When the Virginia baseball team bowed out of the NCAA Tournament early in June, it did so without two weekend starters available on the mound. Adam Haseley and Noah Murdock did not pitch in the regional.
Haseley continued to play in the outfield and has since started his professional career with three multi-hit performances in three games for the GCL Phillies. The news is not as good for Murdock. UVA coach Brian O’Connor said during Jeff White’s Wahoo Central podcast via VirginiaSports.com that the freshman needed surgery this offseason. He did not pitch after May 13.
”Noah Murdock, who was starting to really have a fantastic year for us, when he went down and couldn’t continue on, there were two of our three starters that were in there for us in the midseason that couldn’t continue on with us,” O’Connor said. ”Noah Murdock will be back. It’s unfortunate that he ended out at the end of the year having Tommy John surgery and he will not be available to pitch for us next year. But we’ll get him back, we’ve been through that before and that’s something that’s impacting baseball at all levels.”
The loss of Murdock to surgery raises further questions for UVA’s pitching rotation next season. Murdock appeared in 11 games as a freshman with seven starts and made the ACC All-Freshman Team. He earned three wins against VMI, Notre Dame, and Florida State. Those latter two wins were part of 19.1 consecutive scoreless innings pitched in April for Murdock. He allowed just a .219 batting average against him.
The Cavaliers also lose seniors from the mound. Haseley, as mentioned above, is off to a good start in minor league baseball. Alec Bettinger was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 10th round of the MLB Draft. He posted an 8-0 record in his final year with 71 strikeouts and a 2.43 ERA. Tommy Doyle was the 70th overall selection in the draft by the Colorado Rockies. He posted a 3-1 record with 14 saves as UVA’s closer this season. He had 38 strikeouts with a 1.87 ERA.
Returnees for the Hoos include Derek Casey (5-2, 3.79 ERA), Chesdin Harrington (3-2, 2.41 ERA), Bennett Sousa (3-0, 4.09 ERA), and more. Freshmen pitchers expected to join the program are Andrew Abbott, Robb Adams, Griffin McGarry, Devin Ortiz, Hunter Purdue, and Kyle Whitten.
