UVA set to face Jacksonville State to begin play at NCAA Hattiesburg Regional

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia baseball team (36-21) is set to open the 2026 NCAA Tournament at the Hattiesburg Regional on Friday against Jacksonville State (46-13).

HOW TO FOLLOW

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Probable Starting Pitchers:
Friday – 7 PM
Jacksonville State: LHP Beau Bryans (7-1, 3.63 ERA, 62.0 IP, 40 BB, 73 SO)
Virginia: LHP Henry Zatkowski (8-1, 4.03 ERA, 80.1 IP, 23 BB, 92 SO)

HATTIESBURG REGIONAL SCHEDULE

Friday
Game 1 – No. 1 Southern Miss (44-14) vs. No. 4 Little Rock (36-26), 2 p.m. ET (ESPN+)
Game 2 – No. 2 Virginia (36-21) vs. No. 3 Jacksonville State (46-13), 7 p.m. ET (ESPN+)

Saturday
Game 3 – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN Networks)
Game 4 – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN Networks)

If you want even more award-winning coverage on the UVA athletics department, including its nationally-ranked football and basketball programs, be sure to subscribe to “Cavalier Exclusive” to follow all of Virginia Sports Hall Of Famer Jerry “Hootie” Ratcliffe’s analysis and content. It’s the best in the business for Wahoo Fans!

Sunday
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 4 p.m. ET (ESPN Networks)
Game 6 – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 9 p.m. ET (ESPN Networks)

Monday
Game 7 – If necessary, TBD (ESPN Networks)

TICKET INFORMATION

Ticket prices include $150 for All-Session Chairback and Bleacher seats, while All-Session General Admission passes and Wheelchair seating will be $100. All-Session General Admission tickets for students for all four competing institutions will be $50.

For more information, contact the Southern Miss Ticket Office at 601.266.5418 or visit the Pat Ferlise Center on the Southern Miss campus in person from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

LEADING OFF

Virginia is making its 22nd NCAA Tournament appearance, with 19 of them coming since 2004. Overall, UVA holds a postseason record of 72-49.
The Cavaliers have reached the College World Series seven times since 2009, which is tied for the second most in the country over that span.
Dating back to the 2015 national championship season, Virginia is 16-7 in regionals, with four super regional appearances.
The Cavaliers have won 60 NCAA Tournament games since 2009, the most of any ACC School and fifth-most in the country.
Entering the postseason, Virginia is averaging 7.9 runs per game, which ranks 31st in the country and seventh in the league. Overall, UVA has scored the 29th-most runs in the country at 453.
UVA’s 95 home runs have powered the power surge throughout the season. The 95 blasts rank 20th nationally and third in the ACC. In 2025, the Cavaliers hit 69 home runs in 50 games as a team.
A pair of Cavaliers were named to the All-ACC teams when the league announced its league awards last week. AJ Gracia landed second team honors, while Eric Becker garnered.
In his first season as the Head Hoo, Chris Pollard has guided UVA to 36 wins. The 36 victories to date are the fourth-most by a first-year head coach in the country. Pollard’s 36 wins in his inaugural season trail only Brian O’Connor’s 44 in 2004 for the most wins by a first-year coach in program history.
In the opening game of the Louisville series, the Cavaliers claimed their 35th win of the season. The 2026 season is the 19th time that Virginia has cleared that benchmark in the last 25 seasons. In the same time span, only Florida State and North Carolina have more than 35-win seasons in the ACC.

RECORDS WATCH

The 2026 season has been on for the record book as this edition of the Cavaliers rank top 10 all-time in runs per game (9th), home runs (2nd), home runs per game (2nd), runs batted in (10th), slugging percentage (6th), total bases (10th), strikeouts per nine (5th) and hit by pitch (5th).
Entering the Hattiesburg Regional, Harrison Didawick has a chance to solidify himself as one of the best to ever wear the orange and blue.
Out of the bullpen, Lucas Hartman’s 24 appearances are tied for second all-time and are only two behind Michael Schwimer’s 36 in 2006.
At the plate, Noah Murray has worked 54 walks on the season, which is tied for the second most in a season. Mike Papi holds the program record with 61 in 2014.
Eric Becker has been hit by 17 pitches this season, which is tied for the third most by a Cavalier all-time.

AGAINST THE REGIONAL

Virginia has never met Southern Miss, Jacksonville State, or Little Rock on the baseball diamond.
The last time the UVA played postseason baseball in the state of Mississippi, UVA took two of three from the Ole Miss Rebels to win the 2009 Oxford Super Regional and advance to Omaha.

ON THE MOUND

Henry Zatkowski will get the ball on Friday. The lefty is 8-1 on the year with a 4.03 ERA in 17 appearances.
The lefty leads the Hoos with 92 strikeouts in 80.1 innings pitched.
The sophomore ranks seventh in the ACC with 88 strikeouts and eighth in wins.
Zatkowski needs eight strikeouts to become the first UVA pitcher since Connelly Early in 2023 to record 100 strikeouts in a season.
In the 2025 Athens Regional, Zatkowski tossed 4.2 innings of two-run ball for Duke against Oklahoma State.

ON SENIOR WEEKEND

To close out the home ACC slate for 2026, Virginia dropped a weekend series against California.
UVA’s lone win of the series came in game two behind a strong pitching performance from John Paone. The freshman went a season-long 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts. The nine strikeouts were the most by a UVA freshman in a game since Tomas Valincius fanned 10 against Rice on Feb. 16, 2025, as part of the Puerto Rico Challenge.
In the weekend finale, Joey Tiroly became just the seventh player in program history to homer three times in the same game and the first to do it at home since Henry Ford in 2024.

THE LAST WEEKEND IN THE VILLE

To close out the regular-season slate for 2026, the Cavaliers dropped a weekend series at Louisville.
UVA’s lone win of the series came in game one behind a strong pitching performance from Henry Zatkowski and the return of Eric Becker to the lineup. Zatkowski picked up his seventh win of the campaign by tossing six innings of one-run ball with six strikeouts. Becker led the Virginia offense by going 3 for 6 with a double and a run driven in.
In the weekend finale, UVA went down 7-0 before the Cavaliers mounted a furious comeback and cut the lead down to 7-5. The five-run eighth inning was highlighted by a bases-clearing triple by Harrison Didawick.

FELL INTO THE PITT & WENT UNDRAFTED

For the final ACC series in April, Virginia was swept by Pitt at Charles L. Cost Field.
The series opener on Friday saw Zach Jackson and Joe Tiroly each homer to push the season team total to 76. With the 76 long balls, the 2026 squad passes the 2022 team for the third-most home runs in a season.
Saturday was the first game since a 4-0 win over Miami on March 27, 2021, that the Virginia offense was held to a single base knock.
Pitt became the first ACC team to sweep UVA in a three-game series on the road since Notre Dame in 2023.

TAMING THE TIGERS

To claim its fifth ACC series victory of the season, the Virginia Cavaliers took the opening game and the rubber match from the Clemson Tigers.
It was the ninth series win for the Cavaliers over the Tigers in 12 tries since the start of the 2006 season.
In game one, Henry Zatkowski tossed seven innings of two earned run ball while tying a career-high in strikeouts with 10. AJ Gracia homered in the contest, while Jake Weatherspoon’s bases-clearing three-run double in the sixth proved to be the difference in the 6-4 contest.
With Eric Becker and AJ Gracia both out of the lineup, UVA got a pair of home runs from Harrison Didawick and 4.1 innings of one-run ball from John Paone to clinch the series win with a 5-4 victory.

SOUTH BEND SLUGGERS

En route to its first series at Notre Dame since 2019, the Virginia offense came alive by crushing 10 home runs over the course of the weekend.
In game one, Harrison Didawick cemented his place in the Virginia Blue & Orange as the senior moved to second all-time on the career home run list with a pair of dingers. With the game tied at four in the ninth, a Zach Jackson long ball opened the floodgates as Virginia won 8-4.
To take the series, UVA exploded for 20 runs on 18 hits, including six home runs from five different Cavaliers in a 20-5 thrashing.

MIDSEASON HONORS FOR THE HOOS

As the calendar turns to April, several Hoos have garnered national attention for their stellar play over the first half of the season.
Four different Hoos found themselves on the various Perfect Game Midseason All-American teams when the publication announced its selections on Wednesday. AJ Gracia led the way on the first team while Lucas Hartman and Eric Becker landed on the second and third teams, respectively. Noah Yoder was named to the Freshman second team to round out the Virginia quartet.
D1Baseball also announced its midseason accolades on Wednesday as Lucas Hartman earned second team Midseason All-American honors.
To go along with his midseason All-American honors, Gracia was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List. The UVA outfielder was one of 45 amateur baseball players who were named to the watch list.

“You can’t win a regional without committing to staying in the moment” – @coachchris14 #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/2b1oEqPHwB

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) May 29, 2026

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