Courtesy UVA Media Relations
On the final day of the regular season, the Virginia baseball team dropped a 10-5 contest to Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium.
Louisville scored the opening seven runs of the contest, including two in the second and three in the sixth. All five of UVA’s runs came in the eighth inning when the Cavaliers (35-19, 14-16 ACC) made it a two-run ballgame.
The UVA trio of Harrison Didawick, Zach Jackson and AJ Gracia each went 2 for 4 in the contest. Kyle Johnson was handed the loss for Virginia after allowing five earned runs on six hits in 6.1 innings of work.
HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisville’s Zion Rose doubled down the line in right to open the bottom of the first and later became the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly. The Cardinals extend their lead to 3-0 an inning later with an RBI base knock and groundout that brought in a run that was assisted by a UVA error.
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!
In the fifth, Louisville (30-26, 13-17) tacked on another with a solo home run from Bayrum Hot. An inning later, the Cardinals made it a 7-0 contest with a three-run home run off the bat of Rose.
Down to their final six outs, the Virginia offense exploded for five runs in the eighth. The rally started with a Gracia bunt single to the left side of the infield and was highlighted by a Didawick bases-clearing triple that got behind Louisville’s diving centerfielder.
Louisville regained control of the contest in the home half of the frame by scoring a trio of runs to extend its lead to 10-5. To close out the game for the Cardinals, Aaron England retired all three Cavalier batters that he faced in the ninth inning.
ADDITIONAL NOTES
- With the series defeat, Virginia is now 15-16 all-time against Louisville.
- Didawick’s three-run triple in the eighth was the 12th triple of his storied UVA career, which is tied for third most by a Cavalier all-time.
- The three-run triple also gives Didawick 181 RBIs in his career to rank third all-time in program history.
- In relief, Thomas Stewart threw 1.2 innings of one-run ball on Saturday. The freshman has now allowed one or fewer runs in seven of his eight appearances this season.
- Sam Harris had his 20-game reach base streak snapped on Saturday by going 0 for 3 with a strikeout.
FROM COACH CHRIS POLLARD
“I have full confidence in this club’s ability to win an ACC tournament. We’ve done it before and this team is more talented than some teams that I have done it with. I have full confidence in this team’s ability to win a regional and continue to advance, but we have to play better. We have to get better in all three phases than we were the last two days. That starts with our coaching staff and me; we’re committed to these guys. We’ll get back to practice on Monday and get ready for a big week in Charlotte. We have a lot of baseball still left ahead of us.”
UP NEXT
Seeding for the 2026 ACC Baseball Championship will be announced by the league office on Saturday night, with the single-elimination tournament slated to begin play on Tuesday at Truist Park in Charlotte (we will post the ACC bracket and schedule here later this evening).
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!
