CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — Virginia (47-12) moved to 2-0 in the Charlottesville Regional thanks to a 2-1 win over ECU (46-18) on Saturday (June 3) in front of a sellout crowd at Disharoon Park. Graduate student Nick Parker pitched seven innings of one-run baseball and struck out five batters to earn his eighth win of the season.
Parker, who tossed eight shutout innings against the Pirates in last year’s Greenville Regional while pitching for his alma mater Coastal Carolina, threw five more shutout frames before surrendering a ECU run in the sixth. In total, Parker has pitched 15 innings, allowed one run and struck out 15 batters in two career NCAA Tournament starts against East Carolina.
Sophomore Ethan Anderson plated the go-ahead run for UVA in the bottom of the seventh with a two-out single to right field, allowing Ethan O’Donnell to score easily from third base. Anderson reached base twice in the contest and went 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. He has a team-high four RBI in two regional games.
Virginia will play the winner of ECU and Oklahoma on Sunday (June 4) in the regional final at 6 p.m. The Sooners and Pirates will square off in an elimination game on Sunday at noon.
Kyle Teel put UVA on the scoreboard first for the second-straight day with an RBI single in the third inning that allowed Jake Gelof to score from second. Gelof reached on a one-out double that was inches away from his 23rd home run. Pirate center fielder Lane Hoover leaped at the wall where the batted ball tipped off his glove and ricocheted back into play.
After surrendering a two-out single in the first inning, Nick Parker retired 12-straight batters until a single to right in the fifth. He stranded two runners in the fifth with his fourth strikeout of the day.
The 1-0 lead held until the sixth. All ECU three runners were safe on the single by Ryley Johnson but Cam Clonch was caught in a pickle between second and third base long enough to allow Carter Cunnninghan to score the tying run.
Anderson came up big for the Hoos again, this time with two outs in the seventh. O’Donnell earned a lead-off walk and stole second to get into scoring position with one out. He then moved to third on a ground out by Teel. Anderson deposited a 1-0 pitch in front of the right fielder to give UVA the 2-1 advantage.
Parker struck out his fifth batter of the day on his 100th and final pitch of the night, stranding a Pirate runner on first to close out the seventh inning.
Reliever Jake Berry finished off the win for the Cavaliers by retiring all six batters he faced, including two by way of strikeout, over the final two innings to earn his sixth save of the season
O’Ferrall briefly tied Teel for the second most hits ever by a Cavalier in a single season with his 96th hit to lead off the bottom of the first. Two batters later Teel tallied hit No. 97 for the year. The school mark is held by Phil Gosselin who compiled 100 in 2010.
All three of O’Ferrall’s four hits in the regional have come in the first inning, two in the first against Army on Friday and one in his first at bat on Saturday.
O’Donnell recorded his team-best, 18th stolen base of the year. The 18 stolen bases are the most in a season by a Cavalier Jake McCarthy in 2017 (27).
Casey Saucke put together his second-straight three-hit performance and is 6-for-9 with two runs scored and two RBI in two regional games.
Virginia improved to 6-2 in one-run games this season.
The Cavaliers matched the program’s single-game attendance record with a sellout crowd of 5,919 fans at Disharoon Park.
The quality start by Parker was his fourth of the year. UVA is 12-2 in games that Parker starts this season.
The Cavaliers need one win to clinch its eighth NCAA Regional Championship and will await the winner of Oklahoma and East Carolina. UVA will play at 6 p.m. on Sunday (June 4) and a television designation will be announced on Sunday morning.
