No. 8 Virginia Baseball Escapes With 6-4 Victory Over Georgetown

It required a more dramatic ending than they were hoping for, but eventually, the Cavaliers secured the victory. The Hoyas gave the Hoos all they could handle and threatened with a ninth inning rally, but No. 8 Virginia baseball hung on for a 6-4 victory over Georgetown on Wednesday evening at Disharoon Park. 

The UVA bats produced runs in each of the first four innings to take build an early lead, but Georgetown crept back into the game late. The Hoyas threatened to score first as true freshman Bradley Hodges made his first career start on the mound for Virginia and walked two batters and hit a third in the first inning. Hodges managed to get a key strikeout to get out of the bases loaded jam with no runs scored. 

In the bottom of the first, Jake Gelof got just enough contact on his swing to lift the ball barely over the fence in left field for a solo home run, his seventh homer of the season, to give UVA the 1-0 lead. 

The Hoyas answered in the top of the second, manufacturing the tying run with some small ball as Michael Eze delivered the RBI single up the middle. 

UVA loaded the bases in the second on a single, a walk, and a Georgetown error before Justin Rubin took a pitch to his foot to score a run. With the bases still loaded, the Cavaliers failed to do any more damage as Griff O'Ferrall grounded into an inning-ending double play. 

Virginia extended its lead in the third on a Kyle Teel opposite-field solo home run that made it 3-1. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Griff O'Ferrall atoned for his earlier double play by driving a ball into the gap in right center with the bases loaded, bringing in two runs to make it 5-1. O'Ferrall recorded another RBI in the sixth inning, singling to right field to score Harrison Didawick. The sophomore shortstop O'Ferrall had an excellent game, going 3 for 5 with a double and three RBI. 

Virginia used six different pitchers in the game. Hodges and Kevin Jaxel each pitched 2.2 innings, while Angelo Tonas pitched a third of an inning before Chase Hungate came on to finish the sixth. Hungate began the seventh inning with a strikeout, but then hit a batter and gave up a two-run home run to Austin Kretzschmar, suddenly making it 6-3. 

UVA had a chance to score some insurance runs in the eighth with the bases loaded, but Ethan O'Donnell grounded into a double play and the spread remained at three runs. 

Then came a dramatic ninth inning as the Hoyas gave Jay Woolfolk lots of trouble as he went for the save. Travis Ilitch led off with a single, but was then caught stealing by Kyle Teel. Woolfolk walked the next batter and then Jake Gelof committed an error to put two runners on. The next batter popped out to Justin Rubin at second to get the Hoyas down to their final out, but then Owen Carapellotti delivered a base hit down the right field line to score a run, making it 6-4 and putting the tying run on base. A few moments after committing the error, Jake Gelof cashed in on a quick chance at redemption as he snagged a line drive to secure the final out and clinch the 6-4 victory for Virginia. 

With the win, Virginia improves to 13-0 at home this season and 19-2 overall. UVA hosts its first ACC series of the season this weekend with Florida State coming to Charlottesville. Game 1 is set for Friday at 6pm at Disharoon Park. 

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