoreless frames, scattered three hits and issued a pair of walks. The double-digit strikeout performance was the fourth of his career.

The Cavaliers broke through in the second inning with four runs. Casey Saucke started the scoring with an RBI double down the left field line and later came around to score on a wild pitch. Anderson chipped in with an RBI single and Griff O’Ferrall hustled out a bunt single to plate the Cavaliers’ fourth run of the day.

It all unraveled for the Rams in the fourth when UVA sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five unearned runs. A dropped pop up in left with two outs extended the inning and pushed UVA’s lead to 9-0 after four.

The freshman bullpen trio of Cullen McKay, Kevin Jaxel and Evan Blanco tossed three hitless innings to secure UVA’s third shutout of the season and second of the week. McKay and Jaxel each fanned a pair while Blanco needed just 11 pitches to close out the game in the ninth.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia has scored five or more runs in an inning six times this season after a seven-run first inning in game one and a five-run fourth inning in game two.
• Game one starting pitcher Nick Parker snapped a streak of 14-straight innings without issuing a walk.
• Parker and Edgington each recorded eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark for their careers. Both came into the game with exactly 198. Edgington now sits at 208 and Parker has 204.
• Jake Gelof tripled home the final run of game one, the first triple of the year by a Cavalier and his fifth of his career. Gelof had two RBI on the day, upping his season total to a team-best, 16.
• Virginia has scored 18 runs in the first inning this season, the most of any frame.
• Teel, O’Donnell, Saucke and Anderson have reached base safely in all 10 games this season. Anderson has a team-best, seven-game hitting streak.

UP NEXT

The Cavaliers and Rams wrap up the three-game series on Sunday at 1 p.m. Virginia will have righthander Jack O’Connor (1-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by righty Braden Perry (1-1).