Here's how Duke baseball held off Virginia to win Charlottesville Super Regional opener
Duke baseball defeated No. 7 Virginia 5-4 on Friday afternoon in their Charlottesville Super Regional opener at Disharoon Park in a dramatic showdown of ACC teams.
The game went down to the last pitch as Jake Gelof's deep drive appeared to be sailing over the left-field wall. He raised his arms while watching it fly and Cavaliers teammates poured out of the dugout to celebrate before Tyler Albright leaped to make the catch and end it.
The Blue Devils (39-22) hold a 1-0 advantage in the best-of-three series that resumes Saturday. (Noon, ESPN2). Game 3, if necessary, will be played Sunday.
Duke is trying to reach its first College World Series since 1961 after winning the Conway Regional and becoming one of only eight teams to advance to super regionals.
The Devils rallied for the comeback win after Virginia (48-13) used a three-run sixth inning to go up 4-3.
Duke answered with a two-run eighth sparked by Jay Beshears' leadoff hit. MJ Metz singled after Alex Stone's sacrifice moved Beshears to second and then Giovanni DiGiacomo was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Albright.
Albright's pop fly to shallow center appeared to have been caught by a charging Ethan O'Donnell but he lost his handle as he tumbled forward and Beshears scored while Metz's pinch runner was thrown out at third.
With the score tied at 4-all with two outs, Luke Storm laced a single to left, scoring the speedy DiGiacomo from second and giving the Blue Devils the lead.
Losing the late lead was uncharacteristic of a UVa squad that had been 104-1 at home over the past five years when leading after seven innings.
Second-team All-ACC freshman James Tallon closed it out on the mound for Duke with a scoreless ninth.
Fast start for Duke
Just as it did in all three previous games against Virginia this season, Duke scored first in the super regional opener.
Outfielder Damon Lux did the honors Friday, putting the Blue Devils on the board first with a two-run homer in his first at-bat, and making the first hit against UVa starter Nick Parker a long ball. Lux is riding the momentum from the Conway Regional, where he had had eight RBIs from the nine spot.
It was the first hit given up in the game by UVa starting pitcher Nick Parker and scored Storm, who took first after being hit by a pitch.
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Swing away
To start the first four innings Friday, Duke pulled off a one-pitch, one-out play to spark its defense as the Cavaliers swung away.
Twice in that span, Duke pitchers threw just six pitches in an inning. The Blue Devils' offense helped UVa the same way in the sixth as Cavs starter Nick Parker managed to end the inning with just six pitches, despite giving up a leadoff single.
Virginia stuck with Parker for 6.2 innings and 102 pitches, while Duke went to its vaunted bullpen after three innings from freshman starter Andrew Healy and wound up using six arms.
The aggressive swings paid off for UVa in the sixth inning when it scored three runs on four hits, sparked by Gelof's leadoff double.
None of Duke's arms threw more 40 pitches.
QB on the mound
Virginia handed the ball to Jay Woolfolk in relief to start the eighth inning, but the Cavs pitcher also throws footballs.
A sophomore right-hander, Woolfolk made a start under center for the Cavs in 2021 and played in five games. His start came against Notre Dame, making Woolfolk the first true freshman to start at quarterback for UVa since 1977.
Even though he's balancing two Division I sports, Woolfolk is in the mix to start at QB for the Cavs next season after Brennan Armstrong's transfer to NC State.
UVa baseball's CWS history
The Cavaliers have been to the CWS five times since 2009, winning over Vanderbilt in 2015 after a runner-up finish to the Commodores in 2014. Only three other teams in the country have been to the CWS more than UVa in the past 14 years: Florida (9), Florida State (9) and LSU (9).
Behind their national championship and multiple CWS appearances, the Cavaliers hold eight regional titles and 20 NCAA Tournament berths. Their 137 wins this decade are the most of any ACC baseball team, and that includes the No. 1 team in the country, Wake Forest.
This season, Virginia has the highest team batting average in the country (.334), leads the nation in doubles (161) and has the second-highest scoring margin (4.8) in college baseball behind Wake Forest (6.0).
Coming into Friday's game, the Cavaliers' 715 hits ranked second-most in the country behind Sam Houston (725).
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke baseball beats Virginia at Charlottesville Super Regional Game 1
