Virginia takes series, wraps up regular season with 3-1 victory in Blacksburg

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

In the final game of the regular season, the Virginia baseball team defeated Virginia Tech by a score of 3-1 on Saturday at English Field.

UVA starter Tomas Valincius had his best outing of the season in the regular season finale, throwing 6.2 innings of one-run ball to secure his sixth win of the season. The freshman also fanned six Hokies in the victory.

Jacob Ference paced the Cavaliers (32-17, 16-11 ACC) offensively with a 3-for-3 day that was highlighted by a solo home run in the third inning. Aidan Teel went 3 for 4 on the day with a pair of doubles to set the table at the top of the Cavalier lineup.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

On the game’s second pitch, Teel doubled to left field to set up a Chris Arroyo two-run home run later in the inning. The homer was Arroyo’s 11th of the season and put the Cavaliers up 2-0.

The homestanding Hokies (30-24, 12-18) cut the Cavalier advantage in half with a solo leadoff home run from Ben Watson in the bottom of the first.

Two innings later, Ference pushed the UVA lead to 3-1 with a solo home run of his own in the top of the third. The dinger was Ference’s ninth of the season.

After allowing a pair of one-out singles in the bottom second, Valincius retired the next nine Virginia Tech batters he faced before surrendering a one-out single in the fifth.

Alex Markus relieved Valincius with two outs in the seventh. Markus ended the inning by stranding a pair of Hokie base runners with a groundball to second.

In the eighth, Markus neutralized another Virginia Tech threat with a strikeout and throwout from Ference to end the frame.

Matt Lanzendorfer picked up his team-leading fifth save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning to crystallize the 3-1 Virginia victory and the series win over Virginia Tech.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia improves to 22-6 when Aidan Teel bats leadoff.
• Dating back to the April 6 contest at NC State, the Cavaliers have hit at least one home run in 20 straight games.
• Arroyo’s home run in the first was his 11th on the season, which is a team best.
• With the win, Virginia improves to 113-93 against Virginia Tech and has won back-to-back season series against the Hokies for the first time since the 2019 and 2021 editions of the Commonwealth Clash.
• Since the start of the Stanford series (March 27), Virginia is 20-6 and has won its last four ACC series to close the season.
• Following the cancellation of the Florida State series, the Cavaliers end the regular season with a 12-2 record with three-straight ACC series wins.

UP NEXT

Virginia is the 6-seed in the 2025 ACC Baseball Championship, with the single-elimination tournament slated to begin play on Tuesday at Durham Bulls Athletic Park. The Cavaliers will get a first-round bye and will face the winner of No. 11 Notre Dame and No. 14 Boston College on Wednesday at 9 p.m. See the full bracket below.