Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): The Virginia Men’s Baseball team has touched down in Atlanta for a three-game series against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets that begins tonight at 6:00pm.  Virginia has scored 25 runs in the past two games after having a weekend off following the cancellation of their series with Florida State.  Game two will be Saturday at 4:00pm, and Sunday at 1:00pm.  Game one and three will be carried on Newsradio WINA with pregame coverage beginning 15 minutes before each game. 

The Jackets have the most wins in the ACC in conference play by virtue of playing the most games in the conference.  Yet they have struck a mine in recent days and will enter the series with Virginia on a five-game losing streak.  They dropped a 5-2 barnburner against the Georgia Bulldogs at the home of the Atlanta Braves, Truist Park.  The Miami Hurricanes had their finest series win of the year against the Jackets in Coral Gables, sweeping them out after scoring 21 runs against Georgia Tech pitching.  The Jackets fell Tuesday to #11 Auburn in a 1-0 heartbreaker as well.   

Make no mistake, there is a reason the Jackets have won as many games as they have this year.  Wahoo pitching will be taxed all weekend along with some of the best hitters in the conference.  Shortstop Kyle Lodise leads off hitting at a .379 clip (4th in the ACC), with 17 doubles and 13 homers, he’s also getting on base at 48% rate.  Centerfielder Drew Burress hits second, and is the team’s hits leader with 55, and RBIs with 46.  He cracked 19 doubles and 12 homeruns.  Finishing off the top 3rd of the order is slugging second baseman Alex Hernandez, with 53 hits, 10 homeruns, and 45 RBIs.  One final weapon to watch out for is the 9-hole hitter, rightfielder Parker Brosius, who has stolen 14 bases in 15 attempts.  Tech is the best hitting team in the ACC, tied with Florida State with a .322 team average (they’ve played more games), leading the conference in hits, runs, doubles, total bases, and slugging percentage, and is top 5 in homeruns, RBIs, and on-base percentage. 

As for pitching, their starters have seen their ERAs balloon a bit on this bad run of form but that is not to take anything away from the stellar season this Georgia Tech staff has had.  The Jackets’ wins leader, Tate McKee, takes the mound tonight against Jay Woolfolk for Virginia.  The righthander is 5-1 with a 3.46 ERA in 52 innings of work, he has also struck out 59 batters.  Opponents are hitting just .240 against him.  Righthander Brady Jones will battle a newcomer to the Virginia weekend rotation in 2025, lefty Bradley Hodges.  Jones is 4-1 with a 4.54 ERA in 39.2 innings pitched. Hodges had his chance delayed a week after some stellar outings as Virginia’s midweek starter; he sits at 1.17 ERA for his season.  As of right now, Tomas Valincius (Virginia’s game three starter), does not have an opponent announced for Sunday.  It will likely be Caden Spivey, who sits at a 4.05 ERA in five starts on the season.  Virginia will also, at some point, likely have to contend with GT’s relief ace, swingman Mason Patel.  In both long relief and spot appearances, totaling 44.1 innings, his ERA is 2.44, opponents are hitting .191 against him, and has struck out 40 batters walking just 8.  His record stands at 8-1 and has saved 3 games for the Jackets.   As a staff, opponents are hitting .249 against the Jackets, and their ERA is a 4.39.  These recent outings have been outliers, they are dangerous. 

Virginia’s strength lies in its offense; with a new lineup they have swinging sharp and strong (save for the Liberty game).  Confidence will be key against excellent starting pitching, should they find their way into the bowels of the Georgia Tech bullpen, Virginia can win on its offense alone.  On the pitching side, Bradley Hodges will be taking the mound on Saturday with something to prove.  He has had excellent stuff on his way back from injury.  Either way, the selection committee will be watching this weekend.  Every game matters in the month of April.   It all starts tonight at 5:45 on WINA, first-pitch with Adam Hawes on the call begins at 6:00pm.