Vasil and Staff Power UVA to Series Clinching 4-2 Win Over UConn

Talk about a roller coaster weekend for the UVA pitching staff. After holding UConn to one run Friday night and giving up ten on Saturday, the good pitching showed back up on Sunday by holding UConn to just two runs to secure the series clinching 3-2 victory.

Mike Vasil continued to show why he is considered such a highly regarded prospect allowing just one unearned run on three hits, no walks, and striking out six. Combined with his four starts in 2020, Vasil would feature a 1.92 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP.

The bullpen took over in the seventh and did exactly what they have been billed to do. Paul Kosanovich, Blake Bales, and Stephen Schoch combined to allow one unearned run on one hit and one walk while striking out five. The upper-classmen closed it down when they were needed.

At the plate, Nic Kent, Marc Lebreux, and Devin Ortiz all had multi-hit games and eight of the nine in the lineup had at least one hit on the day.

While it was a good day at the plate with the lineup totaling four runs on eleven hits, two walks, and only striking out twice, a better sign for UVA baseball fans of old is the regression to the plate approaches that carried UVA for so many years. Chris Newell’s double was the only extra base hit the Cavaliers had all day. Back to singles and moving runners to score runs.

The series victory could prove big for UVA as the season progresses. UConn is widely expected to win the Big East and be the lone NCAA Tournament representative from the conference, so it should bolster UVA’s resume.

The series win was also the first opening weekend series victory for the Hoos since 2018 when UVA beat Samford and Rice in Florida to open the season.

The Hoos close out the early season four-game homestand with a game against VMI on Tuesday before traveling to Chapel Hill for the first series of ACC play this weekend.