No. 5 Virginia captures Game 1 at Wake Forest

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 10 Virginia (21-1, 6-1 ACC) won its third-straight ACC weekend opener, coming away with an 8-2 victory over Wake Forest (17-5, 3-4 ACC) on Friday at David F. Couch Ballpark. The Cavaliers are winners of seven-straight games and are 6-1 in the ACC to start the year for the first time since 2011.

Starting pitcher Nate Savino was credited with his fourth win and turned in his fourth-straight quality start after pitching 6.1 innings and allowing only two runs. The lefthander struck out five batters and limited the NCAA’s No. 5 offense to four hits.

Freshman Griff O’Ferrall went 4-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, his second four-hit performance of the season. Graduate student Alex Tappen cracked his fifth home run of the season to give UVA a 3-0 advantage in the fourth.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• UVA jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the third inning, scoring two runs on a wild pitch. O’Ferrall came around to score on a pitch that bounced in front of the plate and got away from the catcher. The throw to get O’Ferrall at the plate sailed over the pitcher’s head and allowed Max Cotier to score from second. UVA improved to 19-0 when scoring first this season.
• Tappen gave UVA a 3-0 advantage with a solo shot to left field. It was his 19th career homer, the most of any active Cavalier.
• Wake Forest made it a one-run game on a Brendan Tinsman two-out, two-RBI single in the fourth inning.
• The game-changing inning came in the fifth when UVA sent eight batters to the plate and posted four runs. Two came around on an RBI single from Casey Saucke, his second hit of the day. Colin Tuft was credited with an RBI ground out and O’Ferrall delivered a two-out RBI single to right that scored Cotier.
• Making his fourth appearance of the year, Matt Wyatt faced the minimum over 2.2 innings pitched and struck out two batters. He was the beneficiary of a sliding catch by Saucke in right field in which he doubled up the runner at first base. It was the first outfield assist of the season for the Cavaliers.

FROM HEAD COACH BRIAN O’CONNOR

“I’ll start by saying, in this league, to win on Friday night is difficult to do on the road. Nate Savino was outstanding. I know he had a few walks but he managed around those walks and it was just ground ball after ground ball and I thought he was candidly, a pitch away from having a just a spectacular outing. We played great defense, we took advantage of some opportunities. Griff O’Ferrall was great, swung the bat well all day and we were opportunistic enough on offense. That sixth inning was big, to put up that four-spot was the ballgame and it gave us a little bit of separation. I thought Matt Wyatt looked very good. I know he had a walk there but I thought he was in complete command and shut the game down for us.”

UP NEXT: The series against Wake Forest continues on Saturday with the middle game of the three-game set. The Cavaliers will have lefty Brian Gursky (5-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by fellow southpaw Josh Hartle (3-2). First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia is 6-1 in ACC play to start the season for the third time in school history (2022, 2011, 2010).
• Saucke extended his hit streak to 20 games with a single in the fourth inning. He’s the fourth Cavalier since 2000 to hit in 20-straight games in a single season.
• The Cavaliers have one five of the last six games against Wake Forest including a series sweep against Charlottesville last season.