Virginia Baseball: Hoos Take Game One 6-3

Most Friday nights, the game recap starts with Connor Jones, and while Virginia's ace was once again spectacular, this night belonged to Matt Thaiss and Pavin Smith. Against Louisville ace, and one of the top pitchers in the country Kyle Funkhouser, Thaiss came up huge with a third inning three-run home run giving Jones about all the run support he would need on the night. Then in the seventh, after Louisville had pulled within one, Smith delivered another three-run bomb, that would put the Hoos up for good.

While the offense took center stage, Jones got the best of his fellow first round prospect going 7.1 innings and giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and three walks to go along with four strike outs. The win runs his record to 5-0 on the year and further solidifies his case as one of the best pitchers in the country. Kevin Doherty came on in the eighth and got two big outs before Alec Bettinger came in to finish off the ninth and earn his seventh save on the year.

At the plate, the Hoos were obviously paced by Thaiss and Smith with their big blasts, but also got two hits apiece from Nate Eikhoff and Andy Weber. Ernie Clement had one hit, but scored two runs on the night.

Virginia is back in action on Saturday at 1 P.M. as they look to take the series against the Cardinals. All games this weekend are on ESPN3.