The Shadow
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – On a picturesque spring evening for baseball, the Virginia baseball team (12-2) run-ruled No. 8 North Carolina (12-2-1) 13-3 in seven innings on Friday (March 6) at Boshamer Stadium.
Led by the infield duo of Noah Murray and Eric Becker, the UVA bats came alive early, scoring the first seven runs of the ballgame. Virginia starter Henry Zatkowski picked up his second win of the season by allowing three runs on five hits in 5.1 innings of work.
Murray and Becker each went 3-for-4 on the evening, while Sam Harris added two more hits of his own. Harrison Didawick and Murray each drove in a trio of runs to pace the Cavalier attack.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- To open the series, Becker was hit by a pitch and later scored on a Didawick bases-loaded sacrifice fly to put the Cavaliers up 1-0 after an inning of play.
- UVA loaded bases again in the second but was held scoreless before plating four runs in the third, highlighted by a two-run single from Becker that made it a 5-0 Virginia advantage.
- Thanks to a North Carolina error that prolonged the top of the fourth, Virginia added three more runs on a Murray RBI single to left and a two-run homer off the bat of Zach Jackson. The long ball was Jackson’s third of the year and made it an 8-0 game.
- North Carolina got on the board in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single.
- With one out in the top of the fifth, Becker doubled to left center and scored during the next at-bat thanks to a pair of wild pitches from UNC’s Kyle Percival.
- Following a leadoff walk from Sam Harris to start the top of the sixth, Harrison Didawick crushed his first home run of the season. Didawick’s dinger extended the UVA lead to 11-1.
- UNC’s final two runs of the contest came on back-to-back RBI singles before Lucas Hartman ended the threat of any further Tar Heel damage by inducing a groundball double play.
- Murray put the Cavaliers out front by 10 runs in the top of the seventh with a two-run double off the wall in left field that plated Joe Tiroly and Didawick.
- Hartman finished off the 13-3 Virginia victory by sitting down a trio of Tar Heels in order during the bottom of the seventh.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- Friday’s win is Virginia’s largest margin of victory over a top 25 team since UVA downed No. 20 Miami 14-2 in 2023.
- The win is also the largest margin of victory in an ACC opener since the Cavaliers beat Wake Forest 18-2 in 2009.
- With the win, Virginia moves to 6-0 when scoring 10 or more runs in a game.
- With his home run in the sixth, Harrison moves into sole possession of fifth place on UVA’s career home run list with 34.
- With his single in the first inning, AJ Gracia has reached safely in all 14 games this season.
FROM HEAD COACH CHRIS POLLARD
“We kept applying pleasure, we never left the zone and we were on time when he was in the zone with the fastball. I thought it was a really good approach by our team and we did not back off the gas to force them to keep bringing relievers into the ballgame.”
UP NEXT
Virginia will close out the opening weekend of ACC with a doubleheader against No. 8 North Carolina on Saturday (March 7). Game one of the doubleheader is slated for a 1 p.m. first pitch. Both games will be carried on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).
