The eighth-seeded Virginia baseball team advanced to the ACC Tournament quarterfinals with a 6-4 victory over the 16th-seeded Duke Blue Devils on Wednesday at Truist Field.
The Cavaliers broke a 2-2 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with a four-run surge.
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Harrison Didawick and Jake Weatherspoon drove in runs with consecutive singles before Zach Jackson hit a two-out, two-RBI triple to give Virginia a 5-2 lead.
Duke initially took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on an RBI groundout. Virginia answered in the bottom half with an RBI single from Harris.
The Blue Devils regained a 2-1 advantage in the fourth on an RBI triple before Virginia rallied.
Virginia starting left-hander Henry Zatkowski allowed two runs and was replaced by Kyle Johnson in the seventh.
In the bottom of the eighth, Weatherspoon hit a leadoff home run to extend the lead to 6-2.
Duke mounted a late comeback in the ninth, using a one-out, two-run homer to cut the deficit to 6-4.
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Reliever Lucas Hartman replaced Tyler Kapa and recorded the final two outs to seal the win.
The victory broke a 2-7 all-time record for Virginia against Duke in ACC Tournament play. The Cavaliers will face top-seeded Georgia Tech in the quarterfinals.
Duke entered Wednesday after setting a program record with 21 runs in a first-round win over NC State.
Kaden Smith tied an ACC Tournament single-game record with eight RBIs in that game, but Virginia's pitching held Duke to four runs.
Virginia barely secured a top-eight seed after losing its final three conference series, finishing the regular season with a 14-16 ACC record.
The Cavaliers are scheduled to play Georgia Tech at 3:00 p. m.
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ET in the quarterfinals, marking the first meeting between the two teams this season.
