UVA advances to Super Regionals with 8-3 win against ECU

By Scott Ratcliffe

Virginia junior center fielder Ethan O’Donnell picked a perfect time to record his first and only hit of the Charlottesville Regional during Sunday’s final against East Carolina at Disharoon Park. The Northwestern transfer was 0 for 7 at the plate for the weekend going into his at-bat in the top of the seventh inning, but was able to change the complexion of the regional with one swing of the bat.

With the seventh-seeded Cavaliers trailing by a run with two outs and two runners aboard, O’Donnell smoked a three-run shot over the outfield wall to put UVA ahead, 4-2.

O’Donnell’s opposite-field blast — his 13th of the season — put the Wahoos (48-12) on top to stay en route to an 8-3 win over the Pirates which puts them in the Super Regionals next weekend.

For good measure, Anthony Stephan added three more insurance runs in the eighth with an inside-the-park home run off the center-field wall that scored Kyle Teel and Casey Saucke, pushing the lead to 7-2. Teel then put the icing on the cake with a solo homer of his own in the ninth.

Virginia will now await the winner between No. 10 seed Coastal Carolina and ACC rival Duke in the Super Regionals, as the Chanticleers and Blue Devils will play a winner-take-all, deciding Game 7 in Conway, S.C., on Monday at 6 p.m. ET.

UVA starter Connelly Early (W, 11-2) pitched a gem Sunday, matching his season high of 10 strikeouts and allowing just a pair of runs on 7 ECU hits. Cavalier relievers Jay Woolfolk, Evan Blanco and Georgetown transfer Angelo Tonas combined to limit the Pirates to just one run across the seventh and eighth innings before Jake Berry, pitching for a second-straight day, sealed the deal with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

The Pirates (47-19) started the day by eliminating Oklahoma with an 8-5 victory to clinch a spot in the night game. After Teel gave Virginia an early 1-0 lead with an RBI double in the first, ECU, the home team in the contest, tied it up in the bottom-half of the frame on a sac fly from Josh Moylan.

The score remained deadlocked until a Justin Wilcoxen single up the middle in the fourth brought Moylan around from second, and the Cavaliers were trailing for the first time all weekend. Early kept the Hoos within striking distance, recording his ninth punchout — on his 90th delivery of the night — to end the sixth inning.

ECU reliever Landon Ginn fanned Stephan to begin the seventh inning before Henry Godbout dove into first base safely on an infield single, and the tying run was aboard. No. 9 hitter Colin Tuft then drew a walk on a full count, and Virginia was in business with still just one out. Griff O’Ferrall then chased a ball for strike three and the second out, bringing O’Donnell up for the game’s defining moment.

The Pirates threatened in the bottom of the seventh, with back-to-back singles by Lane Hoover and Jacob Starling, bringing the tying run to the plate in Carter Cunningham with just one out. Blanco got the call from the bullpen and got both Cunningham and Moylan to fly out to conclude the inning.

In the eighth, Teel led off with a single, notching his third hit of the day and 100th of the season, tying Phil Gosselin (2010) for the UVA single-season record. Ethan Anderson bunted him over to second, and then Saucke was given a free pass to first, bringing Stephan to the plate.

Stephan sent a high fly ball to center, which was mishandled by Ryley Johnson as he attempted to make the catch. As the ball rolled back toward the field, Teel hustled around from first, followed by Saucke and Stephan, who dove across home plate right on the heels of Saucke, and Disharoon Park was going bananas.

ECU got a run back in the bottom of the eighth, as Wilcoxen drove in his second run of the night to cut it to 7-3 before Tonas sat down two of the three batters he faced to escape any further damage.

With two down in the ninth, Teel smoked a no-doubter to straightaway center for his 13th homer of the season, and now stands alone as the program’s single-season hits leader with 101. Teel was 4 for 5 with a double, the homer and a pair of RBI, scoring two runs of his own in the process. He finished the weekend 7 for 12 with 4 RBI, and is now batting .430 on the season.

Berry then came on in the ninth and retired Cunningham, Moylan and Cam Clonch in order to set off the celebration and send the Hoos to the next round. Early was named Most Outstanding Player of the regional, while Teel was one of nine Cavaliers to make the All-Tournament Team, along with Anderson, Jake Gelof, O’Ferrall, Saucke, O’Donnell, Stephan, Early and Nick Parker.

Game Notes

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

• With an RBI double in the first, Teel knocked home the first run of the game in each of UVA’s three NCAA regional contests. His four hits in the contest matched a single-game UVA postseason record, a feat last accomplished by eight other Cavaliers.  
• Early tied his career high of 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings of action. It marked the sixth time this season a UVA pitcher tallied at least 10 strikeouts in a single game. Early (2), Nick Parker (2) and Brian Edington (2) all have recorded at least 10 strikeouts in a game twice this year. 
• It marked the 17th time this season UVA has come from behind to win a game in 2023. 
• Virginia won its 35th home game, matching a school record (2011: 35-5; 2013: 35-5) and improved to 35-4 at Disharoon Park this season. 
• The Cavaliers have faced East Carolina in regional action five times, the most against any other opponent. UVA holds a 3-2 edge in postseason action against ECU and a 33-22 overall mark against the Pirates.
• Virginia went 3-0 in a regional play for the fifth time and the first time since 2015. 

SUPER REGIONAL TICKET INFORMATION 

Super Regionals all-session tickets and parking passes go on sale to the general public beginning Monday at 1 p.m. Fans may purchase tickets by visiting uvatix.com. 

Charlottesville Regional All-Tournament Team

C – Kyle Teel (Virginia)
1B – Ethan Anderson (Virginia)
2B – Jacob Starling (ECU)
3B – Jake Gelof (Virginia)
SS – Griff O’Ferrall (Virginia)
OF – Casey Saucke (Virginia)
OF – Bryce Madron (Oklahoma)
OF – Ethan O’Donnell (Virginia)
DH – Easton Carmichael (Oklahoma)/Anthony Stephan (Virginia)
P – Connelly Early (Virginia)
P – Nick Parker (Virginia)
Most Outstanding Player: Connelly Early (Virginia)
*-Tie in the voting at DH makes it a 12-person team