Baseball: State takes rubber match, 13-5, to win series against No. 10 Virginia

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 23 NC State scored nine of the game’s final 10 runs in a 13-5 series-clinching win over No. 10 Virginia. The series win for the Wolfpack was the first at Disharoon Park since the 2016 season.

The Cavaliers (37-14, 15-12 ACC) erased an early 3-0 deficit with a four-run second inning, but the Wolfpack racked up nine hits, including a pair of home runs, over the final six innings to close out the series. NC State scored 10 of its 13 runs with two outs.

Griff O’Ferrall moved into a tie with Matt Street (2002-05) for sixth place on UVA’s all-time hits list with his go-ahead double in the second inning. O’Ferrall’s 255 career hits are the most of any three-year player in program history.

Harrison Didawick belted his 19th home run of the season, the fourth-most in a single season ever at UVA. He was 2 for 4 with two runs scored on the afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Virginia fell behind, 3-0 in the first inning after Butterworth hit a three-run homer over the left centerfield wall. Butterworth was 2 for 12 in the series with two home runs and five RBI.

The Cavaliers mounted a two-out rally of their own in the bottom of the second inning to go up 4-3, its only lead of the afternoon. After RBI singles from Henry Godbout and Eric Becker, O’Ferrall gave UVA the one-run advantage with a two-run double down the left field line, his fourth two-bagger of the series.

NC State (29-19, 15-11) responded with a four-run fourth, capitalizing on a Cavalier fielding error that led to a pair of unearned runs.

Didawick brought the Cavaliers within two on a solo shot into the right field bullpen in the bottom half of the fourth, but it was as close as UVA would get for the rest of the afternoon.

NC State scored the final six runs of the game that was capped by a Luke Nixon three-run homer in the top of the eighth inning.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia falls to 3-3 rubber games this season in ACC play.
• Ethan Anderson was hit by a pitch in the second inning that ignited the four-run frame. He has reached base safely in 23-straight games, the longest active streak on the team and the longest of his career.
• O’Ferrall is seven hits away from entering the top five in career hits at UVA.
• UVA snapped a streak of 14-straight series wins the weekend after exam break. Virginia’s last series loss immediately following exam break came in 2008 when it lost two out of three games against then-No. 2 North Carolina.

UP NEXT

The final regular season series of the season will begin on Thursday against Virginia Tech. All three games of the series are slated to be played at Disharoon Park. The series opener and the middle game on Friday will have 6-p.m. first pitches. The series finale on Saturday will be at 5 p.m. and will be broadcast live on ACC Network.