Cavaliers Now

Virginia Baseball Opens ACC Tournament With 13-0 Run-Rule Win Over Georgia Tech

Matt Newton

Evan Blanco delivers a pitch during the Virginia baseball game against Georgia Tech at the ACC Baseball Championship in Charlotte.
Evan Blanco delivers a pitch during the Virginia baseball game against Georgia Tech at the ACC Baseball Championship in Charlotte. / Virginia Athletics

On Wednesday, May 22nd, 2023, Virginia opened pool play at the 2023 ACC Baseball Championship with a 15-1 run-rule victory over Georgia Tech. Two days shy of a full year later, the Cavaliers made history repeat itself, once again opening ACC Tournament pool play with a run-rule victory over the Yellow Jackets.

For the purposes of the ACC Tournament, UVA's first game against Georgia Tech was essentially meaningless, as Virginia only needs to beat No. 5 seed Florida State on Friday to advance to the semifinals. But that message clearly didn't make to Brian O'Connor and the Cavaliers, who left nothing in doubt in their first postseason game.

Evan Blanco pitched six scoreless innings, Harrison Didawick matched Jake Gelof's single-season UVA home run record, and No. 4 seed Virginia (41-14) opened pool play at the 2024 ACC Baseball Championship with a dominant 13-0 victory over No. 9 seed Georgia Tech (31-23) on Wednesday afternoon at Truist Field in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Evan Blanco faced the minimum in the bottom of the first, using a double-play to erase a leadoff walk. Virginia jumped on the board in the top of the second as Jacob Ference hit a leadoff double and then Harrison Didawick crushed a ball into the right-field bleachers for his 23rd home run of the season, matching the UVA program record set by Jake Gelof last season.

UVA kept it up after that, chasing Georgia Tech starter Aeden Finateri from the game and scoring two more runs on RBI singles from Griff O'Ferrall and Henry Ford. Blanco gave up a couple of singles in the bottom of the second, but then retired the next three batters to get out of it. Henry Godbout added to Virginia's lead with a solo blast to left-center field, his fourth home run in the last 10 games.

The home run derby continued in the top of the fourth, as Casey Saucke hammered a ball that cleared the bleachers in left-center field for a two-run home run, his third game in a row with a long ball.

After a 1-2-3 frame in the bottom of the fourth for Blanco, Virginia kept its offensive onslaught going in the fifth, as Bobby Whalen brought home Godbout with an RBI double and Casey Saucke recorded his third and fourth RBI of the game with a double to make it 10-0.

UVA plated three more runs in the top of the sixth for good measure, with O'Ferrall hitting a two-run double and then scoring on a single from Ethan Anderson.

Evan Blanco wrapped up his brilliant day with a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning and then Matt Augustin set the Yellow Jackets down in order in the bottom of the seventh to secure Virginia's 13-0 run-rule victory.

Though the Cavaliers hardly needed it, Blanco was virtually untouchable, earning his seventh win of the season and giving up just five hits and a walk in six innings of scoreless baseball.

Harrison Didawick had the record-breaking home run, but the offensive player of the game for Virginia was Casey Saucke, who went 2 for 5 with four RBI and a home run. Six different Cavaliers had multi-hit games and seven had an RBI.

Up next, Virginia is set to face No. 5 seed Florida State on Friday at 10am at Truist Field on the ACC Network. The Seminoles defeated the Yellow Jackets 12-9 on Tuesday, so the winner of Friday's Virginia-Florida State game will win Pool D and advance to Saturday's single-elimination semifinals.

Published
Matt Newton

MATT NEWTON

Managing Editor and Publisher, CavaliersNow Email: mattnewton@virginia.eduTwitter: @mattynewtssWebsite | LinkedInΒ | Instagram Matt Newton is the managing editor and publisher at CavaliersNow. He has been covering UVA athletics since 2019 andΒ has been the managing editor at CavaliersNow since launching the site in August 2021. Matt covers all things UVA sports, including Virginia basketball and football news and recruiting, former Wahoos in the pros, and coverage of all 23 of the NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. A native of Downingtown, Pennsylvania, Matt grew up a huge Philadelphia sports fan, but has also been a UVA sports fanatic his entire life thanks to his parents, who are alums of the University of Virginia. Matt followed in his parents' footsteps and attended UVA from 2017-2021, graduating with a degree in Media Studies and a minor in Economics in May of 2021.Β