Brian Gursky, Virginia Cavaliers baseball — Photo courtesy of Virginia Athletics Communications

Virginia Completes Opening-Weekend Sweep with 8-3 Win Over NJIT

The Cavaliers are 3-0 for the first time since 2017

Author:
Matt Newton
Publish date:
Feb 20, 2022 2:58 PM EST

Brian O'Connor couldn't have asked for a better start to the 2022 season for his UVA baseball team. Virginia went to Boiling Springs, North Carolina for the Jerry Bryson Classic and left with three-straight wins, capped off by an 8-3 victory over NJIT on Sunday.

After recording back-to-back shutouts in wins over Bellarmine and Gardner-Webb on Friday and Saturday, Virginia finally surrendered a few runs on Sunday against a quality NJIT team. But, the UVA bats did more than enough to secure the win, as the Cavaliers had 12 hits and scored brought eight runs across the plate.

Max Cotier drove in the first run of the game in the top of second, scoring Colin Tuft, who had opened the inning with a leadoff single. UVA scored again in the top of the third as Devin Ortiz was plated on a single from Chris Newell.

Brian Gursky, a grad transfer from USC making his Cavalier debut on the mound, went five innings, allowing three hits, two earned runs, and striking out eight batters.

The Highlanders evened the score at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth as Albert Choi hit a leadoff homer and David Marcano singled to bring home his twin brother Julio Marcano.

After NJIT tied the game up, Virginia responded by scoring six unanswered runs over the course of the next two innings. In the top of the fifth inning, the Cavaliers put up four runs all with two outs. Colin Tuft walked and then scored for his second time on a double from Chris Newell. Freshman Casey Saucke delivered another double for the Hoos to score Newell and then Jake Gelof hit a two-run home run to make it 6-2.

Gursky ended his day with a scoreless bottom of the fifth and then the Cavaliers tacked on two more runs in the top of the sixth. Kyle Teel and Devin Ortiz started the inning with back-to-back doubles, and then Alex Tappen drove them both in with a two-RBI single.

Dylan Bowers, a grad transfer from Northern Colorado, replaced Gursky in the bottom of the sixth and got two outs, but gave up two walks and a single, before surrendering a third walk to give up a run. Bowers was pulled for sophomore Luke Schauer, who struck out NJIT's Nick Hussey to end the inning with no further damage, as the Highlanders left the bases loaded.

Schauer struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning and then struck out his fifth-consecutive batter to start the eighth, before giving up a single. Schauer was replaced by junior Jacob Hodorovich, who walked a batter but recorded two strikeouts to end the inning.

Matt Wyatt got the call in the ninth for the second time this weekend and close it out once again to seal the 8-3 victory for Virginia.

With the win, UVA starts the season 3-0 for the first time since the 2017 season. The Cavaliers will look to remain unbeaten as they return to Charlottesville for the home opener against VMI on Tuesday at 3pm at Disharoon Park. The game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra.

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