Gelof Homers Twice to Tie Record, No. 7 Virginia Sweeps No. 20 Miami

Jake Gelof has etched his name into the Virginia baseball record books once again.

Seeking their first series sweep over the Hurricanes in over a decade, the Cavaliers leaned on one of the best hitters in all of college baseball. Jake Gelof hit a pair of two-run home runs to tie UVA's all-time home run record and led No. 7 Virginia to a 6-3 victory over No. 20 Miami on Sunday afternoon at Disharoon Park to complete the series sweep.

Virginia starter Jack O'Connor gave up a leadoff walk to start the game, but still faced the minimum in the first inning thanks to a 4-6-3 double play. A double and an error put runners on second and third with one out for Miami in the second, but O'Connor worked out of that situation with back-to-back strikeouts. In the top of the third, though, the Hurricanes broke through with a two-out rally as Yohandy Morales hit an RBI double just past the glove of Casey Saucke at the warning track in right field. Zach Levenson followed that up with a dribbler in between first and second that was stopped by a diving Henry Godbout, but his throw to home plate was not in time to prevent Morales from scoring to make it 2-0 Miami.

The UVA bats, meanwhile, were unable to solve Alejandro Torres early on, as the Miami starter allowed just one baserunner and had a no-hitter going through the first three innings. That all came to an end quickly in the bottom of the fourth as Ethan O'Donnell hit a leadoff single and then Jake Gelof drove the first pitch of the at-bat into the bleachers in left field for a game-tying two-run home run.

And just like that we're tied!!!

Jake Gelof with career HR No. 3️⃣6️⃣ evens the game at 2 in the 4th!

📺: ACCNX | #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/4D1OAtP6hf
— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) April 9, 2023

Torres was replaced by Chris Scinta on the mound, but things didn't get much better for the Hurricanes, as Scinta issued a walk to Kyle Teel, a single to Ethan Anderson, and then a groundout by Anthony Stephan that scored Teel from third. Miami brought in Ben Chestnutt, who gave up an RBI single to Henry Godbout, which gave Virginia a 4-2 lead.

Jack O'Connor dealt a 1-2-3 top of the fifth and then the UVA bats went right back to work in the bottom half of the inning. Griff O'Ferrall continued his hot streak at the plate with a single and then Jake Gelof delivered another long ball that cleared the wall in left center for his second home run of the game, his third of the series, and 37th of his career, tying E.J. Anderson (1995-1998) for most career home runs in UVA program history.

𝐑𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐌𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐃!

Jake Gelof moves into a tie for UVA's all-time home run record! His 37th HR of his career and second of the game!

📺: ACCNX | #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/hmmaCOeicL
— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) April 9, 2023

Gelof drove in four RBI on Sunday and finished with nine RBI in the three-game series to bring his season total up to a nation-leading 53 RBI. UVA threatened further by loading the bases, but Ronaldo Gallo was able to get out of the inning to keep the score at 6-2.

O'Connor worked around a runner in scoring position in the top of the sixth and then Gelof had a chance for another RBI with a runner at second in the bottom of the sixth, but Miami closer Brian Walters struck Gelof out to end the inning. Jack O'Connor remained on the mound in the seventh and struck out the first batter he faced, but then gave up a double ro Renzo Gonzalez, who then scored on a single from Carlos Perez to make it 6-3. O'Connor finished with a line of three earned runs on eight hits and a season-high nine strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work and the freshman earned the win to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Evan Blanco came in and retired the next two batters to leave a runner on base and got Virginia into the eighth with a three-run lead. It was a solid weekend all-around for the UVA bullpen, which gave up just three earned runs across the three game-series. The Cavaliers used their third-straight freshman pitcher in eighth, as Kevin Jaxel came in and retired the side in order on just eight pitches.

Jake Berry entered the game in the ninth and, aside from one batter reaching base on a fielding error, secured his fourth save of the season with relative ease to clinch the 6-3 victory and Virginia's first sweep over Miami since 2012.

Winners of four-straight games, Virginia improves to 28-4 overall and 11-4 in ACC play. UVA will look to keep the momentum going against Richmond on Tuesday at 4pm at Disharoon Park.

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