CHARLOTTE (theACC.com) – Virginia ace Andrew Abbott generally doesn’t need a ton of run support, but his teammates took no chances on Friday.
The eighth-seeded Cavaliers parlayed four home runs and 14 total hits into a 14-1 win over top-seeded Notre Dame in the Pool A finale of the ACC Baseball Championship at Truist Park. Virginia (29-22) earned the spot opposite ninth-seeded Duke (30-10) in Saturday’s 1 p.m. semifinal game (ACC Network).
Virginia, which plays its home games at spacious Disharoon Park, had hit 30 home runs in 50 games prior to Friday. Notre Dame starter John Michael Bertrand, an All-ACC first-team pitcher, had allowed only four home runs in 74.2 innings.
Neither stat meant a lot on Friday, as the Cavaliers’ bats sprang to life in the second inning.
Two-run homers by Nic Kent and Alex Tappen, followed by a solo shot by Jake Gelof, put Virginia up 5-0 and chased Bertrand from the game before the Fighting Irish recorded an out in the inning. Kent’s home run was his seventh of the season. Tappen had homered once in 98 previous at-bats, and Gelof’s round-tripper was his first of the year.
Not to be outdone by his younger brother, junior Zack Gelof launched a three-run shot in the top of the fifth that gave the Cavaliers a 9-0 lead.
Virginia still led 9-0 when Abbott (8-5) departed after working 6 1/3 innings and throwing 101 pitches. The Republican Grove, Virginia, native yielded five hits, one walk and struck out nine batters. Abbott has now worked 29 1/3 consecutive innings without allowing an earned run.
Highlighted by Zac Gelof’s two-run double, the Cavaliers tacked on their final five runs in the top of the ninth. Gelof finished 3-for-5 with five RBI.
Notre Dame prevented the shutout in the bottom of the ninth on pinch-hitter Danny Neri’s two-out RBI single.
OF NOTE
– No. 2 and Georgia Tech and No. 3 NC State meet in Saturday’s second semifinal game at 5 p.m. The semifinal winners will face off in Sunday’s noon championship game (ESPN2).
– Abbott became Virginia’s first eight-game winner since Alec Bettinger (8-0) in 2017. He has struck out an ACC-leading 136 batters in 89 innings.
– Virginia took two of three from Duke in the regular-season series between the teams April 23-25 in Charlottesville.
– Virginia’s Friday win over Notre Dame was the Cavaliers’ first in four tries this season after losing three straight to the Fighting Irish March 12-14 in Charlottesville.
