Sooners take two Saturday to claim season-opening series against ‘Hoos in Pensacola

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

In Pensacola, Fla., Oklahoma swept a doubleheader to earn the series victory over Virginia on Saturday. The Sooners (2-1) evened the series with a 7-2 win in game one and produced a late-game rally to take the rubber match, 5-1, at Blue Wahoo Stadium, home of the Pensacola Wahoos, Double-A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins.

Virginia opened the 2020 season with a 6-0 win over the Sooners on Friday night (see below).

The Cavaliers (1-2) will kick-off a 15-game home stand Tuesday with their home opener against VMI. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. at Disharoon Park.

GAME 1: Oklahoma 7, Virginia 2

Oklahoma scored in four of its first five turns at the plate. In the Sooners only scoreless frame in that span, Virginia starting pitcher Chesdin Harrington worked out of a bases loaded jam.

The Cavaliers got on the board in the top of the fifth, knocking out Oklahoma starting pitcher Levi Prater who took a no-decision in the contest. Sophomore Nic Kent singled through the left side that enabled Drew Hamrock to score from second base. After Brendan Rivoli drew a bases-loaded walk to pull within four run, Oklahoma reliever Zack Matthews struck out the final batter of the inning to escape a potential game-changing inning.

Sophomore Zach Messinger and freshman Jacob Baldino pitched the final 4.1 innings and surrendered just an unearned run in the top of the ninth. Messinger struck out six of the eight batters he faced, a new career-high. Baldino, making his collegiate debut, took over in the eighth and threw six pitches in a perfect eighth before surrendering an unearned run in the top of the ninth.

Kent finished the game 3 for 4 with an RBI and a walk while freshman Max Cotier put together his first two-hit game at the college level.

Game 1 Box Score

GAME 2: Oklahoma 5, Virginia 1

The Oklahoma pitching staff limited Virginia to three hits in the nightcap. Senior Logan Michaels broke up Dane Acker’s no-hitter in the top of the fifth with an RBI single that scored Devin Ortiz.

The Sooners broke the 1-1 tie in the top of the seventh when Tyler Hardman took an 0-2 pitch over the left field wall for a two-run homer. Oklahoma tacked on two more runs in the top of the ninth on another two-out hit, this time a single, off the bat off Hardman. The Sooner first baseman went 2 for 5 with a run scored and four RBI.

Cavalier starting pitcher Mike Vasil pitched the first four innings allowing one run while striking out four. Cotier, Michaels and Rivoli were responsible for the three Virginia hits.

Additional Notes

• Freshman Nate Savino made his collegiate debut in the second game, working 1.1 innings.
• Zack Gelof extended his reached games streak to 14 straight games dating back to last season after drawing a walk in each game.
• Michaels threw out three runners trying to steal in the second game, tied for the most by a Cavalier catcher in a single game since 2000.
• The loss in game one snapped a 12-game winning streak against non-ACC foes.
• Kent and Cotier who batted at the top of the lineup in all three games of the series combined for eight of the team’s 18 hits. Kent’s three-hit performance in the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader was the third three-plus hit game of his career.

Game 2 Box Score

FRIDAY’S GAME: Virginia 6, Oklahoma 0

Four Cavalier pitchers combined for the first opening-day shutout since 2009 when Virginia held Bucknell off the scoreboard in a 12-0 victory.

Making his second-straight opening day start, junior Griff McGarry struck out seven batters and limited Oklahoma to just one hit over five innings of work to earn the victory. The right-hander stranded three Sooners in scoring position, including two in the first inning. Five of his eight strikeouts came in the first three innings.

Kyle Whitten, Andrew Abbott and Stephen Schoch combined for four innings of scoreless relief. Schoch, making his Cavalier debut, struck out three batters in the ninth inning to seal the victory.

It took only two batters in the bottom of the first for Virginia to capture the lead. Kent singled to lead-off the frame and went on to steal second base. Cotier followed with his first collegiate hit, a single to right field that allowed Kent to score.

Virginia tacked on some insurance in the bottom of the fifth when Ortiz doubled to left field and allowed Michaels to score all the way from first base.

The Cavaliers broke it open in the bottom of the eighth, posting four runs. Two came in on a single off the bat of junior-transfer Marc Lebreux with two outs. The hit was his first as a Cavalier.

Seven of the nine Cavaliers in the lineup were credited with a hit. Virginia stole five bases in the contest including a successful double-steal attempt in the bottom of the eighth in which freshman Chris Newell stole home.

The opening-day win was the first since 2017 and Virginia improves to 12-5 in season openers under Brian O’Connor. Oklahoma came into the weekend ranked in five different polls and are ranked as high as No. 16 (Perfect Game).

Friday Box Score