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Virginia Holds Off Georgia Tech 8-7, Clinches Outright ACC Coastal Title

Jay Woolfolk escaped a jam in the ninth and the Cavaliers completed the sweep over the Yellow Jackets in the regular season finale

Matt Newton

Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics

It may have required a ninth-inning escape trick from Jay Woolfolk, but a win is a win, and it's UVA's ninth-straight victory heading into postseason play. 

Jake Gelof hit two home runs to tie the UVA single-season program record, Jay Woolfolk got out of a ninth inning jam to save a one-run lead, and No. 21 Virginia earned its second-straight ACC series sweep with an 8-7 victory over Georgia Tech in the regular season finale on Saturday afternoon at Mac Nease Baseball Park in Atlanta. The win also clinched the outright ACC Coastal title for Virginia, which will have the No. 2 seed in next week's ACC Tournament. 

Virginia got off to a great start as Griff O'Ferrall hit a leadoff single and then waltzed around the basepaths as he watched Jake Gelof hammer a ball well over the wall in left center for a two-run home run, giving him 83 RBI on the season, breaking his own UVA single-season RBI record. 

After Brian Edgington retired the side in the first with the help of a smooth 6-4-3 double play, UVA scored another run in the second as Anthony Stephan hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a bunt from Henry Godbout, and scored on an RBI groundout by Colin Tuft. 

Georgia Tech got on the board in the bottom of the second as Edgington gave up three-consecutive singles and an RBI groundout to concede two runs to the Yellow Jackets. After a scoreless third inning, Georgia Tech completely seized momentum in the bottom of the fourth. Angelo Dispigna hit a leadoff double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Jackson Finley followed that up with a single and he came around to score on an RBI single by Jack Rubenstein to give the Yellow Jackets the lead. That also spelled the end of Edgington's outing, as Kevin Jaxel entered the game and managed to avoid further damage despite giving up a two-out double. 

The run continued for Georgia Tech in the fifth, as Jake DeLeo tripled and then scored on a wild pitch from Jaxel. After Jaxel gave up a single, UVA brought in Bradley Hodges, who gave up singles to the first two batters he faced to load the bases with no outs. Hodges pulled off a semi-miracle and prevented things from getting out of hand by picking up a pair of strikeouts and then a groundout to escape the inning with no further damage to keep the deficit at just 5-3. 

Virginia responded with three runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead. Ethan Anderson and Casey Saucke started things off with a pair of singles and then Henry Godbout hit an RBI single to score Anderson. Colin Tuft, who has begun to assert a larger role for himself in the UVA starting lineup over the last several games, came up with a big base hit into center field to score two runs and give Virginia a 6-5 lead. 

Georgia Tech tied things up again in the bottom of the sixth as Hodges gave up a couple of singles and then a sacrifice fly to Stephen Reid to make it 6-6. Virginia freshman Jack O'Connor came into the game with runners on first and second and got the final out of the inning to keep the score tied. 

The UVA bats came through again in the seventh and it was none other than Jake Gelof who was the hero as he hit his second home run of the game and his 22nd of the season, matching Brian Buchanan's single-season program record with an absolute bomb over the center field wall. 

With Virginia now holding a 7-6 lead, O'Connor pitched a 1-2-3 inning, including two strikeouts, in the bottom of the seventh. The Cavaliers tacked on another run in the eighth as Godbout drew a one-out walk, moved to third on a double from Tuft, and scored on a clutch single from Griff O'Ferrall to make it 8-6, a run that would prove to be crucial. O'Connor remained on the mound in the eighth and pitched another perfect inning, giving the Cavaliers a massive lift out of the bullpen. 

Pitching for the second game in a row, Jay Woolfolk looked to secure the save in the ninth, but the inning didn't get off to the best start as he gave up three-straight one-out singles, the last of which was an RBI single from Jackson Finley to make it 8-7. Woolfolk then surrendered a walk to load the bases, so the Yellow Jackets had the tying run on third base and the winning run on second. As he has so many times already in the first two years of his collegiate baseball career, Woolfolk delivered when the pressure of the game was at its greatest, striking out the next two batters swinging to secure the win in dramatic fashion. 

Jake Gelof led the way offensively with two home runs and three RBI, while Colin Tuft went 2 for 4 with three RBI and Griff O'Ferrall went 3 for 5 with one RBI and one run scored. Jack O'Connor was credited with the victory and deservedly so after he pitched 2.1 perfect innings with two strikeouts and zero baserunners allowed, while Woolfolk earned his ninth save of the season. 

Virginia finishes the regular season 44-11 overall and 19-11 in ACC play and will take a nine-game winning streak into postseason play. UVA's 44 regular seasons wins are second-most in program history and most since 2013 and the team's 19 conference wins are the most since the 2016 season.

Virginia won the ACC Coastal title for the third time in program history and first time since 2011 and has earned the No. 2 seed in the ACC Tournament, which begins on Tuesday in Durham, North Carolina. The Cavaliers are in Pool B in the ACC Tournament along with No. 7 seed North Carolina and No. 11 seed Georgia Tech. The complete bracket and schedule for the 2023 ACC Baseball Championship will be revealed on Sunday. 

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Matt Newton
MATT NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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