Cavaliers Take Two of Three from No. 7 Wolfpack

The Cavaliers were riding high coming into the weekend on a six game winning streak and looking to upset the visiting No. 7 NC State Wolfpack in the opening of ACC play.

Meanwhile, NC State came in undefeated on the season and owners of the top offense in college baseball.

Friday: UVa 7 - NC State 3

Griff McGarry got the nod for the Cavaliers and was dominant while playing with fire four four innings. McGarry limited the Wolfpack to just one run and struck out five, but issued 8 walks which saw NC State load the bases multiple times. Black Bales, Andrew Abbott, and Stephen Schoch combined to hold State to just two more runs over the final five innings while striking out ten more to secure the victory. Leftfield sophomore Jimmy Sullivan paced the offense with two hits, two RBI, and two runs scored, including a two run home run in the second inning to give UVa a 3-0 lead which they would never relent.

Saturday: NC State 6 - UVa 2

UVa’s offense showed up by taking an early 1-0 lead in the first and handed the bullpen a tied 2-2 game in the 7th, but NC State’s offense was just too much scoring a run in the 7th and three more in the 8th. Mike Vasil started for the Cavaliers and held the Wolfpack in check for 6 innings striking out 6 and only allowing two runs on 7 hits. Freshman outfielder Chris Newell was the bright spot in the box as the only Cavalier with a multi hit game which included a solo HR in the 5th, his third in the young season.

Sunday: UVa 10 - NC State 3

Nate Savino earned his first ACC start as a Cavalier and did not disappoint. The Freshman (should be high school senior) held NC State in check to just three hits and one earned run over four innings allowing UVa to jump out to a 7-2 lead in that time. There was no one star at the plate as five Cavaliers notched multi-hit performances and eight of the nine starters had at least one hit. Zach Gelof had himself a day however going 2-5 with those two hits being his 4th and 5th home runs on the season including this mammoth shot in the 7th inning:

The win gives UVa the much needed series victory over a nationally ranked team. More importantly however, it puts UVa at 2-1 in the ACC and just a game back of Miami in the Coastal division (the Canes swept Pittsburgh this weekend). The series victory is also UVa’s first series victory in the opening ACC series since 2016.

UMass-Lowell will come to Charlottesville for a pair of midweek games before UVa will hit the road next weekend to travel to Pittsburgh for their next ACC series.