Virginia and Notre Dame’s bats explode; split double header

Due to the threat of weather at the end of the weekend, UVA, Norte Dame, and ACC officials decided to forego Sunday’s game and play a pair on Friday night. The evening started looking like the Hoos would be well on their way to their fourth series win in the last five weekends. They made easy work of the Irish in game one coming away with a 14-4 win. But game two was a different story. The Hoos were held hitless through five innings and that was just enough for the Fighting Irish to build a lead and come away with game two, 8-2.

In the first game, the Hoos got a solid six innings from Adam Haseley, but it was that offense that stole the show. Six Cavaliers had at least two hits while Ernie Clement and Cameron Simmons led the way with three apiece. The Hoos got runs in the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth and took advantage of several Notre Dame mistakes as the Fighting Irish gifted Virginia runs on two errors as well as three wild pitches.

Notre Dame jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a home run by Nick Podkul and an RBI single by Ryan Lidge. Virginia would get them back in the bottom half however with an RBI double by Haseley and an RBI single by Pavin Smith. The second inning saw Virginia extend the lead to 5-2 on RBIs by Andy Weber and Clement along with a fielders choice to score a run by Haseley.

The Hoos got three more in the third on a sacrifice fly by Weber and a two RBI single by Haseley that scored Clement and Jake McCarthy. In the fourth, a costly error by Notre Dame allowed Virginia to tack on three more making the score 11-2. The sixth inning saw Virginia score three more runs, all courtesy of wild pitches by Anthony Holubecki.

Notre Dame attempted to claw back but fell well short in the seventh as Kyle Fiala plated two Irish with a triple making the score 14-4

Haseley got the win for the Hoos going six strong, giving up only two earned runs on four hits, three walks, and five strike outs. Riley Wilson, Grant Donahue, and Jack Roberts each chipped in a inning of relief. The trio combined to give up only five hits and two runs, only one walk with two strike outs.

The second game was almost a mirror image of the first, this time with Notre Dame pouring on the runs. The Irish used seven extra base hits to amass eight runs on only 10 hits. Walks were a killer as Derek Casey issued three free passes in the second inning, each leading to Notre Dame runs.

Notre Dame got things going in the second. After Casey walked Cole Dailey and Nick Neville, the eight hole hitter Daniel Jung hit his third home run of the year giving the Fighting Irish a 3-0 lead. That wouldn’t be it though in the second as after another Casey walk, this time to Jake Shepski, Podkul delivered an RBI double good for a 4-0 Irish advantage.

Notre Dame got another in the fifth off a Matt Vierling double that scored Fiala. Then they delivered three more runs in the seventh, again via and extra base hit. Fiala’s double scored Jake Johnson and Podkul before Vierling notched an RBI single.

The Hoos tried to make things interesting scoring two runs in the bottom of the night. Haseley ripped a double that scored Weber, then Robbie Coman came up with a single that scored Haseley. But it was too little too late as the rally fell short with the Hoos staring at an 8-2 loss.

The teams are back at it on Saturday in the rubber match of this weekend’s series with the first pitch at 11 A.M.