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Gelof goes deep again: #5 Virginia improves to 19-1

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Photo courtesy UVA Athletics.

Jake Gelof is absolutely bonkers right now – 4-for-4 on Sunday, with his 12th homer, hitting .464 on the season.

Fifth-ranked Virginia is 19-1 win after completing a weekend sweep of Boston College with a 16-8 win on Sunday.

The 19-1 start matches the best start in program history for the ‘Hoos, who have now won 17 in a row at Disharoon Park.

Gelof hit his NCAA-leading 12th home run with a two-run shot in the fourth inning. He went 7-for-11 with three home runs and seven RBI in the three-game series against the Eagles.

Alex Tappen had a career day, reaching base five times and capped his afternoon with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. He finished with a career-high, six RBI in a 4-for-4 effort at the plate. He now has five home runs on the season and has reached base safely in 19 straight games.

Casey Saucke extended his hit streak to 18 games, the longest by a UVA freshman in the last 22 years and the longest by any Cavalier since UVA Hall of Famer Matt Thaiss had a hit in 18 straight games in 2016.

“Last year, we only swept one ACC series the whole year against Wake (Forest) here late in in May, and so it was great to see our guys come out this weekend and really play complete baseball all three games,” Virginia coach Brian O’Connor said.

Virginia jumped out to a 6-0 advantage with a four-run fourth inning thanks to RBI hits from Tappen, Chris Newell and Justin Rubin. Tappen drove in the first run of the frame and stole home after Gelof was caught in a rundown between first and second.

Boston College pulled within four runs thanks to a three-run fifth inning and went on to make it a three-run ball game in the eighth after a three-run homer by Cameron Leary to make the score 11-8.

Virginia responded with five runs in its half of the eighth and put the game out of reach. Tappen launched a two-run home run off the light stanchion in the left field bleachers to put the Cavaliers up 13-8. UVA padded the lead with a ground-rule double off the bat of Anthony Stephan, and scored two runs on a Boston College fielding error.

Virginia scored 10 or more runs for the 14th time this season. Virginia has scored 10 or more runs in all but one home game this season, outscoring opponents at Disharoon Park, 196-42.

After two home runs in Sunday’s contest, Virginia has hit 36 in 14 home games, two shy of the season record set in 2017 (38 in 34 games).

“This weekend was a tough weekend to pitch. You got the wind and the heat and the wind blowing out like it was. We knew there was going to be a lot of home runs hit, fortunately we hit a few more than they did. It was just a complete effort, defensively, pitching, on offense that you want to see so great first weekend of ACC play at home,” O’Connor said.

Sunday’s game drew 3,734 on a blustery afternoon, and the three-game series in total drew 9,506 to The Dish.

“Really nice crowds. It’s awesome,” O’Connor said. “I told our guys after the game, it’s been a couple of years since we’ve had the Sunday (autograph) signings because of COVID, and to be able to have all these kids and fans out here after the game to sign autographs is really awesome.

Virginia will conclude its six-game homestand on Tuesday (March 22) when it hosts Towson in non-conference action. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Disharoon Park.

Story by Chris Graham

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