Baseball: No. 11 UVA nabs 8-4 win at VCU in regular-season road finale

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 11 Virginia completed the series sweep of VCU with an 8-4 win at The Diamond on Tuesday. The Cavaliers have won five-straight games against the Rams and have now swept the season home and home series for the second-straight season.

Virginia (34-12) scored the first seven runs of the contest before a VCU grand slam in the seventh that made it a three-run ball game. The four-run frame ended a streak of 21 consecutive innings without allowing a run. Harrison Didawick provided the final of four Cavalier home runs on the night, a solo shot in the eighth that gave UVA the 8-4 advantage. The home run was his 17th of the season, the fifth-most ever in a single season in UVA history.

Freshman Bryson Moore was credited with his second win of the season after pitching 2.1 scoreless frames. Aidan Teel closed out the game without allowing a run and fanned four batters over the final 2.1 innings, his longest outing of his career.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Jacob Ference helped UVA capitalize on a two-out, VCU fielding error in the first inning by blasting a three-run homer over the left-field wall. The long ball was Ference’s 13th of the season, one shy of matching his career-high set last season at Salisbury University.

Ethan Anderson extended his consecutive games reached base streak to 18 games with a two-out opposite field single that scored Henry Ford in the third inning, giving UVA a 4-0 advantage.

Luke Hanson led off the sixth with a solo home run, his sixth homer of the season. Casey Saucke followed with an RBI double down the left field line that allowed Griff O’Ferrall to score from second base, putting Virginia up 6-0.

Henry Godbout added the home run parade in the seventh with a two-out blast that cleared the wall in left. It was his fourth of the season and first since March 16 against Wake Forest’s Chase Burns.

A grand slam in the seventh by Chris McHugh pulled the Rams (27-17) within three but Didawick provided the insurance with his solo shot in the top of the eighth.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia improves to 49-25 all-time against VCU and have taken the season series for back-to-back years for the first time since the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
• The game was UVA’s final regular season road game and it finishes with an 11-5 mark in true road contests. UVA has tallied 11 or more road wins in three of the last four seasons.
• The Diamond was the fourth professional ballpark UVA has played in this season and improve to 4-2 in pro parks in 2024.
• O’Ferrall surpassed current Cavalier undergraduate assistant coach and UVA Baseball Hall of Famer John Hicks for sole possession of ninth on UVA’s career hit list with his 246th career base knock, a single in the sixth inning.
• Virginia has 80 home runs as a team this year, three shy of matching the single season school record set last year.

UP NEXT

Virginia will return home on Wednesday to host Navy at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers will have Evan Blanco (4-3) on the mound and he will be opposed by Midshipmen righty Owen Beisty. First pitch at Disharoon Park is scheduled for 6 p.m.