Hoos drop fifth in a row with 5-3 loss at Liberty

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia baseball team fell, 5-3, on Tuesday evening to Liberty at Liberty Baseball Stadium in Lynchburg.

Liberty scored the first two runs of the game in the bottom of the first inning on the heels of UVA’s only error in the contest. Virginia (12-11) tied the game with a Jacob Ference two-run home run in the top of the second. The Flames then scored the next three runs before a potential Cavalier rally plated the final run in the ninth.

Along with Ference, the Virginia offense was paced on Tuesday by two-hit performances from Chris Arroyo and Henry Ford. Eric Becker and Chone James also scored runs in the matchup.

 HOW IT HAPPENED

Following a Cavalier error to open the bottom of the first, Liberty jumped out to a 2-0 lead with a two-run single from Jaxon Sorenson.

In the top of the second, James was hit by a pitch to open the frame before coming home to score on Ference’s second home run of the season.

Liberty (18-8) regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth with an RBI single.

The Flames were poised for more runs in the fourth, but Matthew Buchanan wiggled his way out of a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and a groundout.

Liberty pushed its advantage to 4-2 in the home half of the fifth with another RBI single.

The home-standing Flames added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly that Ford caught on the dive.

Becker worked a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth and later scored on an Arroyo one out double off the wall in right field.

The Cavalier first baseman was stranded at second as Liberty’s Joseph Webb forced back-to-back UVA lineouts to cement the 5-3 final.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• UVA starting pitcher Bradley Hodges set a new career high with five strikeouts in three innings pitched.
• With his ninth-inning RBI, Arroyo now leads the Cavaliers with 21 RBIs on the season.
• Ford’s two-hit day was his team-best 11th multi-hit game of the season.
• Despite the midweek defeat, Virginia leads the all-time series with Liberty, 44-23-1.
• The Cavaliers dropped their fifth consecutive game, the first five-game losing streak since 2022.

UP NEXT

Virginia will return to Disharoon Park on Thursday to open a three-game series with No. 20 Stanford. Thursday’s series-opening matchup against the Cardinal is slated for a 7 p.m. first pitch with broadcasts on ACC Network and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).