![Woolfolk delivers impressive performance for Virginia, advances to NCAA Super Regionals Woolfolk delivers impressive performance for Virginia, advances to NCAA Super Regionals](https://i1.wp.com/bloximages.newyork1.vip.townnews.com/newsadvance.com/content/tncms/assets/v3/editorial/c/c9/cc9c96e0-57ec-5fb6-ab60-84589a081802/665d158341f0a.preview.jpg?crop=1638%2C860%2C0%2C202&resize=1200%2C630&order=crop%2Cresize&w=1200&resize=1200,0&ssl=1)
CHARLOTTESVILLE – After striking out Mississippi State’s Dakota Jordan on three pitches to end the third inning Sunday night, Virginia starting pitcher Jay Woolfolk clenched his fist and then waved his arms, urging the roaring crowd to stand up. .
A month ago, Woolfolk wondered aloud what a big role he could play for UVa baseball during the postseason. The former Cavaliers football quarterback had struggled in his first season focusing solely on one sport.
But on Sunday night, with a chance to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals on the line, Woolfolk got the ball against the Bulldogs.
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“I think at this level, if you recruit the right type of players that are talented and fit your organization, you’re going to stick with them,” O’Connor said this week. “Because if you stay with them, when you really need them, they help you.”
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Woolfolk, a Chesterfield native and former Benedictine star, had struggled in his first season since stepping away from football.
But on Sunday night, he turned in his longest outing of the season, going eight innings and holding the Bulldogs to two runs on eight hits in Virginia’s 9-2 victory. For his efforts, he was named Most Outstanding Player of the Charlottesville Regional.
“I know this season may not have been the best I wanted it to be,” Woolfolk said, “but when you have teammates like these guys and coaches like Coach Oak who believe in you and keep throwing you out in those types of situations, “Never lose confidence in yourself no matter what happens on the mound.”
The Cavaliers, thanks to the surprising elimination of top seed Arkansas in their regional, will now host Kansas State in a Super Regional next weekend.
Woolfolk struck out seven, walked one and struck out State’s David Mershon in the sixth inning for the second out of the frame.
“If you give young people an opportunity like Jay Woolfolk had tonight, you’ll see what they’re made of,” O’Connor said. “When his team was counting on him and needed to take a step forward, he threw the best game he has thrown in our uniform in three years.”
After the third of the seventh, a grounder to shortstop, Woolfolk bounced out of bounds, again raised his arms in the air and whipped the fans behind the UVa dugout into a frenzy.
He pitched a scoreless eighth and then exited to a standing ovation after allowing a single leading off the ninth.
VCU transfer Chase Hungate got the final three outs.
After impressive freshman and sophomore years when he also played football at UVa, including starting a game at Notre Dame, Woolfolk threw less and took increasingly harder hits this season. Entering Sunday, he was 2-1 with a 6.85 ERA this season, this after starting his college career with a 5-1 record with nine saves and an ERA under 3.00, pitching in one College World Series and for Team USA
In early May, he told the Charlottesville Daily Progress, “This team can go to Omaha without me, but I can be an important piece if I do what I need to do.”
Sunday did just that, rewarding O’Connor’s faith in him.
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For the third consecutive game, UVa’s pitching staff signaled that the club’s weakness was fulfilled. On Friday, Joe Savino and Hungate led the Cavaliers to a 4-2 victory over Penn in the regional opener.
On Saturday, Evan Blanco and freshman Matt Augustin held off Mississippi State in a winner’s bracket game that UVa won 5-4.
Then on Sunday, Woolfolk overcame all of the season’s woes and held off the Bulldogs in the most dominant outing of his career.
Virginia’s lineup relies on local talent like Woolfolk. Sunday’s starting nine included three juniors, three sophomores and one freshman, all of whom have played their entire college careers at UVa and five of whom are Commonwealth natives.
But O’Connor isn’t afraid to complement, and the last two spots in the batting order were occupied by center fielder Bobby Whalen and catcher Jacob Ference, transfers from Indiana and Salisbury.
On Saturday night, Whalen drove in the winning run in the bottom of the ninth. On Sunday, Ference singled off Whalen in the third to put Virginia ahead 3-2.
Runs proved hard to come by in this series, even for a Cavaliers lineup that set a school record for home runs this season and averaged just under 10 runs per game entering this regional.
Finally, in the ninth, UVa erupted for four runs to end the game.
O’Connor didn’t overreact, he didn’t change his lineup much. He trusted the hitters who had led the team to another 40-win regular season.
And on Sunday night he trusted Woolfolk. And Woolfolk delivered.
Virginia pitcher Jay Woolfolk comes to the plate Sunday night against Mississippi State at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville. The Chesterfield native struck out seven, walked one and allowed two runs in eight innings in the regional victory.
CAL TOBÍAS, THE DAILY PROGRESS
Virginia center fielder Bobby Whalen heads to the Virginia dugout after hitting a single in the third inning of the regional final on Sunday at Disharoon Park in Charlottesville.
CAL TOBÍAS, THE DAILY PROGRESS
mike barber (804) 649-6546
mbarber@timesdispatch.com
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