CHARLOTTESVILLE – Jake McCarthy returned to Virginia’s lineup and Daniel Lynch overpowered Georgia Tech’s.
McCarthy, out since injuring his left wrist on March 6, went 2 for 3 with an RBI to backup Lynch, the former Douglas Freeman High School star, who struck out a career-high 13 batters in the Cavaliers’ 8-4 win over the Yellow Jackets.
U.Va. (27-21, 11-16 ACC) needs one more league win to clinch a spot in the conference baseball tournament. The Cavaliers, who host Richmond in a non-conference game Tuesday night, end the regular season with a three-game set at Wake Forest.
Lynch threw 123 pitches Monday night but seemed to be at his strongest at the end, striking out the side in the top of the seventh, his final inning of work. He allowed three runs, two of which were earned, on five hits in the outing.
U.Va. scored in each of the first three frames, going up 4-0 in the bottom of the third on freshman Alex Tappen’s 2-run home run to left field.
Tappen finished 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs and 4 runs scored.
Freshman Andrew Abbott relieved Lynch in the eighth inning and his first pitch was launched over the center field fence by Georgia Tech junior catcher Joey Bart, Bart’s second home run of the game.
But Abbott set the Jackets (28-24, 12-15) down after that, striking out two of the next three hitters in the eighth, and setting Tech down in order in the ninth.
McCarthy, a junior center fielder and the team’s top MLB prospect, injured his left wrist in the Cavaliers’ 12-1 win over Davidson on March 6, the team’s 13th game of the season. He hadn’t played since then.
The game started 2:31 late after a lightning delay, with the first pitch being thrown at 9:31 p.m. It ended close to 1 a.m.