Cavaliers Now

Long Balls Lift Virginia Baseball to 8-6 Win at NC State

Matthew Newton|
Virginia Athletics

Don't look now, but the UVA bats are heating up. Virginia's offense has struggled with power and consistency all season long, but on Friday night in Raleigh, the Cavalier batters came alive and used a trio of home runs to power Virginia (17-11, 7-6 ACC) to an 8-6 victory, its fifth win in a row, over NC State (19-11, 5-5 ACC) on Friday night at Doak Field.

While the Cavaliers caught fire later in the night, the first half of the game was a slow start for Virginia. NC State scored first on an error in the second inning and then, after Virginia tied the game temporarily on a sacrifice fly by Henry Godbout in the top of the fourth, the Wolfpack added a second run in the bottom of the fourth, capitalizing on another UVA error. In the bottom of the fifth, Jay Woolfolk gave up his only earned run of the game and then another unearned run came home on a passed ball to make it 4-1

Virginia flipped a switch offensively in the top of the sixth, finally finding a crack in the armor of NC State starting pitcher Dominic Fritton, who had been one step ahead of the UVA batters through the first five frames. It started with a leadoff solo home run from Aidan Teel, who golfed a 1-2 pitch from Fritton over the wall in the right field corner.

Eric Becker singled and then, after the next two Virginia batters were retired, Henry Godbout walked to make it first and second with two outs. Next up was Jacob Ference, who turned on a 2-2 pitch from Fritton, his 105th pitch of the night, and blasted it 423 feet to left-center field for a three-run home run, giving the Cavaliers their first lead of the game.

The next three batters all reached base for Virginia, but the Cavaliers couldn't capitalize further as Teel grounded out to second to end the inning. Matthew Buchanan retired NC State in order in the bottom of the sixth and then the UVA offense went right back to work in the seventh, as Eric Becker hammered a leadoff solo home run over the center field wall.

Henry Ford and Chris Arroyo reached base after that and both runners ultimately came around to score, with Henry Godbout plating Ford with a double and Arroyo coming home on an error to make it 8-4 Virginia.

Matt Lanzendorfer entered the game in the bottom of the seventh and, after hitting the first batter he faced and then seeing the next batter reach base on an error, got out of the jam with a fly-out and then an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play. He remained on the mound in the eighth and again got into trouble, loading the bases with one out on two walks and a single, but again came up with a big-time double-play and this time, participated in the play himself as he fielded the one-hopper back to the mound and turned the 1-6-3 double play to send the game to the ninth.

Jack O'Connor pitched the ninth for Virginia and had some trouble, giving up a pair of solo home runs and then a walk to bring the tying run to the plate with two outs. But O'Connor bounced back, striking out the next batter to end the game and secure Virginia's 8-6 victory in game 1. O'Connor was credited with the save and Matthew Buchanan picked up his third win of the season in relief of Jay Woolfolk, who gave up four runs, but only one of them was earned, while striking out six batters in 4.2 innings of work. Offensively, Jacob Ference led the way for Virginia, going 3 for 5 with four RBI and a run scored, while Aidan Teel, Eric Becker, Henry Ford, and James Nunnallee had two hits apiece.

Game 2 is set for Saturday at 3pm ET on ACC Network Extra.

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Matt Newton
MATTHEW NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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