Freshman Griff O’Ferrall hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh, and grad student tacked on an insurance run with a bomb deep into the Hoo Zone in the eighth, to lift No. 11 Virginia (29-10, 11-8 ACC) to a 4-2 victory over North Carolina (23-15, 8-11 ACC) on Friday night at Disharoon Park.
O’Ferrall broke a 2-2 tie with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning with a solo homer to left. The long ball was his second of the season. Tappen blasted his ninth homer of the season 387 feet over the left field wall an inning later.
Freshman reliever Jay Woolfolk recorded his second win in relief in as many games, retiring all five batters he faced. He came into the game with the bases loaded in the sixth and struck out UNC’s Mac Horvath to end the threat. Including his outing on Wednesday, he’s retired the last 10 batters he’s faced, seven by way of the strikeout.
Brandon Neeck closed the door for UVA, pitching the final 1.2 inning to earn his first career save. He struck out four of the six batters he faced. The save opportunity was UVA’s third of the season and second in as many games.
Postgame: Virginia coach Brian O’Connor
“That’s what college baseball games are like in this league. Two really, really good teams and the difference is very, very minimal to win games. We had guys like Griff O’Ferrall and (Alex) Tapp(en) and step up and the seventh and eighth and hit big home runs. It’s great to see our guys rise up and do it at the end of the game. I thought Nate Savino did a nice job of managing the game. I’ve seen him better, but he gave us a chance to win the game. Jay Woolfolk comes out of the bullpen, two games in a row and is lights out and Brandon Neeck, since we have moved in to the relief role has been just really, really tremendous. That’s the kind of stuff (tonight) you all remember that he pitched with last year in the regional against Old Dominion, so it’s just so great to see that. I think that’s a real weapon for us at the back part of the game. I’m so proud of him and just proud of our team, that was a just a tough, gritty win for us on Friday this league.”
The series against North Carolina continues on Saturday with the middle game of a three-game set. Virginia will have lefty Brian Gursky (6-0) on the mound, and he will be opposed by fellow southpaw Brandon Schaeffer (3-1). First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
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Chris Graham
