Virginia rallies, clinches series with 10-9 walk-off win over Miami

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

The Virginia baseball team erased a four-run deficit to secure a third-straight ACC series win with a 10-9 walk-off victory over Miami at Disharoon Park on Saturday.

Down a run in the bottom of the ninth, Harrison Didawick spearheaded the final push with a leadoff home run before Aidan Teel won the game with a one-out RBI single that scored James Nunnallee.

Teel led the way for the Cavaliers offensively on Saturday with a 3-for-3 day that included four RBI.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

Miami (30-20, 14-11 ACC) got on the board first in the top of the first with a solo home run of the bat of the Hurricanes’ Daniel Cuvet.

In the bottom of the second, Virginia seized a 3-1 lead when Teel promptly unloaded the bases after a pair of singles and a hit by pitch.

The visiting Hurricanes plated six runs in the top of the fourth, including a grand slam, to take a 7-3 advantage.

Virginia (29-16, 13-10) got a run back in the home half of the third when Henry Ford scrambled home on a Henry Godbout RBI groundout.

Miami tacked on another run in the top of the fourth with a sacrifice fly that made it an 8-4 ballgame.

UVA’s comeback started in earnest during the bottom of the fifth when Teel scored on a Ford RBI single.

An inning later, Eric Becker singled home Nunnallee with the bases loaded to bring the Cavaliers within a pair of runs at 8-6.

While the offense was mounting the comeback, Evan Blanco threw 3.1 scoreless innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.

Following the seventh inning stretch, Godbout sent a jolt through the Disharoon Park faithful with a no-doubt home run to the right field bleachers. The solo shot made it an 8-7 contest and was Godbout’s seventh of the season.

Virginia tied the game later in the bottom of the seventh, when Becker was hit by a 1-1 pitch with the bases loaded.

To set up the late-inning dramatics, Miami regained the lead in the top of the eighth on an RBI single that was laced back up the middle.

On the first pitch in the bottom of the ninth, Didawick launched his sixth home run of the season to tie the game at 9-9.

Following the Didawick no-doubter, Nunnalee worked a walk and stole second before ultimately scoring on Teel’s second walk-off hit of the season.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia improves to 19-5 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 16 straight games.
• UVA improves to 27-4 on the season when scoring six or more runs.
• Saturday’s win was Virginia’s 17th comeback victory of the season.
• Harrison Didawick has homered in back-to-back games for the first time since hitting a home run in five-straight games from May 12-22, 2024.

UP NEXT

The series concludes on Sunday with the final game of the three-game set. Virginia will have lefthander Tomas Valincius (4-1) on the mound against Miami righthander Tate DeRias (2-0). First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. and will air on ACCNX and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).