Unbeaten Wahoos continue winning with efficiency
Kyle Teel signed a few autographs in the camera well beyond the Virginia dugout. A fan called from behind the brick wall on the opposite end of the dugout, asking first-year Ethan Anderson if he’d pose for a picture with a few young fans. Devin Ortiz showed off a few dance moves for some other fans on the hill down the left field line.
An announced crowd of 4,459 filled Disharoon Park on Sunday afternoon to watch the final game of UVa’s three-game weekend series against Penn State. The home team did not disappoint, smacking three home runs and putting runs on the board in five separate innings en route to a 13-1 victory that completed the sweep and extended the Wahoos’ undefeated season-opening run to 11 straight games.
“We’re having fun,” Jake Gelof, who swatted a pair of long balls in that latest rout on Sunday, said afterward, “and I think that shows on the scoreboard.”
The Wahoos are sitting at No. 26 in the first NCAA RPI rankings of the spring, released on Monday. They’re ranked as high as No. 5 nationally again this week (by Baseball America) in the college baseball polls—though still yet to crack the D1Baseball top 25 despite this 11-0 start.
UVa can complete an unbeaten nine-game homestand on Tuesday afternoon against a George Washington ballclub off to a 3-7 start. Win that game, and this will be the fifth team in Brian O’Connor’s 19 seasons as head coach to arrive at ACC play still undefeated.
Three previous teams—in 2008, 2009 (which opened the season with 19 straight wins, the longest winning streak in school history) and 2013—won their first 11 games under O’Connor. This year’s team has joined that list with some consistent efficiency: Through three weekends, the Wahoos ranked No. 2 in the country in scoring (12.3 runs per game), fourth in team ERA (1.55) and fifth in fielding percentage (.989).
Virginia has outscored opponents 135-21. Average time of game: Two hours, 55 minutes.
“We’re doing it because we’re throwing strikes and we’re handling the ball,” the head baseball coach said last weekend. “You do that, I don’t care what’s going on. You’re gonna have a chance to win and a chance to be in every game if you do those two things.
“And we just happen to also be swinging the bats pretty good on top of it.”
That’s one way of describing the way the UVa lineup has mashed through the season’s first three weekends. The Wahoos have outscored their opponents 135-21, and have scored at least 10 runs in each of the first eight games of this homestand, the longest such streak in program history. They’ve also had at least one five-run inning in each of those eight games.
Gelof enters Tuesday’s game hitting .472. His 1.278 slugging percentage ranks third in the country; his 29 RBI are the most in Division I. Sunday marked his second two-homer game of the homestand, giving him seven home runs on the season. That total ranks fourth nationally. Last year, a UVa player didn’t hit his seventh home run until the first weekend in May; no one at Virginia hit more than five homers during the 2018, 2019 or (COVID-shortened) 2020 seasons.
He’s been the loudest bat in a lineup that has been relentless, one through nine. First-year leadoff hitter Griff O’Ferrall, who went 4-for-4 with three runs scored on Sunday to cap a 6-for-11 series against Penn State, has been on base in all 11 games this season and ranks third nationally with 20 runs scored. Three-hole hitter Ortiz has also been on base in all 11 games. Teel had been on base in the first 10 games (and 38 straight games, going back to last year) prior to Sunday’s 0-for-4 day. Gelof had his nine-game streak to start the season snapped with an 0-for-5 day on Saturday.
Down the lineup, first-years Casey Saucke and Colin Tuft have each appeared in nine games—and gotten on base in all nine. Saucke has hits in all nine of his appearances, a streak he extended with a pinch-hit RBI single on Sunday. His batting average (.516) and on-base percentage (.615) are both best on the team—and Saucke has not hit higher than sixth in the lineup in any of his eight starts. Tuft has a .333 batting average and .488 on-base percentage, and has split time in the seven-hole with Saucke the past half-dozen games. Anderson has hit .393 and slugged .679 in nine games, including six starts from the eight-hole.
Virginia has scored 25 runs in the second innings of its first 11 games, 39 in the fifth innings. The Hoos have only trailed twice this season, after giving up two runs in the top of the first inning in their series opener against Cornell and one in the top of the first of Saturday’s game against Penn State. UVa erased both deficits in their next time up.
Opposing starters are 0-10 with an 11.36 ERA against UVa. Bellarmine starter Nolan Pender was a tough-luck loser on opening day, giving up one unearned run on five hits in six full innings of play. In the 10 games since, no opposing starter has gone even five full innings against the Hoos. Only three have lasted even four full innings.
UVa’s starters have combined for a 1.52 ERA. As a staff, Virginia pitchers have struck out 144 and walked just 31 in 99 innings pitched. That 4.65 strikeout-to-walk ratio ranks fifth in the country. Opponents are hitting just .181. Behind those pitchers, the Wahoos have committed just four errors in 11 games, none in the last five.
“I just feel like we’re unstoppable right now,” said pitcher Nate Savino, who improved to 2-0 with six innings of one-run ball in Friday’s 10-1 win. ”Everyone does their job, and that’s all it takes, really.”
“It just clicks. Everything is clicking right now,” said outfielder Alex Tappen, who led off the fifth inning on Friday with a double, then capped that eight-run frame with a long two-run homer.
“It all complements everything,” Tappen added. “Our pitching complements our hitting; our hitters complement hitters. Stuff like that. It’s all really working right now and everybody’s got a lot of confidence.”
Through three weekends of baseball Virginia is one of just five unbeaten teams remaining in Division I. Two of the others, Wake Forest and Clemson, are among the eight ACC teams on UVa’s conference schedule this spring. That slate starts this weekend with a three-game set at Duke, who is 6-5 going into Tuesday’s game at home against UMass Lowell.
Before heading to Durham, the Hoos have one more at the Dish.
“You feel it every time you walk into the stadium, everybody’s into it and real excited to play every day,” said outfielder Chris Newell. “We feel really good as a team where we’re at, and we have a lot of good momentum going forward.”
JOIN CAVSCORNER TODAY!
If you are not already a member of CavsCorner, come join us and see what all of the buzz is about.
Click HERE to subscribe and get all of the latest news and join hundreds of other UVa fans in talking about Cavalier football, basketball, and recruiting. You won't be disappointed!
