Baseball: No. 7 Cavaliers stay unbeaten in non-conference play with 4-1 win at Liberty

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 7 Virginia finished off a four-game road swing with a 4-1 win over Liberty at Worthington Field at Liberty Baseball Stadium on Tuesday in Lynchburg. The Cavaliers (25-4) have won all 17 non-conference games this season and have won 21-straight non-conference tilts dating back to last season.

A season-high seven pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts. Chase Hungate was credited with his second win of the season after pitching a scoreless fifth inning. In his first career start on the mound, freshman Cullen McKay worked the first three innings and struck out a season-high six batters. Jay Woolfolk was credited with his third save of the season.

Griff O’Ferrall went 4 for 5 and scored a pair of runs at the plate. The four-hit performance was his fourth of his career and second of the season. Ethan Anderson, who drove in UVA’s first run, went 3 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• McKay was dominant in his longest outing of the season. He struck out the first two batters of the game and ended the second and third innings with strikeouts. McKay was the third UVA freshman to earn a start on the mound this season.
• Virginia was held scoreless through its first four trips to the plate until breaking through on an Anderson two-out RBI single in the fifth.
• A batter later, Casey Saucke grounded a ball through the middle of the infield that allowed both Ethan O’Donnell and Anderson to score to give UVA a 3-0 advantage. All three runs were unearned due to a Liberty fielding error in the frame.
• Kyle Teel added an insurance run in the top of the eighth with an opposite field, two-out double that allowed O’Ferrall to score. The double was Teel’s 10th of the season.
• Liberty (12-16) pushed its only run across in the bottom of the eighth on a single up the middle by cleanup hitter Gray Betts. The Flames brought the tying run to the plate in the frame, but Evan Blanco struck out Cam Foster and then induced an inning-ending ground out.

 

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia scored all four of its runs with two outs.
• Tuesday marked the sixth time that O’Ferrall has recorded three or more hits in a game this season.
• Jake Gelof drew three walks in the contest, matching a career-high.
• The Cavaliers are 17-0 against non-conference opponents in 2023 and have won their last 21 games against non-ACC foes dating back to last season. Virginia’s last lost to a non-conference team came on April 19, 2022, a 9-7 extra-inning loss at VCU.
• Teel finished 1-for-4 with a walk and now has reached base in all 29 games this season.O’Ferrallextended his reached base streak to 20-games.
• Virginia improves to 42-22-1 all-time against Liberty and 18-3 under Brian O’Connor. UVA has won the last three decisions against Liberty and 13 of the last 15 matchups.
• UVA came into the game ranked second in the country in hits and racked up 13 more on Tuesday. The Cavaliers have collected 10 or more hits in eight-straight games.

UP NEXT

Virginia returns home this weekend with a three-game series against Miami in a battle for first place in the ACC Coastal Division. The series opener is scheduled for Friday at 6 p.m. at Disharoon Park.