Virginia blanks VCU, 13-0, in 7 innings

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Behind a career outing from starting pitcher Bradley Hodges, the Virginia baseball team blanked VCU, 13-0, in seven innings on Tuesday night at The Diamond.

To pick up his first win since 2023, Hodges tossed a career-best five scoreless innings of two-hit ball with a career-high seven strikeouts.

Eric Becker paced the Virginia offense on Tuesday with a 3-for-4 night. The sophomore was a triple away from the cycle and tied his career-high with four RBIs. In addition to Becker, the Cavalier quartet of Henry Ford, Trey Wells, Harrison Didawick and James Nunnallee each drove in a pair of runs on the night.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The visiting Cavaliers (18-13) scored early and often on Tuesday as Virginia plated four runs in the top of the first against the Rams (10-22). Ford started the barrage with a single back up the middle that plated Aidan Teel.

One at-bat later, Wells collected his team-leading second triple on the season to score Becker and Ford. A Didawick single to right made it 4-0 Virginia after the opening frame.

In the second, Becker smacked a ball over the head of the Rams’ centerfielder for a double deep enough to score Nunnallee. Ford added his second RBI of the contest on a groundout to second allowing Luke Hanson to come home to make it a 6-0 Virginia advantage.

The first three Cavaliers reached in the fourth to load the bases and a Chris Arroyo single to right scored the first of four UVA runs in the frame. A bases-loaded Didawick walk plated the second before a two-out two-run Nunnalee single to left put the Hoos up 10-0 with four innings in the books.

To put an exclamation mark on the Virginia offensive performance, Becker crushed a three-run home run to dead-center in the top of the seventh to push the final to 13-0 in favor of the visiting Cavaliers. The homer was Becker’s fifth of the season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Aidan Teel tallied his team-best 14th double of the season to open the game.
• With his three-run homer in the seventh, Becker took over the team lead in RBIs with 30.
• UVA is 8-2 on the season when Teel bats leadoff for the Cavaliers.
• Tuesday’s contest was Virginia’s second shutout of the season and first since blanking Rice on Feb. 16.
• The Cavaliers move to 16-2 on the year when scoring six or more runs.
• With the win, UVA improves to 50-25 in the all-time series against VCU and 26-6 under coach Brian O’Connor.

UP NEXT 

The Cavaliers return to Disharron Park on Friday to start a three-game ACC series against Pitt. Friday’s opener is slated for a 6 p.m. first pitch and will be carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).