Virginia Pitchers Combine On Two-Hit Shutout To Win First Game of Wahoos Classic

A pitching showcase between Oklahoma and Virginia developed as anticipated in Friday's opener of the inaugural Wahoos Classic.
On this night, Virginia's staff wowed with the biggest impression.
Four Cavaliers' pitchers combined on a two-hitter, led by starter Griff McGarry's seven strikeouts in five innings in the team's 6-0 victory against the nationally-ranked Sooners at Blue Wahoos Stadium.
A sizeable crowd handled chilly temperatures to see a game with notable defensive stops, no errors between the teams and UVA's four-run rally in the eighth to seal a season-opening win.
This game on the first weekend of the NCAA Division I baseball season was broadcast to a large regional audience on Cox Sports Television. It also attracted a large number of Major League Baseball scouts to check out pitching talent on both teams.
"It starts with pitching and defense," said Virginia head coach Brian O'Connor, who led the program to a national title in the 2015 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. "You got to be good on the mound and play good defense and certainly both clubs showed (Friday) they have a chance to have good defensive ballclubs."
The two teams had not met in the regular season since 1999 and last played in a 2012 NCAA regional. Both teams traveled to Pensacola for the first time for a three-game series that Virginia helped arrange.
On a clear night, which followed a spectacular sunset, the experience at Blue Wahoos Stadium did not disappoint.
"This is a beautiful ballpark," O'Connor said. "What a great setting. We're just honored to be here and people of Pensacola have been great hosts and we're excited to be here the next couple of days.
"The infield playing surface is tremendous. We're blessed to be playing here and maybe some year down the road we'll come back."
The game started with a momentum swing. Oklahoma loaded the bases with two out in the first inning against McGarry, who then made big pitches to get ahead in the count and got a fly ball out to end the threat.
"He got two quick outs and then it kind of opened up on him a little bit," O'Connor said. "But Griff has been there a lot in his career and he settled down and made the big pitches he needed to make for us to win.
Virginia answered with consecutive singles off Oklahoma's acclaimed starter Cade Cavalli to score its first round in the bottom of the first. The score stayed that way until Devin Oritiz hit a two-out double in fifth to score Logan Michaels, who led off with a single.
The Cavaliers put the game out of reach with a big eighth inning rally. All of it happened after two outs. The UVA bullpen did the rest with Stephen Schoch getting three strikeouts and allowing no hits in his inning of work.
McGarry gave up just one hit and three walks in his five innings.
"Certainly they had some runners on at times, and he made big, tough pitches, got some key strikeouts and that's what experience does for you," O'Connor said. "He was able to give us a good five inning start and we were able to piece it together with those guys who have experience at the end of the game."
The teams will play a doubleheader Saturday, following a Friday night decision to move up Sunday's game due to probability of inclement weather.