No. 5 seed Virginia opens ACC Tournament Pool Play Wednesday against FSU

Posted on Tuesday, May. 24, 2022, 11:59 pm

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Courtesy UVA Media Relations

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Fifth-seeded Virginia will begin its ACC Tournament on Wednesday when it takes on Florida State at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C. First pitch for the contest is scheduled for 3 p.m. and will air on ACC Regional Sports Networks.

GAME COVERAGE:  The entire pool play round will air on ACC Regional Sports networks. For a complete list of networks that are carrying each game, visit: https://theacc.com/sports/2017/9/8/acc-on-rsn.aspx. The game is an available on the WatchESPN app but is subject to blackout. Wednesday’s contest can be heard in its entirety locally on Charlottesvile on WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM) and anywhere on WINA.com. A national audio broadcast will be available on SiriusXM Links to live stats can be found on VirginiaSports.com. Fans can get in-game updates on the team’s official twitter page (@UVABaseball).

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS

Wednesday – 3 p.m.

Virginia: LHP Brian Gursky (7-1, 3.32 ERA, 62.1 IP, 31 BB, 78 SO)

Florida State: LHP Bryce Hubbart (8-2, 2.97 ERA, 69.2 IP, 18 BB, 90 SO)

LEADING OFF

• Virginia (38-15) is the fifth seed grouped with ninth-seeded Florida State (33-22) and fourth-seeded Notre Dame, two of three ACC teams the Cavaliers did not face in league play this year.
• UVA will conclude pool play on Friday against Notre Dame on Friday at 11 a.m.
• The Cavaliers come into tournament action winners of 11 of the last 16 regular season games.
• Virginia finished the regular season ranked 10th in the NCAA in team batting average (.314) and 12th in team ERA (3.88). UVA and consensus No. 1 Tennessee are the only two programs in the country to be ranked in the top-20 in both categories.
• The Cavaliers also boast the ninth-best scoring offense in the country (9.1 runs/gm) and strike out 10.8 batters per game, the seventh most of any NCAA pitching staff.
• Virginia enters the ACC Tournament as the No. 15 team in the country according to D1Baseball.com.

The Cavaliers highest ranking comes from USA Today/Coaches poll at No. 13. UVA enters play on Wednesday with an RPI of 15, one of five ACC teams with a top-15 RPI ranking.

ACC TOURNAMENT NOTES

• Virginia earned the fifth seed, its highest seed since 2017 ACC Tournament when it was the fourth seed.
• The last time Virginia was the fifth seed in the ACC Tournament was 1996, the program’s second ever tournament title.
• UVA has been the fifth seed six previous times (1974, 1975, 1980, 1986, 1987, 1996) and owns a 7-9 record in those six tournaments.
• The Cavaliers have won the ACC Tournament three times, 1996, 2009 and most recently 2011.
• Virginia has been part of every ACC Tournament since its inception in 1973 and will make its 48th overall appearance. Only Virginia and Clemson have participated in every ACC Tournament.
• The Cavaliers own a 54-78 overall record in the ACC postseason.
• Under head coach Brian O’Connor, the Cavaliers have a record of 29-24 overall mark in the ACC Tournament.

AGAINST FLORIDA STATE

• Virginia and Florida State will square off for the 18th time in ACC Tournament action on Wednesday.
• The Seminoles hold a 9-8 edge in tournament games with the last meeting coming in 2018, a 3-2 FSU victory.
• Florida State holds a 59-31 lead in the all-time series against Virginia that was first played in 1972, the same season Virginia won its first ACC title.
• The two teams met last season in Tallahassee with the Seminoles taking the first two games before the Cavaliers were able to salvage the series with a 2-1 win in the finale. UVA and then-closer Stephen Schoch escaped two bases loaded jams, one in the seventh and one in the eighth before stranding the tying run at second base in the ninth for a seven-out save.
• Virginia’s last ACC Tournament win against the Seminoles came in 2013 thanks to a three-run, walk-off home run by Kenny Towns in the 12th inning. The next walk-off home run by a Cavalier came eight years later when Devin Ortiz sent UVA to the Super Regionals with a solo blast in the 2021 Columbia Regional Championship game.

DYNAMIC DUO

• Third baseman Jake Gelof and Alex Tappen are the most prolific run-producing duo in school history, combining for 144 RBI this season. The make up two-thirds of UVA’s single-season 70-RBI club.
• Gelof and Tappen were both First Team All-ACC selections, the first set of Cavalier position players to land on the first team since Pavin Smith and Adam Haseley who went on to become the seventh and eighth overall picks, respectively, in the 2017 MLB Draft

Top RBI Duos in NCAA

Georgia Tech – Kevin Parada (84) / Andrew Jenkins (62) – 146

Virginia – Jake Gelof (74) / Alex Tappen (70) – 144*

UNLV – Henry Zeisler (72) / Edarian Williams (67) – 139

Sam Houston St. – Carlos Contreras (89) / Justin Wishoski (49) – 138

Old Dominion – Andy Garriola (72) / Matt Courtney (65) – 137

* Gelof & Tappen are the only teammates in the country with 70 RBI each

RECORD CHASING

• Jake Gelof surpassed Jon Benick (2001) for sole possession of second place on UVA’s single season home runs list with his 19th in the middle game against Louisville on May 20. He trails Brian Buchanan (22 in 1994) for the most in program history.
• Gelof is also having a historic season driving in runs. He became the second player in UVA history to eclipse the 70-RBI mark with a two-run homer in the series finale against Clemson. He only trails Pavin Smith by three who drove in 77 in 2017 for the school record.
• With 15 RBI in the last 10 games, Tappen has shot up the single-season RBI list and became the third Cavalier to eclipse 70-RBI in a single season. He drove in four runs in three games in the final series of the season against Louisville.

MOST RBI IN A SINGLE SEASON UVA HISTORY

• As a team, Virginia has hit 67 home runs, tied for the most in school history. The 1988 Cavaliers hit 67 in 52 games.

DIGGING THE LONG BALL

• Virginia broke the single season school record for home runs on May 20 at Louisville when Devin Ortiz hit the 68th long ball of the season for UVA.

• With Chris Newell’s 10th home run of the season coming on May 1 against Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers have three players with double-digit home runs for the first time since 2010. The Cavaliers have never had four reach double digits in the same season.

Three UVA players w/ 10-plus HRs – Same Season

2022 – Jake Gelof (18), Alex Tappen (13), Chris Newell (10)

2010 – Phil Gosselin (11), Jarrett Parker (10), Steven Proscia (10)

2002 – Mark Reynolds (15), Dan Street (12), Robert Word (11)

• Tappen’s home run against Longwood on May 11 was the 26th of his career, moving him into the top-10 all-time at UVA.

MOST CAREER HOMERS ALL-TIME AT UVA

ON THE MOUND

• Lefthander Brian Gursky, who has been in the weekend rotation since the start of the season will open up tournament play for the Cavaliers. He has pitched the opening game in the last two ACC series against Clemson and Louisville after spending the majority of the season pitching in the middle game.
• Gursky endured his first loss of the season last Thursday at Louisville despite striking out a career-high 10 batters. It was only the second time this season a Virginia starter logged double-digit strikeouts in a game.
• A transfer from Southern California, Gursky earned Second Team All-ACC honors, the first all-conference recognition of his career. He ranks ninth in the league in ERA (3.32)
• Virginia is 10-2 in games Gursky has started this season and the Cavalier offense is outscoring its opponents 130-45.
• The Cavaliers have allowed 7.77 hits per game the 11th fewest of any staff in the nation.
• Virginia is one of 14 pitching staffs in the country with 550 or more strikeouts. The Cavaliers 562 punchouts are the fifth most in program history. Including this season, UVA has struck out 500-plus batters 11 times including a school-record 687 batters last season.
• Virginia has seven shutouts this season, one behind national leader Vanderbilt. Virginia is one of seven teams in the country with seven or more shutouts (Vanderbilt, Tennessee, Stanford, Central Michigan, Omaha).

CAVALIERS AT THE PLATE

• Virginia is the No. 9 scoring offense in the country, averaging 9.1 runs per game. The Cavaliers have totaled 481 runs in 53 games, the 11th most nationally. The 481 runs are the fourth most in a single season in program history.
• The Cavaliers have scored 10 or more runs in a game 24 times this season.
• Virginia has scored five or more runs in a single inning 28 times this season. The seven runs in the fourth inning of game one against Clemson marked the 10th time UVA has scored seven or more in a single frame.

CAVALIER NOTABLES

• Alex Tappen has 42 RBI in ACC play, the most of any hitter in the league. Tappen has been UVA’s hottest hitter of the last 10 games, batting .415 (17 for 41) with three home runs and 15 RBI.
• Kyle Teel has started 105-straight games dating back to last season including all 53 at catcher this season. His first career start came against Florida State last season.
• Devin Ortiz homered in back-to-back games to close out the regular season. He is one homer shy of matching his career high set last season and is tied with Casey Saucke for the fourth-most on the team.
• Freshman Griff O’Ferrall carries a 17-game reached base streak into the ACC Tournament. He is statistically the fourth-toughest batter in the ACC to strike out and leads the team in stolen bases with 17.