Hoos' depth has been bolstered by first-years
It hadn’t occurred to Justin Rubin to check the groups for batting practice.
The first-year infielder was 13 games into his college baseball career at Virginia and yet to make a start. He wasn’t expecting that to change that Sunday morning in Durham, where the Wahoos were getting ready to play a doubleheader against Duke after the previous day’s game had been postponed because to the weather.
So Rubin assumed he’d be hitting in his normal batting practice foursome that day—until associate head coach Kevin McMullan passed by.
“Coach Mac, while I was just getting loose, came up to me and was like, ‘Check the BP groups?’” recalled Rubin, who looked at the list and realized he’d be in the starting lineup that day. “So I checked them and then he said, ‘Have fun out there. You earned it.’”
Rubin had two hits in the first game of that doubleheader as the Cavaliers’ starting second baseman, then came back and picked up another in his second start in the back half of that doubleheader. He has started three more games at second base and one at third base in the six games the Hoos have played since.
Rubin is hitting .333 when in the starting lineup and has made some highlight-reel plays at second base. He’s the latest example of the depth of this UVa baseball team, which takes a 20-1 record—the best in program history—into this weekend’s three-game ACC series at Wake Forest.
Another example is fellow first-year Colin Tuft, who started eight of UVa’s first 11 games between left field and designated hitter. Tuft had only started once in the nine game since before getting back in the lineup in left field on Tuesday against Towson. Tuft finished that game 3-for-4 with three RBI singles and also scored three times.
Tuft didn’t find out until after batting practice on Tuesday that he’d be in the starting lineup—but he said that knowing in advance wouldn’t have impacted the way he approached the game.
“The mindset’s always the same,” Tuft explained. “You always have to prepare like you’re starting.”
Tuft began his UVa career by racking up three hits in two starts on opening weekend. He scored at least once in each of his first nine starts. That early success helped the freshman settle in quickly.
“I learned that you always have to have confidence in yourself, and if you have confidence in yourself, you’ll always stay ready,” he said. “Doesn’t matter when that opportunity is. If you’re happy and confident within yourself that you can go up there and compete and do the best that you can, and know that you can do great things, you will always be ready for your opportunity.”
Still, it can be a challenge not to press when that opportunity comes, said UVa third baseman Jake Gelof. The nation’s leader with 13 home runs and 48 RBI this season, Gelof spent much of his freshman year last spring as a part-time player before stepping in as the Hoos’ everyday first baseman for the final 24 games down the stretch and into the postseason.
“Early in the season last year, when I was one at-bat here, one at-bat there, you feel like you have to hit a home run to get into the lineup,” Gelof admitted. “They’re staying within their approach, they’re not trying to do too much, and I think it shows.”
Tuft said he has been able to stay locked in while watching from the dugout by striking up conversations with teammates about situations or how they’d approach facing a new pitcher who just entered the game.
“Play games within the game,” he said, “like if this guy has a tendency to throw changeups in a 2-1 count, bet on a 2-1 changeup on this next guy. Little games like that that help you stay engaged within the game. It makes it fun to watch.”
Tuesday’s Towson game was Tuft’s first start in six games. With that three-hit performance, he raised his season batting average to .354, with a .483 on-base percentage and .417 slugging percentage. With three more runs scored Tuft raised his season total to 20 in 18 games.
Rubin also went 3-for-4 against the Tigers, with a pair of doubles and his first college home run. Rubin is slashing .313/.405/.563 in 16 games. With five doubles and that homer, more than half of his 10 hits have gone for extra bases.
UVa coach Brian O’Connor doesn’t expect Rubin to keep hitting the ball out of the park. But he likes the way the freshman infielder has executed at the plate in multiple situations.
“When we’ve asked him to bunt, he’s bunted. He’s put the ball in play with two strikes,” the head baseball coach explained. “He’s gonna be a guy that’s gonna do the small things and put the ball in play with two strikes, and that’s what he’s done. And more opportunities will come his way.”
O’Connor anticipates that Rubin to continue splitting time at second base with junior Max Cotier, who had a streak of 59 consecutive starts at that position snapped when Rubin got the nod at Duke. Rubin can also play shortstop, where he spent the fall and preseason, and third base. Tuft brings a similar versatility, having been recruited as a catcher. He got his first opportunity behind the plate late in that Towson game on Tuesday.
Those two are part of a freshman class that has bolstered Virginia’s lineup through the season’s first month. Eleven of the Wahoos’ 16 total hits against Towson came from first-years. Right fielder Casey Saucke takes a 19-game hitting streak to Wake Forest, the longest for a UVa freshman since 2000 and the longest for anyone in the program since 2009. He’s hitting .443 with five home runs on the season.
Shortstop Griff O’Ferrall is hitting .338 with a .464 on-base percentage in the leadoff spot, with 28 runs scored and nine stolen bases. Ethan Anderson, who is expected to be back this weekend after missing the last two games with a thumb injury, is hitting .309 with three home runs and 15 RBI, with most of his 13 starts coming at first base. Two other first-year infielders, Anthony Stephan and Tristan Shoemaker, have each appeared in at least a dozen games with one start.
It’s a close-knit group of classmates, Rubin said, who have spent countless hours together getting in extra work in the batting cage and on the field after practices and games.
“When you know somebody deserves it,” he said, “it’s easy to root for them.”
That morning in Durham, Rubin’s first instinct was to text his dad, who had made the trip from Pennsylvania, to share the news that he’d be in the lineup. He admitted that McMullan’s encouragement helped ease his nerves, as did the preparation he’d put in since arriving at UVa last fall.
“We’re too prepared to be nervous,” he said. “The message I kept telling myself was, ‘Leave it all out there.’ You want to walk off the field saying even if you never start, play or whatever again, you gave it all you had. Just be grateful. This is a dream come true.”
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