Virginia Baseball Weathers the Storm, Blanks Old Dominion 4-0

Though it took eight pitchers and nearly four hours thanks to a lengthy weather delay, the Cavaliers recorded their second shutout of the year. Both of those shutouts have come against the same opponent.

For the second time this season, Old Dominion came to Charlottesville and for the second time this season, the Monarchs left without scoring a run, as No. 15 Virginia (23-6) rode a quality all-around effort from its pitching staff to a 4-0 victory over Old Dominion (15-13) on Tuesday night at Disharoon Park.

The game was originally scheduled to start at 6pm, but was moved up to 5:30 due to impending inclement weather. It didn't seem like the offenses of either team got the memo on the early start, though, as the first six innings of the game passed without a single run being scored. Old Dominion had a chance with a runner on third in the top of the first, but Elon transfer Joe Savino, who was making his first start of the season, managed to get out of it. Virginia also threatened with a runner on third in the bottom of the second, but couldn't capitalize. Then came the rain and with it, a weather delay of approximately an hour and 15 minutes.

The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the seventh, when Ethan Anderson was hit by a pitch to get on board with two outs, moved to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an RBI single by Luke Hanson. Owen Coady was simply phenomenal on the mound in the seventh and eighth innings, striking out each of the six batters he faced.

The UVA bats made things much more comfortable in the bottom of the eighth, as Jacob Ference and Casey Saucke opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Henry Ford came just a few feet away from a three-run home run, but his blast down the right field line went off the wall for a two-run triple. Ford came around to score on a single from Henry Godbout to make it 4-0. Aidan Teel put the finishing touches on Virginia's win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning.

Though lacking the usual explosive production on the offensive end, this was certainly an encouraging showing from the UVA pitching staff. Joe Savino, Blake Barker, Jay Woolfolk, Ryan Osinski, Dean Kampschror, Matt Augustin, Owen Coady and Aidan Teel combined to give up just two hits and zero runs, with Coady having the most impressive performance with his six strikeouts in two innings, throwing strikes on 19 of his 26 pitches.

Up next, Virginia has another highly-ranked showdown as No. 10 North Carolina comes to Charlottesville for a three-game series. Game 1 is set for Thursday at 7pm at the Dish, with game 2 following on Friday at 6pm and the series wrapping up on Saturday at 1pm. Thursday's game will be televised on the ACC Network, while the other two games will stream on ACC Network Extra.