Virginia Jake Gelof
Jake Gelof has connected on 19 home runs for Virginia this season. ~ Photo By Kris Wright/TheSabre.com

The Virginia baseball team held a power party this season.

Behind a strong line-up top to bottom, the 2022 Hoos set a program record for home runs in a single season and have put up top 3 numbers in several other categories. Through 53 games, they have 72 home runs and that surpassed the 1988 team’s record of 67. The 1996 team recorded 62, while the 2010 and 2017 teams each had 61. The only other team in the 60’s was 2002 with 60.

Jake Gelof, Alex Tappen, and Chris Newell have provided a lot of the firepower. Gelof’s 19 home runs rank second for a single season behind Brian Buchanan, who had 22 in 1994. Tappen has 13 homers, while Newell has 11. That ties Tappen with Pavin Smith (2017) for 11th place.

There are other offensive stats that rank in the top five for program history too. This year’s team currently ranks first in runs per game at 9.08, which is well ahead of the 1985 record of 8.65. The 2022 Hoos are second in program history in home runs per game at 1.36, which trails just the 1978 team at 1.41. With 481 runs scored so far, the they currently are fourth on the program’s single season list and need 9 more runs to take over third from the 2013 team. They are also fourth in RBIs with 440, which trails the 2013 team for third with 458.

The 2022 UVA team currently ranks third in team slugging percentage at .497, which trails the 2010 team’s .508 and the 1988 team’s .499. Seven players that have appeared in at least 30 games are above .400: Gelof (.768), Casey Saucke (.602), Tappen (.612), Ethan Anderson (.531), Devin Ortiz (.470), Newell (.491), Kyle Teel (.431), and Justin Rubin (.463). Virginia’s on-base percentage of .416 currently is third in program history behind the 1985 team’s .421 and 1983’s .420.

The Cavaliers started out hot and sustained the threat of offensive explosions through the end of the regular season. They scored 7 runs or more in 11 of the first 12 games. They did that 22 more times the rest of the way with a 16-7 win at Louisville this past Saturday being the most recent one. UVA’s only loss in those games came in a 9-7 game at VCU in mid-April.

With postseason play ahead, it will be interesting to see how the team’s offense performs and impacts some of these numbers.

Virginia Shares Pool With FSU, Notre Dame

The ACC Tournament takes place in Charlotte, N.C., this week with four pools of teams playing for the right to advance to the semifinals. To get there, Virginia must beat out Florida State and Notre Dame in Pool D. UVA opens with FSU on Wednesday at 3 p.m. and faces Notre Dame on Friday at 11 a.m. Games will be televised on ACC Regional Sports Networks.

During the regular season, the Hoos did not face either team. The Fighting Irish swept a three-game series with the Seminoles the first weekend of April in three close games. ND won game one 2-0 in 12 innings, game two 5-4, and game three 9-7. Those contests were played in Tallahassee.

The team with best record for each pool will advance to the semis. If teams are tied at the end of pool play, the highest seed moves on in the bracket. The Irish are the 4 seed in the tournament and therefore the top seed in Pool D. That effectively means Virginia must defeat ND to advance.

All-ACC & More

The ACC announced conference awards on Monday and five Cavaliers received honors of some sort from the league. Third baseman Jake Gelof and outfielder Alex Tappen earned first-team All-ACC recognition, while starting pitcher Brian Gursky landed on the second team. Griff O’Ferrall and Casey Saucke made the all-freshman team.

Gelof hit .376 with 15 doubles, 2 triples, 19 home runs, and 74 RBIs. He ranks in the top 10 nationally in RBIs (4th) and slugging percentage (9th). He needs 3 home runs and 3 RBI to match UVA single-season records in those categories. Tappen reached new career highs with 72 hits, 46 runs scored, 13 home runs, 70 RBIs, and 126 total bases. He’s just the third player in program history to hit the 70-RBI plateau.

Gursky posted a 3.32 ERA with a 7-1 record this season. He has 78 strikeouts. O’Ferrall hit .324 with 55 runs scored, while Saucke hit .360 with 43 RBIs.

Gelof and Kyle Teel received other good news recently as well. Gelof is one of 39 semifinalists for the Dick Howser Trophy, which honors the top player in college baseball. He’s the first semifinalist since Adam Haseley in 2017. He's also one of 31 semifinalists for the Golden Spikes Award, given to the top amateur baseball player of the year. Teel, meanwhile, was invited to the the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team training camp. He played in 11 games for Team USA last summer and is trying to become the first Virginia player since Sean Doolittle (2005 and 2006) to play on the team in consecutive summers.

Incoming In-StateTransfer

While the season for UVA remains in progress with the ACC Tournament and NCAA Tournament ahead, there’s already a little bit of news for 2023. James Madison’s Travis Reifsnider announced his decision to transfer to Virginia for his final year of eligibility as a graduate transfer.

Reifsnider earned first-team All-CAA honors this season in a utility player spot. He logged playing time at catcher, designated hitter, and in the outfield. He hit .303. led the CAA in slugging percentage (.632), and tied for the league lead in home runs (13).

That pick-up creates options for the Wahoos. Kyle Teel has started all 53 games behind the plate this season. He earned third-team All-ACC recognition as a designated hitter in his freshman year, though. Considering that both Reifsnider and Teel have experience in both roles as well as the outfield, the possibility of a rotation to keep both fresh during a long season could materialize pending the roster look in 2023.