Connelly Early Dazzles, No. 21 Virginia Beats Louisville 4-1 to Clinch Series

Early gave up just one run on four hits in six innings to lead the Cavaliers to a series-clinching win over the Cardinals

Virginia Athletics

Connelly Early's first and only start against ACC competition this season did not go as he hoped. Back on April 1st, the Army transfer gave up six earned runs against Virginia Tech and was pulled from the game after just two innings in what ended up being his first and only loss of the season. 

When Nick Parker returned from injury, Early returned to his usual role as the mid-week starter and continued to dominate, boasting a 2.83 ERA, the lowest among the UVA starters this season. But as the Cavalier starting pitchers collectively struggled in ACC play over the next few weeks, Brian O'Connor looked to make a change and gave Early another chance against ACC competition in game 2 this weekend against Louisville. 

This time, Early passed the test with flying colors. 

Connelly Early pitched six brilliant innings and gave up just one run on four hits to lead No. 21 Virginia to a series-clinching 4-1 victory over Louisville on Saturday night at Disharoon Park. 

As Early retired the first ten Louisville batters of the game in order, another unexpected hero gave the Cavaliers their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third inning, as sophomore left fielder Colin Tuft hammered a solo home run deep over the wall in left center field for his first homer of the season. 

Louisville answered back right away in the top of the fourth as JT Benson broke up Early's perfect game with a single and managed to get to second after UVA center fielder Ethan O'Donnell tried to throw him out at first. Jack Payton followed that up with another single to center field and Benson scored from second to tie the game. Early gave up a third-consecutive single after that, but then retired the next two batters to get out of the inning. 

UVA regained the lead in the bottom half of the inning as Ethan Anderson drew a walk, advanced to second on an Anthony Stephan single, moved to third on a Henry Godbout walk, and came home on an RBI single from Tuft. Stephan tried to score on the Tuft single, but was thrown out at the plate easily to end the inning. 

After a 1-2-3 inning from Early in the top of the fifth, the Cavaliers secured some more insurance runs as Louisville starter Tate Kuehner began to lose control. Kuehner hit O'Donnell with a pitch and O'Donnell stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. A pitch in the dirt got away from the Louisville catcher for a passed ball, allowing O'Donnell to score and put Jake Gelof on first base with a walk. Kuehner tried to pick off Gelof at first, but his throw was off the mark and went up the right field line, sending Gelof all the way to third base. Ethan Anderson hit a sharp grounder that was too hot for Louisville shortstop Christian Knapczyk to handle and the error brought another run home to make it 4-1. 

It was hardly a banner day for the Virginia offense, which earned only two of its four runs and recorded only five hits, but that ended up being plenty thanks to another solid effort from the UVA pitching staff. For the second game in a row, the Cavaliers needed only two pitchers to earn the win. Early registered his sixth strikeout to end his outing after six innings pitched and turned the ball over to Jake Berry, who was also a step ahead of the Louisville batters. Berry struck out the first two batters he faced and breezed into the ninth inning. He hit a batter and gave up a single in the top of the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate, but worked himself out of the jam to earn his fifth save of the season, finishing off Virginia's 4-1 victory. 

The win gives the Cavaliers their first ACC series victory since sweeping Miami back in early April. Virginia (40-11, 15-11 ACC) will look to complete the series sweep over Louisville in game 3 on Sunday at 1pm at Disharoon Park. 

To stay up to date on all Virginia Cavaliers sports news, follow CavaliersNow on social media:

Facebook: @CavaliersNow
Twitter: @CavaliersNowFN

See more Virginia baseball news and content: Virginia Baseball on Sports Illustrated

See more Virginia sports news and content: Virginia Cavaliers on Sports Illustrated