Fresh off of a series-salvaging 3 to 2 win over North Carolina on Sunday, UVA heads back to the field on Tuesday. After dropping two in a row to the Tarheels to begin the ACC play, the Hoos are looking to build a winning streak that also energizes the offense.
To that end, UVA welcomes George Washington in what will be the 2021 season opener for the Colonials.
Team Records
Virginia: 4-3 (Overall), 1-2 (ACC)
George Washington: 0-0 (Overall), 0-0 (Atlantic 10)
Game Schedule
Tuesday, March 2 – 3:00 PM
Series History
In a series that dates back to 1905, Virginia and George Washington will meet for the thirty-eighth time on the diamond.
The Hoos currently own a 25-12 advantage over the Colonials. Under Coach O’Connor, UVA is 14-1 against George Washington. GW last beat the Hoos in 2008, a 17 to 5 win for the Colonials.
The two teams last played in 2018. UVA won that game 3 to 2 in twelve innings via a walk off double from then freshman Brendan Rivoli. No Hoo has had a walk off hit since.
The most historic matchup in the series is likely the 2011 contest in which Will Roberts threw the only perfect game in program history. The game is also sort of infamous due to the George Washington postgame treatment of the accomplishment on their official site recap.
Strong Pitching By GW Not Enough In 2-0 Loss To No. 1 Virginia
Projected Starting Pitchers
George Washington RHP Justin Solt (No 2021 Stats) vs UVA LHP Nate Savino (0-0, 3.00 ERA, 3.0 IP, 5 strike outs, 1 walk)
Solt, a senior righty from Spokane, Washington, will get the ball for George Washington in their 2021 season opener. He arrived at George Washington for the 2020 season after having pitched two seasons at Lower Columbia College in Longview, Washington.
Solt operated as GW’s Saturday starter during the 2020 season. He made 4 appearances, all starts, for the Colonials during the season. He pitched a total of 26.0 innings in those starting appearances and posted a 2.77 ERA. During the 26.0 IP, Solt earned a 0-2 record while also pitching a complete game against Monmouth.
Solt walked 7 batters while striking out 15 during the season. He also hit 1 batter. Opposing batters hit .287 against Solt for the season.
Expect Solt to attack UVA’s batters with fastballs early in the count. He’ll look to induce one or two pitch pop outs and ground outs with his primary pitch.
This will be Solt’s first appearance against the Hoos.
Weather Forecast Via Weather.com
It looks like a cool, crisp afternoon of baseball for this game.
At first pitch, expect temps to be in the upper 40s and then falling to the mid 40s by the game’s conclusion.
Skies should be sunny with no chance of precipitation.
Winds should not factor into the contest.
Media Coverage
Live streaming will be available on ACC Network Xtra. You can access the ACC Network Xtra stream via ESPN’s streaming platforms. Your content provider must carry ACC Network in order to access the stream.
WINA will also carry the game’s radio broadcast. Audio streaming is available on WINA.com. In the Charlottesville market, you can hear the radio broadcast over the air on 1070 AM or 98.9 FM.
Colonial To Watch
Junior 2B Noah Levin is GW’s most accomplished returning batter.
Following the 2019 season, Levin was named to the Atlantic 10 All-Rookie team as well as winning the Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Year award. Collegiate Baseball also named Levin to their 2019 Freshman All-American team. And following the conclusion of the 2020 season, Levin was named George Washington’s team MVP.
For the 2020 season, Levin batted .429 while finishing the season on a 10 game hitting streak.
The most accomplished bat in the lineup, Levin was tops on the team in most offensive categories to include batting average (.429), OPS (1.022), slugging percentage (.500), on base percentage (.522), hits (24), RBI (13), total bases (28), and walks (10). He was also second on the team in doubles (4).
Prediction
The Hoos are in the odd position of serving as a team’s opening day opponent for the third time in 2021. Expect George Washington to have a little extra pep in this game because it’s their opening day (and because they’ve got a shot to knock off a ranked ACC opponent).
The Colonials have improved as a program lately as they won 30 or more games during the 2017, 2018, and 2019 seasons. Their 2020 squad completed the season with a 8-8 record that included losses to Towson, Marist, Monmouth, Tennessee, and Southern Illinois Edwardsville. They closed the season having lost their final three games in a row.
So it’s no surprise that league coaches and D1 Baseball each picked GW to finish 8th out of 13 teams in the Atlantic 10 this season.
Solt appears to be a decent enough pitcher, but not as talented as what the Hoos faced this past weekend in Chapel Hill. His goal of attacking early in the count to get quick outs could work against the Hoos unless they’re more successful in placing those early balls where there are no defenders than they have been to date.
Offensively, Levin is clearly a good player but he doesn’t profile as a power bat that dominates a game. Keep runners off base around him and his impact will be blunted.
In order to come out of this game with a win, UVA must show improvement on offense while continuing to shore up things on defense. The pitching will be good enough to contain the Colonials.
Ultimately, I think they outlast Solt on the mound and touch up the George Washington bullpen enough to get the win.