Matt Riley/Virginia Athletics
Virginia Run-Rules Georgia Tech 15-1 to Open ACC Baseball Championship
For the purposes of the ACC Baseball Championship, Wednesday's game was meaningless for Virginia, who only need to beat North Carolina on Thursday in order to win Pool B and advance to the semifinals. The Cavaliers clearly didn't get that message as they delivered one of the most dominant performances in the history of the ACC Tournament.
Nick Parker gave up just one run on four hits in seven innings and the UVA offense put up 15 runs on 17 hits as No. 12 Virginia crushed Georgia Tech via 15-1 run-rule victory in seven innings to open pool play at the ACC Baseball Championship on Wednesday afternoon in Durham.
Both starting pitchers breezed through the first inning with relative ease, but things turned sour for Georgia Tech starter Aeden Finateri in the second inning on just two pitches. The newly-minted ACC Player of the Year Kyle Teel took the first pitch of the inning the opposite way for a leadoff double off the left field wall, breaking the UVA single-season record with his 24th double of the season. On the very next pitch, Ethan Anderson hit a slow dribbler to second base and a throwing error by shortstop Jadyn Jackson allowed Teel to score from second base.
Parker had his best stuff going on Wednesday, striking out three batters in the first two innings and facing the minimum of nine batters through the first three frames. Virginia gave Parker more run support in the top of the fourth, starting with the hottest bat in the lineup as Teel hammered a ball to straightaway center field for a home run.
Ethan Anderson followed that up with a walk, moved to second on a single from Anthony Stephan, and scored on an error as Henry Godbout hit a grounder that went through legs of Georgia Tech third baseman Drew Compton. The Yellow Jackets showed signs of life in the fourth as Jake DeLeo hit a one-out triple and then Parker loaded the bases on a walk and a hit-by-pitch. But, Parker got out of the jam with a clutch 4-6-3 double play. UVA turned inning-ending double plays in the third, fourth, and fifth innings to help Parker keep Georgia Tech scoreless.
Virginia blew the game wide open in the top of the fifth, scoring eight runs on five hits and four walks. All of UVA's runs in the inning were scored with two outs. With runners on first and second, Casey Saucke blooped a ball into shallow right field and Georgia Tech first baseman John Giesler couldn't quite hang on as he tried to make a tough over-the-shoulder basket catch. Instead, the ball hit the grass and Saucke was credited with an RBI double.
The Yellow Jackets changed pitchers, but that didn't help their case much. Stephan kept things going with a two-run triple down the right field line. After two more walks, Griff O'Ferrall hit a double down the right field line to score two more runs. Ethan O'Donnell then delivered the death blow, hitting a three-run home run to right field to make it 11-0 in favor of the Cavaliers.
With the game already in hand, Virginia kept pouring it on in the remaining couple of innings. Ethan Anderson hit UVA's third home run of the game in the top of the sixth, going the opposite way for a solo homer. Parker continued to deal with a 1-2-3 sixth inning and then the Cavaliers added three more runs in the top of the seventh on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Teel, an RBI single by Casey Saucke, and a fielder's choice RBI grounder by Colin Tuft.
There is a seven-inning 10-run rule for all of the pool play games and the semifinals of the ACC Baseball Tournament. Angelo Dispigna spoiled Parker's shutout with a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh, but Parker retired the side to complete the seven-inning complete game, securing UVA's 15-1 victory.
Five different Cavaliers had multiple RBI in the game and nine different UVA batters recorded a hit. Ethan O'Donnell went 3 for 5 with three RBI and two runs scored, Kyle Teel went 3 for 4 with two RBI and three runs, and Casey Saucke went 3 for 5 with two RBI and a run scored.
While there were a number of offensive stars in Wednesday's victory, the most important performance came from Nick Parker, who allowed only one earned run on four hits, struck out five batters, and allowed Brian O'Connor to keep his entire bullpen fresh for Thursday's pivotal game against North Carolina.
While Virginia's win over Georgia Tech did nothing to help the Cavaliers advance out of pool play, it was a very important game for UVA's efforts to earn the opportunity to not only host a regional in the NCAA Tournament, but to secure one of the coveted top 8 national seeds.
Winners of 10-straight games, Virginia (45-11) will take on No. 7 seed North Carolina on Thursday at 3pm. The winner will win Pool B and advance to the semifinals of the ACC Baseball Championship on Saturday.
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