No. 11 Virginia Rallies to Beat Georgetown 6-4

The Cavaliers put up two runs in the bottom of the eighth to beat the Hoyas

Matt Newton | Apr 20, 2022

Photo courtesy of Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics Communications

On Tuesday night in Richmond, the Cavaliers trailed by as many as five runs, rallied to tie the game, but eventually lost in extra innings. The next night back in Charlottesville, the Hoos trailed by as many as three runs and were behind for most of the game before rallying to take the lead in the eighth and holding on for a much-needed 6-4 victory over Georgetown on Wednesday night at Disharoon Park.

The final score seems relatively low compared to the scoring output these teams seemed on track for after a combined six runs were scored in the first inning.

Freshman Matthew Buchanan struggled early on the mound for the Cavaliers as Georgetown's first three batters all got a hit. Jake Hyde led off with a double, followed up by a Ubaldo Lopez single, and an Ethan Stern double to score Hyde. Lopez ended up scoring on a sacrifice fly and then Stern scored on a wild pitch.

Virginia answered right back in the bottom of the first inning as Georgetown starter Andrew Williams walked three of the first four batters and was then pulled from the game in favor of reliever Carter Bosch. Devin Ortiz came up with a one-out single to score Kyle Teel and Griff O'Ferrall and then Bosch walked in a run with the bases loaded. UVA could have taken the lead but Bosch was able to get Colin Tuft to ground into an inning-ending double play. Virginia would not score again until the sixth inning.

Both offenses cooled down after the exciting first inning and only two combined runs were scored in the next six innings. Georgetown took a one-run lead on a sacrifice fly by Owen Carapellotti in the bottom of the third. Buchanan gave up four earned runs on five hits in three innings of work before Brian O'Connor turned to the UVA bullpen, which did a spectacular job in this game. Dylan Bowers, Jake Berry, Jay Woolfolk, and Paul Kosanovich combined for six innings of scoreless and no-hit relief work against the Hoyas. After giving up the walk-off home run against VCU on Tuesday night, Jay Woolfolk came back and struck out five batters and was credited with the win.

Virginia finally tied the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the sixth as Griff O'Ferrall drew a walk with the bases loaded to score Ethan Anderson. Two innings later, the Cavaliers took their first lead of the night. Chris Newell led off with a bunt single, Max Cotier walked, and Colin Tuft was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Justin Rubin came up and grounded to first base. First baseman Christian Ficca came home with the ball to get the force out and then catcher Owen Carapellotti tried to go back to first for the double play but his throw was off the mark, which allowed Max Cotier to score all the way from second base.

Georgetown intentionally walked Griff O'Ferrall to put runners on first and third with one out. Kyle Teel came up and grounded to second but was able to beat out the throw for an infield single that also scored Colin Tuft to make it 6-4 in favor of Virginia.

In the ninth, Paul Kosanovich came in and set the Hoyas down in order to secure his first-career save and the victory for Virginia.

With the win, UVA improves to 28-10 overall. After losing their last two ACC series on the road, the Cavaliers will look to pick up a major Coastal series victory this weekend when they host North Carolina. UVA hosts UNC in game 1 on Friday at 6pm at Disharoon Park.

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