If ever a team needed an easy 8-1 win, it was the 14th-ranked UVA Baseball team, on Wednesday down in Kannapolis, the heart of NASCAR country.
Virginia had been embarrassed the night before, losing 14-0 to Charlotte in seven innings, generating just two hits, and striking out 15 times.
Game 2 of the midweek series got off to a good start with a four-run top of the first, and the UVA pitching staff held Charlotte to a run on six hits in the 8-1 win.
Four pitchers went two innings each, with Lucas Hartman (3-0) getting credited with the win, striking out four in two hitless, scoreless innings.
AJ Gracia (.400 BA, 1.443 OPS, 6 HRs, 10 RBIs) was 3-for-4 at the plate with a pair of walks.
Joe Tiroly (.277 BA, .801OPS, 4 HRs, 12 RBIs) was 2-for-5 with two RBIs; Antonio Perrotta (.400 BA, 1.083 OPS, 2 HRs, 10 RBIs) was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.
The Virginia offense had 12 hits and drew nine walks and a hit by pitch.
Next up for the ‘Hoos (11-2): a weekend trip to #7 North Carolina (12-1), with a three-game series beginning on Friday at 4 p.m.