Virginia Athletics
No. 21 Virginia Takes Series-Opener at Georgia Tech 12-5
Make that seven wins in a row for the UVA baseball team.
Behind a combined eight hits and nine RBI from Kyle Teel, Casey Saucke, and Ethan O'Donnell, the Cavaliers scored eight runs in the first four innings of the game and No. 21 Virginia rolled to a 12-5 victory over Georgia Tech to open the series on Thursday night at Mac Nease Baseball Park in Atlanta.
Heavy rain fell on the stadium at the outset, but that didn't delay the start of the game, nor did it prevent the Cavaliers from getting off to a hot start. Griff O'Ferrall hit a leadoff single and Jake Gelof joined him on base by drawing a full-count walk. With runners on first and second with one out, Kyle Teel crushed a ball deep over the right field wall for a three-run home run.
UVA starter Nick Parker gave up a single and hit a batter, but got out of the first inning unscathed and then benefited from a sweet double-play turned by O'Ferrall, Henry Godbout, and Ethan Anderson to erase a leadoff walk in the second inning.
The Cavaliers tacked on three more runs in the top of the third inning as Ethan O'Donnell hit a double into the gap in left-center field and then Teel and Ethan Anderson each drew walks to load the bases. Casey Saucke delivered with two outs, hitting a ball that one-hopped off the wall in left-center to clear the bases and double Virginia's lead to 6-0.
Then, it was the Yellow Jackets' turn to show why they have the second-best offense in the ACC behind Virginia, posting three runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the deficit in half. Nick Parker gave up a walk and two singles to load the base and then Angelo Dispigna hit a bases-clearing double down the right field line. Parker settled things down and retired the next two batters to keep the UVA lead at three runs.
UVA answered with a pair of runs in the fourth as Colin Tuft singled and then O'Donnell went opposite field for a two-run home run to make it 8-3.
Parker used another double play to retire the side in the fourth and then set the Yellow Jackets down in order in the fifth to conclude his outing. He was credited with his sixth victory of the season after giving up three runs on five hits in five innings of work.
The Cavaliers extended their lead in the sixth as Henry Godbout hit a leadoff double and then O'Ferrall, O'Donnell, and Gelof drew three-consecutive walks to bring in a run. Teel grounded out to third base to score another run to make it 10-3.
Evan Blanco was the first out of the bullpen for Virginia and pitched a 1-2-3 sixth and then retired three in a row in the seventh to strand a runner in scoring position after giving up a leadoff double. Freshman Jack O'Connor, who until last week was UVA's Sunday starter, was out of the bullpen next and gave up a two-run single to John Giesler in the eighth inning. Kevin Jaxel came in and struck out the first batter he faced to move the game into the ninth inning.
Virginia added two more runs in the top of the ninth for good measure. Casey Saucke singled and Anthony Stephan walked with two outs. A couple of Georgia Tech errors in the infield allowed both runners to score as UVA went ahead 12-5. Jaxel remained on the mound in the ninth and retired the side with the help of a brilliant play from Griff O'Ferrall, who made a Derek Jeter-esque jump throw across his body to record the final out of the game.
Ethan O'Donnell went 3 for 4 with two RBI and two runs scored, Casey Saucke was 3 for 5 with three RBI, and Kyle Teel had four RBI and two runs.
Winners of seven-consecutive games, Virginia improves to 42-11 overall and 17-11 in the ACC. UVA will look to clinch the series win in Game 2 on Friday at 6pm at Mac Nease Baseball Park.
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