Virginia drops middle game to No. 25 Notre Dame

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

No. 25 Notre Dame (6-2, 6-2 ACC) clinched its third-straight ACC series with a 12-4 victory over Virginia (7-7, 2-6 ACC) on Saturday at Disharoon Park.

The Fighting Irish limited the Cavaliers to one hit over their final five trips to the plate.

After Virginia tied the game at three in the fourth inning, Notre Dame scored the next nine runs, including a five-run outburst in the fifth, to secure its first ever series win over the Cavaliers. Fighting Irish starting pitcher John Michael Bertrand pitched seven innings, allowed three runs and struck out four to earn his second win of the year. He retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced.

“Notre Dame took it to us and took advantage of their opportunities,” head coach Brian O’Connor said. “We’ve been in this position three weekends in a row where we’ve lost the first two games and played pretty well on Sunday so hopefully, we can come with that kind of fight tomorrow.”

The Cavaliers erased an early 3-0 deficit with a three-run rally in the fourth inning. Senior Alex Tappen (Lower Gwynedd, Pa.) got it going for the Cavaliers with an RBI double to right field that scored Brendan Rivoli (Douglassville, Pa.). Virginia pulled within a run on a sacrifice fly by Jake Gelof (Rehoboth Beach, Del.) and evened the game at three on an RBI single by Chris Newell (Newtown Square, Pa.).

The Fighting Irish responded in a big way, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs, the most in a single inning by a Cavalier opponent this season. Notre Dame added two runs in the seventh and two more in the ninth to pull away in the late innings for the second-straight day.

In his fourth start in a Cavalier uniform, freshman Kyle Teel (Mahwah, N.J.) broke the streak Notre Dame runs with his first collegiate home run, a solo shot with one out in the ninth inning. The first year is 4-for-16 with a homer and four RBI to start his collegiate career.

Virginia starting pitcher Griff McGarry (Portola Valley, Calif.) cruised early by sitting down six of the first seven batters he faced. The righty fanned six consecutive batters after surrendering a leadoff double to start the game. McGarry ran into trouble in the third after the first three batters reached and two came around score. He was lifted with two outs in the fourth and finished with seven strikeouts.

The series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m. Virginia will have Mike Vasil (3-0) on the mound and he will be opposed by righty Dominic Cancellieri. The series finale will be broadcast live on ACCNX and can be heard on WINA (98.9 FM/1070AM) locally in Charlottesville.