No. 11 Virginia drops series opener to No. 7 Virginia Tech

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Behind a strong starting pitching performance from Griffin Greene, No. 7 Virginia Tech (29-9, 12-7 ACC) defeated No. 11 Virginia (32-10, 13-9 ACC) 5-2 on Friday at Disharoon Park.

The home loss was just the third this season for the Cavaliers.

Greene improved to 7-1 on the season after logging seven innings of one-run baseball. He recorded only two strikeouts but pitched effectively around four walks and seven Cavalier hits. Virginia out-hit Virginia Tech 8-7, the third time this season UVA has lost despite out-hitting its opponent.

Junior Chris Newell went 3-for-3 with a walk and scored both Cavalier runs in the contest. In the top of the ninth, he hit his ninth home run of the season to make it a 5-2 game.

A solo homer off the bat of Carson DeMartini in the third inning got Virginia Tech on the board. The long ball was his 11th of the year. The Hokies leading hitter, Jack Hurley, followed up with a two-out RBI single later in the frame to make it 2-0.

Virginia cut the lead in half in fourth inning on an RBI single through the left side by Casey Saucke. Virginia Tech spoiled a potential big inning with the help of double play on a lineout by Max Cotier.

The Hokies plated two more, two-out runs in the sixth with back-to-back doubles Connor Hartigan and Lucas Donlon.

Leadoff man Nick Biddison capped the Virginia Tech scoring with a leadoff homer in the top of the ninth.

Virginia starting pitcher Nate Savino pitched into the sixth inning and left the game with a runner on second who eventually came around to score. He pitched 5.2 innings, allowed three runs and struck out seven batters. Five of his seven strikeouts came in the first three innings.

Postgame: Virginia coach Brian O’Connor

“Certainly, a good college baseball game with a great environment. The story for me was the starting pitcher (Griffin) Green. He did a tremendous job he really battled, he buckled down and made some really big pitches with runners in scoring position. We had numerous opportunities that we didn’t capitalize on and to beat a great team like Virginia Tech, you have to make sure that you’re opportunistic and we didn’t do that. I thought (Nate) Savino, gave us a chance to win but their guy out outdueled him and did a terrific job. We’re looking forward to another opportunity tomorrow.”

UP NEXT: The series resumes on Saturday with the middle game of a three Prior to Saturday’s middle game, the Virginia baseball program will retire No. 11 in honor of Ryan Zimmerman in a pregame ceremony. Gates will open at 2:30 with ceremonies scheduled to begin at 3:30 and first pitch of the contest slated for 4 p.m.