Following a busy week that presented Virginia with two games against Georgetown and James Madison, the squad embarked on yet another crucial must-win series against Georgia Tech on Friday night in Atlanta. The Yellow Jackets (29-13, 14-9 ACC) entered the contest ranked 24th in the country, while the Cavaliers (23-15, 10-9 ACC) found themselves teetering on the edge of NCAA postseason viability, inhabiting a position in the “Next Four Out” category of Baseball America’s most recent projected field.
With a 12-9 win over Georgia Tech, the Cavaliers can win the series Saturday — and maybe eke their way back into the NCAA Tournament bracket.
The game was a high-scoring affair, a brand of baseball that the Yellow Jackets prefer. Somehow, Virginia beat them at their own game. A short burst from Virginia’s offense in the second inning forecasted what was to come, as a well-struck ball from junior outfielder Harrison Didawick appeared to have the distance for a home run before falling one bounce short of the wall in right field. When all was said and done, Didawick was standing on third and junior infielder Henry Godbout was in the dugout, having scored the first run of the ballgame.
It wasn’t long before Didawick ambled home, with a rocket home run off the bat of freshman outfielder James Nunnallee making it an early two-run lead for the Cavaliers.
The Yellow Jackets offered their own retort in the bottom of the third, tacking on three runs to their bare end of the box score to take the lead. Later on, any hubris in the Georgia Tech dugout was properly smothered in the top of the fourth when the Cavaliers compiled three round-trippers off the bats of Nunnallee, junior outfielder Aidan Teel and Godbout. All of a sudden, it was 9-3 and the game was a barnburner in earnest.
In the bottom of the fourth, the Yellow Jackets retorted with tree runs of their own. Suddenly, senior right-handed pitcher Jay Woolfolk’s day was over. He finished his outing having surrendered six runs in just four innings. Even so, the offense continued to give their all to pad what would be a prolonged bullpen effort.
Nunnallee tagged on another base hit and a run in the fifth to make it a five-run ballgame before junior righty Jack O’Connor entered the game and departed after only three pitches with an apparent elbow injury. Junior Kevin Jaxel was there to pick up the pieces, striking out two to keep a lethal Georgia Tech offense at an arm’s length.
The contest quietly meandered towards a Virginia win, save for a short burst of energy from the Georgia Tech offense in the bottom of the ninth. The five-run deficit was just too much to overcome, as two Yellow Jacket home runs went in vain. The victory marked the Cavaliers’ third in a row, a streak that they no doubt will have to uphold if they wish to snag a coveted spot in the postseason.
Virginia will look to the weekend, where a 4:00 start Saturday and a 1:00 start Sunday round out the series against the Yellow Jackets.
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