{"id":8021,"date":"2023-06-18T15:31:21","date_gmt":"2023-06-18T20:31:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/?p=8021"},"modified":"2023-06-18T15:31:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-18T20:31:21","slug":"brian-oconnor-shares-thoughts-on-virginias-bullpen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/brian-oconnor-shares-thoughts-on-virginias-bullpen\/","title":{"rendered":"Brian O\u2019Connor shares thoughts on Virginia\u2019s bullpen"},"content":{"rendered":"

Virginia<\/a><\/strong> head coach Brian O\u2019Connor was critical of his bullpen following Friday night\u2019s 6-5 loss to Florida<\/a><\/strong> that saw the Cavaliers allow five runs in the final three innings.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor said that he didn\u2019t \u201cfeel great,\u201d about how his relievers pitched. He called out their inconsistencies this year, calling their performances a \u201cmixed bag,\u201d all year. The Virginia head coach explained his game plan on the mound after the loss, and why it worked in the Gators\u2019 favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan coming into the game was, if we had a lead in the eighth inning, was to go with Jake Berry<\/a>. And that formula\u2019s worked for us a lot this year,\u201d O\u2019Connor said after the opening round loss. \u201cI don\u2019t know for sure, but I [wouldn\u2019t] be surprised if all year that we [haven\u2019t] lost a game putting Jake Berry in the eighth inning or beyond with a lead. <\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 And we have other guys that haven\u2019t been used that have done the job for us all year long. So it\u2019s going to take a collective effort by our entire group. [Evan] Blanco and [Jack] O\u2019Connor didn\u2019t throw many pitches today, and we have several other guys. But it\u2019s going to start by getting a high-quality start on Sunday, whoever that is and then piecing it together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Blanco and O\u2019Connor only pitched 0.1 innings a piece, but Berry played 1.2 innings and allowed four hits, including three home runs, which scored four earned runs and led to the Gators win. Jay Woolfolk relieved Berry for the final third of the inning to finish off the night\u2019s defensive assignments and ended the inning in three pitches.<\/p>\n

Now, Virginia drops down to the consolation bracket and will take on TCU<\/a><\/strong> in an elimination match on Sunday afternoon. A win for the Cavaliers would move them into the semifinals of the consolation bracket, where they would face the loser of Monday\u2019s\u00a0Wake Forest<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0vs.\u00a0LSU<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0game. A loss would send the Cavaliers back to Charlottesville empty-handed.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd, so, that said, when you\u2019re in this situation that we are on Sunday, we will do whatever it takes to win that game to try to advance on to the next one,\u201d O\u2019Connor said.<\/p>\n

The first pitch against the Horned Frogs is set for 2 p.m. ET live on ESPN and ESPN+. According to Caesars Sportsbook, Virginia is the betting favorite (-210) heading into the matchup. The over\/under is set at 11.5.<\/p>\n

The post Brian O\u2019Connor shares thoughts on Virginia\u2019s bullpen<\/a> appeared first on On3<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Virginia head coach Brian O\u2019Connor was critical of his bullpen following Friday night\u2019s 6-5 loss…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8021\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/demo.wztzfm.com\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}