Virginia clinches series with 4-3 win over Pitt

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia softball team (25-21, 11-9 ACC) clinched the series over Pittsburgh (14-23, 2-16 ACC) as the Cavaliers downed the Panthers 4-3 on Saturday at Palmer Park.

Virginia got on the board with a three-run rally in the fourth inning. It started with a double from Leah Boggs before Gabby Baylog brought her in with a single up the middle. The Hoos would go on to load the bases before a single to second from Kailyn Jones and a sac fly to left from Lauren VanAssche put the Cavaliers on top 3-0.

Pitt answered in the fifth with back-to-back doubles to get on the board as part of a two-out rally.

The Cavaliers got the run back in the fifth, taking advantage of a Pitt error with two outs to take the lead back out to three runs as Boggs scored on the play.

The Panthers got another run with two outs in the sixth with a solo home run to cut the lead to 4-2 before a single up the middle with two outs in the seventh would trim the lead to one run but Pitt would get no closer.

Aly Rayle (5-5) picked up the win, working 4.0 innings without allowing a run as she walked three and struck out three. Madison Harris picked up the save as she recorded the final out of the game. She allowed a walk in two batters faced in the seventh.

Ally Muraskin (5-10) took the loss for the Panthers, allowing three runs on four hits with a walk and four strikeouts in 4.0 innings of work.

NOTES ON THE GAME

• Madison Harris picked up her sixth save of the season to set the single-season mark in program history.
• With the save, Harris passes Coty Tolar who posted five saves in the 2006 and held the program record.
• UVA wins its fourth ACC series this season, the first time since 2010 UVA has won four ACC series in a season.
• The Cavaliers now have 11 wins in ACC play, the most since the 2010 season when Virginia posted 13 ACC wins.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN

“I’m very proud of the team for grinding out that win today. There are things we need to continue to sharpen up, but another series win is a real positive for us as we go into the conference tournament. Aly (Rayle) really gave us a chance to win and it was good to see Mikayla Houge get back out there and get some good innings from Morgan Murphy. Madison Harris closed things out for us again which is something we’ve seen her do a lot for us this season. We need to come out tomorrow with a good approach and try to finish the weekend out strong, but it’s also a big day for us because it’s Senior Day and we want to send our seniors out on a high note and play the way we know we’re capable of playing.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS

Virginia and Pittsburgh will conclude the series on Sunday at noon. It will be Senior Day and the program’s seniors will be honored in ceremonies following the game. It is also Teacher Appreciation Day and teachers can claim complimentary tickets at wahoowa.net/TeacherAppreciation.