There is no denying that Virginia received a punch in the mouth when it suffered a shutout, mercy-rule loss to Charlotte Tuesday. Similarly, there is no doubt that the team responded effectively with an 8-1 win Wednesday.
If Tuesday was a wake-up call and Wednesday was the response, then Friday saw the Cavaliers (12-2, 1-0 ACC) issue an urgent warning to any ACC teams that might have smelled blood in the water. The warning took the form of a dominant win over No. 8 North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C. — Virginia wasted no time, downing the Tar Heels (12-2-1, 0-1 ACC) 13-3 in seven innings to open conference play on a high note. Stellar pitching led the charge as sophomore lefty Henry Zatkowski posted yet another excellent performance.
Junior righty Jason DeCaro earned the start for North Carolina. The junior struggled immediately, hitting junior infielder Eric Becker with a pitch, allowing junior outfielder AJ Gracia to single and advancing both runners with a wild pitch. Another walk loaded the bases with one out, but the Cavaliers only squeaked across one run thanks to a sacrifice fly by senior outfielder Harrison Didawick.
DeCaro worked through a scoreless second but ran into major trouble in the third inning. The third saw the Cavaliers load the bases immediately as junior first baseman Sam Harris ripped a double, Didawick worked a walk and sophomore infielder Noah Murray notched a single. A strikeout put DeCaro a double play away from escaping the jam, but the third baseman misplayed the potential two-ball, sending Harris home to score. After a sacrifice groundout and a Becker single, Virginia held a commanding 5-0 lead.
The bleeding continued in the fourth despite a pitching change, as senior righty Cameron Padgett proved equally incapable of silencing the Cavalier bats. Murray contributed yet again, recording an RBI with a single to left field. Freshman outfielder Zach Jackson blew the inning open, blasting a two-run home run to right-center field.
As the Virginia offense brutalized the North Carolina pitching staff, Zatkowski did not struggle to keep the Tar Heel bats in check. The 6-foot-2 southpaw did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, when he allowed a single run but escaped a bases-loaded jam. Zatkowski worked 5.1 strong frames, exiting after allowing two runs in the bottom of the sixth. Graduate righty Lucas Hartman took care of business promptly, requiring just two pitches to induce an inning-ending double play and working through a drama-free, 10-pitch seventh inning.
The highlights kept coming for the Cavalier lineup. Becker came across to score on a wild pitch in the fifth. Didawick notched his first home run of the season — a two-run blast in the top of the sixth. Murray put the finishing touches on an excellent individual and team performance with a two-run double in the seventh, pushing Virginia’s lead out to 10 runs. Hartman slammed the door on the mercy-rule win.
Coach Chris Pollard noted the importance of applying constant pressure to DeCaro, sitting on the fastball and forcing him to rely on his offspeed pitches — resulting in an inflated pitch count that forced North Carolina to rely on its bullpen early in the series.
“We just kept applying pressure, never left the zone,” Pollard said. “We didn’t back off the gas, we forced them to have to keep bringing relievers into the ballgame.”
For Zatkowski, the performance continues a recent run of excellent pitching after starting the season on rocky terrain. Throwing a season-high 98 pitches and allowing no extra-base hits — and, perhaps most critically, walking just one batter despite hitting three with pitches — Zatkowski appears to be heading in the right direction as a frontline starter for Virginia. The lefty thrived on soft contact in Friday’s contest, recording just three strikeouts but inducing weak grounders and fly balls at will.
“Just letting my defense help behind me, just trusting a bunch of guys,” Zatkowski said. “Credit to the coaches, they’ve been really good at building me up … I feel great. I could throw another 100 [pitches].”
The performance marked a return to form for the Virginia offense, which displayed its potential for consistent, solid contact and eye-popping power. Eight of nine Cavalier starters notched hits, including three with multi-hit games. Becker continued a torrid offensive stretch, going 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Murray posted an encouraging line despite struggles thus far this season, recording a three-hit, three-RBI day.
“[Murray] really looked like himself in the box today,” Pollard said. “The one thing that Noah Murray has always been so good at over the course of his career is getting on time and on plane with the fastball, and he did that today.”
Virginia will have two chances to earn the series win Saturday — the two teams will play a doubleheader, with the first of two games beginning at 1 p.m.
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