UVA Baseball: Full Notes, Statistics and Postgame Report From Final Fall Game

Saturday, Virginia baseball closed out its fall slate with a 4-3 victory over James Madison (plus an extra 1.5 innings for an extended look at players).

Here is the full report from Disharoon Park, complete with notes from Coach Chris Pollard, game notes, statistics and more:

Postgame with Pollard

Opening statement

“I told our guys right there at the end we showed a lot of growth over the course of the fall,” Pollard said postgame. “I thought that was on display today, but we've got a lot of areas where we've got to continue to grow and get better, and I thought that was on display today as well. I like the way our pitching has come along this fall. I think the one thing that we've kind of been able to hang our hat on is we've thrown a lot of strikes, and except for one two-batter stretch today, we did that again.”

“And you know we're throwing strikes, but we're throwing strikes with our off-speed. I think we've talked about the fact that this team has an opportunity to be more athletic and put more pressure on in the run game, and I think we featured that today. I think we have a chance to improve defensively, and I think we showed that today. But we do have to get off more ace swings than we got off today. We just didn't have enough bat contact, and we'll get back in the lab, both literally and figuratively, over the next five weeks.”

Henry Zatkowski will be the top starting pitcher

“[Zatkowski] was really good, and that was only the second time he's seen batters all fall,” Pollard said. “So really happy for him and the way he looks, and he's in a good spot, and obviously really low workload this fall, so he's ready to go out and hopefully shoulder a heavy workload this spring.”

“You can never be a fortune teller, but our expectation is that Henry Zatkowski continues to work and grow and develop, takes the ball on Friday night for 15 straight weeks.”

Who fills the key roles in the back of the bullpen after losing Tyler Kapa and Lucas Hartman?

“I think you saw a couple of those guys today,” Pollard said. “Except for a two-bottom stretch, Christian Lucarelli looks really good. Fastball sitting 96 [miles per hour]. He's added a changeup. [His arsenal is] fastball, cutter, slider, change [and] curveball. So it's it's five unique shapes. [I also] think Thomas Stewart can be one of those guys. I think Wyatt Clatur can be that guy. Up to 97 again today. I think Pierce Quinn offers the ability to come in and really spin it.”

“What we don't want is to have — and I mean this as the ultimate compliment to him — we don't want to have another Lucas Hartman. We don't want to have another guy that we have to ride that heavy. He was an unbelievable competitor and had a fantastic year, but we overpitched him. We want to be able to spread those outings and those innings out over two or three guys, and I think we've got some guys really emerging to be able to do that.”

“I think every time [clear setup and closer roles] happened, it's happened somewhat organically,” Pollard said. “Where you're not anticipating, you're not trying to build a guy to do that. He just kind of evolves into that guy for you. I would like us to feature more depth in the bullpen this year, and I think we got a chance to do that. And I think we saw some of that on display today. Noah Yoder threw to batters one time this fall, and he'll have a ball in the air again here in a few weeks.”

Game One: UVA 4, JMU 3

Note that in fall ball, rules are flexible. Teams can have multiple designated hitters, change the batting order or customize the game however they see fit in order to maximize the value of this exhibition game.

Here is the starting lineup from the first game, which went nine innings:

DH RJ Holmes
CF Sal Mineo
SS Reid Howard
1B Antonio Perrotta
C Jake Weatherspoon
DH Zach Jackson
RF Jordan Crosland
3B Mike Elko
LF Cannon Murtagh
2B Will Yow

SP Henry Zatkowski

Play-by-play

Note there could be slight inconsistencies — but this should be a generally accurate depiction of the sequence of events.

T1:

• Zatkowski starts game one with a strikeout. 
• Second strikeout, this time looking.
• Zatkowski strikes out the side.

B1:

• Leadoff walk from Holmes.
• Holmes steals second.
• Mineo flies out to CF.
• Howard pops out to SS.
• Perrotta flies out to deep RF.

T2:

• John Paone into pitch.
• Paone strikes out the first batter.
• Another strikeout.
• JMU batter singles into shallow CF.
• JMU batter singles, dribbler to SS. Throw does not get the runner in time.
• A Paone strikeout strands both runners.

B2:

• Weatherspoon grounds out.
• Jackson grounds out to 2B.
• Crosland grounds out to SS.

T3:

• Groundout to 2B.
• Groundout to 2B.
• Single up the middle.
• Runner steals second.
• Strikeout.

B3: Virginia takes a 3-0 lead

• Elko singles to RF.
• Murtagh rips a grounder to SS, who misses the throw. Error.
• Yow bunts to 3B, safe at first. pitcher overthrows first base. Elko scores, Murtagh to third.
• Holmes singles to RF, Murtagh scores. 
• Passed ball, both runners advance.
• Wild pitch, Yow scores, Holmes advances to third. Mineo walks.
• Mineo steals second.
• Howard strikes out. 
• Perrotta strikes out. 
• Weatherspoon grounds out to 2B.

T4:

• Christian Lucarelli in to pitch.
• Groundout to 3B.
• Groundout to 2B.
• Single to CF. 
• Groundout to 2B.

B4: The Cavaliers advance their lead to 4-0

• Jackson singles, through RF.
• Crosland doubles to deep CF, Jackson scores 
• Lee Sowers to hit for Elko.
• Sowers strikes out.
• Murtagh pops out.
• Yow strikes out.

T5: JMU cuts its deficit to 4-2

• Groundout to SS.
• Walk.
• Wild pitch, runner advances.
• Walk.
• Double to deep RF, both runners score. 
• Flyout to LF.
• Strikeout.

B5:

• Holmes flyout to the LF wall.
• Mineo walks.
• Howard flyout to deep RF.
• Mineo steals second.
• Perrotta walks.
• Thomas O’Connell in to hit for Weatherspoon.
• O’Connell grounds out to 1B.

T6:

• Wyatt Clatur in to pitch.
• Strikeout.
• Strikeout.
• Hit by pitch.
• Walk.
• Runner caught trying to steal third.

B6:

• Jackson strikes out.
• Crosland strikes out.
• Sowers strikes out looking.

T7:

• Flyout to CF.
• Groundout to 1B.
• Strikeout.

B7:

• Murtagh flies out to shallow RF.
• Yow pops out to 1B.
• Holmes flies out to shallow LF.

T8: Virginia's lead dips to 4-3

• Thomas Stewart in to pitch.
• Triple down the RF line.
• Fielder’s choice to 3B, runner out going for home. Batter safe at first.
• Bryant James in for Sowers at 3B defensively.
• Single into RF, runners now at first and third.
• Sacrifice bunt to P. Runner scores, other runner advances to second.
• Walk.
• Strikeout.

B8:

• Mineo singles to RF.
• Mineo steals second.
• Howard hit by pitch.
• Bryce Neely in to pinch run for Howard. 
• Perrotta grounds into a double play. Mineo advances to third.
• O’Connell strikes out looking.

T9:

• Flyout to LF.
• Groundout to 2B.
• Flyout to CF.

B9:

• Jackson grounds out to 2B.
• Neely singles to CF.
• Neely steals second base.
• James strikes out.
• Will Mahala in to hit for Murtagh.
• Mahala strikes out.

Virginia wins 4-3.

Game Two

After playing nine innings, Virginia went on to start a second game (which is what the scoreboard listed). The defensive starters changed:

LF Mahala
CF Mineo
RF Colton Guillot
3B James
SS Howard
2B Yow
1B Perrotta
C Will Broderick
SP Pierce Quinn

T1:

• Pierce Quinn on to pitch.
• [Missed, but batter is now on first base].
• Strikeout.
• Strikeout.
• Lineout to CF.

B1:

• Guillot grounds out to SS.
• Broderick grounds out to 1B.
• Barrett Bucholz in to hit.
• Bucholz hit by pitch.
• Bradley McCafferry in to hit.
• McCafferty strikes out.

Statistics

Zatkowski: 1 IP, 0H, 0BB, 3K
Paone: 2 IP, 3H, 0BB, 4K
Lucarelli: 2 IP, 2H, 2BB, 1K, 2ER
Clatur: 2 IP, 0H, 2BB, 3K
Stewart: 2 IP, 2H, 1BB, 1K, 1 ER

Quinn: 1 IP, 1H, 0BB, 2K

Observations

Zatkowski commanded the zone very well in the first inning. There were five whiffs by JMU batters, the breaking ball was electric. Zatkowski's afternoon was very brief.

Clatur was sharp, touching 97 miles per hour. Paone was also sharp — even though he gave up a few hits, he was able to hang a nasty curveball on the high inside corner for strikes. Sewart and Quinn also showcased a zippy fastball with north-south and east-west movement.