Baseball: 19-hit performance propels No. 13 UVA to 13-4 win over Towson

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 13 Virginia remained unblemished in non-conference play with a 13-4 win over Towson on Wednesday at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers have won 26-straight regular season non-conference games dating back to last season and all 22 out-of-league games in 2023.

Sophomore Kyle Teel became the second Cavalier this season to collect five hits in a game with a 5-for-5 performance at the plate. He had three singles, a pair of doubles, scored three runs and drove in a a pair. The Cavalier catcher bumped his season batting average up to .424, the highest of any hitter in the ACC.

Ethan Anderson drove in a game-high four runs, including the go-ahead run in the first inning. The sophomore first baseman now has career-high 44 RBI on the season, the second most on the team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Towson’s Reyce Curnane hit a two-out, solo home run to left field to give Towson an initial 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The home run snapped Virginia starting pitcher Cullen McKay’s streak of eight innings without surrendering an earned run.
• The Cavaliers (34-9) didn’t trail for long and rallied for three, two-out runs in the bottom half of the first inning. The Tigers balked in a run and then back-to-back RBI singles from Anderson and Casey Saucke put UVA up 3-1.
• Teel extended the UVA lead to 5-1 in the second inning with a bases loaded, two-RBI single to right field. For his career, Teel is 10-for-15 with four home runs and 34 RBI with the bases loaded.
• Virginia went up 7-2 in the third on a sacrifice fly by Harrison Didawick and a one-out RBI single from Griff O’Ferrall.
• The Tigers (13-29) pulled with three after a two-run fifth inning. Bryce Frederick delivered a two-out, two RBI single to make it 7-4.
• The Cavaliers scored six unanswered runs including five in the top of the eighth inning to secure the victory. Ethan Anderson drove in three of the last six runs, highlighted by a two-run double in the game-changing eighth inning.
• Relievers Chase Hungate (1.2 IP), Angelo Tonas (1.2 IP) and Jay Woolfolk (1.0) did not allow a run over the final 4.1 innings. Woolfolk fanned three batters in the ninth inning to finish off the second UVA win in as many days.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia, the nation’s leader in hits, racked up 19 base knocks on Wednesday. It was the fifth time this season the Cavaliers had 19 or more hits in a game.
• Virginia improved to 25-2 at home this season, the 14th time UVA has posted 25 or more home wins in a season under Brian O’Connor.
• UVA is the only team in the country unbeaten in non-conference play, winning all 22 non-ACC games.
• Virginia is 23-2 all-time against Towson and have won 18-straight games against the Tigers dating back to the 2009 season.
• Bradley Hodges was credited with his first collegiate win after coming on in relief of McKay in the third inning. The lefthander allowed one hit, two runs and struck out three in 1.2 innings of work.
• The five-run eighth inning was the 20th time Virginia has scored five or more runs in a single inning.

UP NEXT

Virginia resumes ACC play this weekend with a three-game series against Duke who leads the Cavaliers by a half of a game in the ACC Coastal Division standings. The series opener is slated for Friday and will be televised live on ACC Network.