Wahoo Wanderings: Baseball has solid showing at ACC tournament, earns NCAA bid

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It turns out destroying the No. 1 seed at the ACC tournament was good for the Virginia baseball team's NCAA tournament resume -- who knew? 😁

Last Friday, the Cavaliers defeated Notre Dame -- a consensus top-10 team that was ranked as high as No. 3 nationally by Baseball America -- in Charlotte by the incredible score of 14-1. Many observers figured UVa had already done enough to clinch an NCAA bid, but that result left no doubt. On Monday, the Wahoos were given the No. 3 seed in the Columbia, S.C., Regional, which also consists of No. 1 seed Old Dominion, No. 2 seed South Carolina (ODU's facilities were not good enough to host), and No. 4 seed Jacksonville.

UVa faces South Carolina on Friday at noon in a game that will be televised on ESPN2. I'll publish a preview post separately giving a look at each of the four teams in the regional.

The victory over Notre Dame clinched Pool A and a spot in the ACC tournament semifinals for Virginia, which also had the satisfaction of edging archrival Virginia Tech 3-2 in their first tournament game last Tuesday, likely putting the final nail in the Hokies' NCAA tournament coffin. Indeed, Virginia Tech did not hear its name called Monday.

Because of the format of the tournament, the loser of the UVa-Tech game had no chance to advance to the semifinals. Notre Dame, as the highest seed, needed to only go 1-1 and beat the winner of the UVa-Tech matchup to advance. UVa or Tech needed to go 2-0, and the Cavaliers did just that.

In Saturday's semifinals, Virginia fell to red-hot Duke, 4-2. The Blue Devils went on to win the title Sunday, taking down N.C. State 1-0. The only ACC squad hotter than UVa right now is Duke, which has won 12 straight games. Virginia (29-23) has won 12 of 17.


The Wahoos celebrate after Alex Tappen's home run against Notre Dame. (Bally Sports)

The Cavaliers broke out the lumber in a big way against the Fighting Irish, slamming four home runs, three of which came in a five-run second inning. Nic Kent was up first with a two-run shot, and after Logan Michaels doubled, Alex Tappen got in on the action with a two-run homer to left field, and Jake Gelof directly followed with a solo homer, also to left. The Wahoos were off and running and never looked back.

Jake's brother Zack Gelof went 3 for 5 with five RBIs. His three-run homer in the fifth made it 9-0. Chris Newell went 2 for 4 with two RBIs. UVa scored its final five runs in the ninth.

On the mound, Andrew Abbott (8-5) continued his recent mastery. The senior lefty went 6⅓ innings, giving up no runs on five hits while striking out nine and walking one. The Daily Progress' Bennett Conlin noted Abbott's combined line for his last four starts on Twitter: 27⅓ innings, no runs allowed, and 44 strikeouts. Not bad, eh?

Coach Brian O'Connor's decision to not start Abbott against Virginia Tech earlier in the week paid off. But he did still use Abbott versus Tech -- just as a reliever.

Zach Messinger (3-1) got the start against the Hokies and pitched well. The junior righty didn't cede any runs until the final batter he faced, Tanner Schobel, hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning. Messinger threw 5⅓ innings and got the win, giving up four hits and two walks while striking out six. The bullpen was clutch, and it included one inning, the eighth, from Abbott. The combo of Brandon Neeck, Blake Bales, Abbott, and Kyle Whitten pitched 3⅔ innings and gave up just two hits.

Fans were a bit perplexed at first when Abbott walked out to the mound for the eighth. But O'Connor explained the decision after the game, saying Abbott was scheduled for a bullpen practice session anyway. So O'Connor gave Abbott the option -- keep his practice session or take a "practice" session on the field during live game action. Abbott, being the gamer he is, of course, chose to pitch to the Hokies. And I mean, who wouldn't? What athlete is going to choose practice over a game? As Allen Iverson once famously said, "We talkin' 'bout practice!"

Offensively, Kyle Teel went 2 for 4 with a two-run homer in the third, and Zack Gelof had an RBI in the second to put Virginia up 1-0.

Against Duke, the Cavaliers fell behind 3-0 after the Blue Devils notched a leadoff homer to start the game and scored two runs in the third inning. The 'Hoos scored a run each in the third and fourth, but it wasn't enough. Michaels and Tappen had UVa's RBIs. Mike Vasil (7-4) took the loss, giving up the three runs and seven hits in 4⅓ innings. He struck out five and walked two.

That's it for baseball for now, but be on the lookout for a preview post before Friday's game.

Rowing: Virginia finished fifth at the NCAA championships, which took place May 28-30 at Nathan Benderson Park in Sarasota, Fla. Texas won the national title, and Stanford, Washington, and Michigan rounded out the top four. It was UVa's 17th top-five finish in 23 appearances at the national championships. The Cavaliers captured NCAA titles in 2012 and 2010.

Women's golf: Virginia senior Beth Lillie, the lone UVa men's or women's golfer to make the NCAA championships as an individual, finished ninth at the event, which took place at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Ariz. It was her best finish in three NCAA championships appearances. Her total of even-par 288 tied for the second-best score at the NCAA championships in Virginia history.

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