Virginia
Virginia Softball Looks To Continue to Make History As Postseason Play Approaches
The 2023-2024 regular season campaign for the Virginia Cavaliers softball team wound up being far more impressive than outsiders initially predicted. The Hoos were slated to finish ninth out of 13 ACC teams, but instead finished fourth with a 32-17 record and a 15-9 record in the ACC, good for the team’s highest finish since 2010.
While the conference and non-conference schedules still had some blips, the Hoos won seven out of eight ACC series, including huge victories against Clemson and Duke, who were ranked eleventh and third at the time.
Clemson will get a rematch with Virginia on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the 2024 ACC Softball Tournament in Durham after the Cavaliers beat the Tigers twice in Charlottesville. In the March series that really ignited a run in the ACC, a bases loaded double from Bella Cabral helped Virginia storm back from a 4-0 deficit to take a 6-4 lead, and the Cavalier pitching staff did the rest. The defense was also impressive in a game three shutout, and Jade Hylton hit a late game home run to secure the 3-0 victory.
Madi Harris had a breakout series in the circle against Clemson, pitching 9.1 innings, earning two wins, and not giving up a single run. With that kind of performance, it’s possible that Virginia opts to give Harris the ball in the ACC quarterfinals, and we can see if she can once again stymie the Clemson offense.
In addition to Madi Harris in the circle, we will likely see UVA’s ace, Eden Bigham, who was honored as ACC pitcher of the week three times this season and she has pitched double the number of innings as the next pitcher (129.1 to 65.2 from Madi Harris). On Wednesday, Hylton was named to the All-ACC First Team.
Virginia’s offense struggled to produce runs early in the season, but it has improved significantly since then. Jade Hylton leads the way for Virginia in nearly every offensive category, including average (.342), runs (33), hits (53), doubles (12), home runs (12), on base percentage (.428), slugging percentage (.677), OPS (1.105), RBI (37), walks (24), and stolen bases (14). Hylton joined Bigham as Virginia’s two All-ACC First-Team selections.
Shelby Barbee has a hot bat after earning Co-ACC Player of the Week Honors for her Georgia Tech series where she went 6 for 9 with 7 RBI and three home runs. UVA is hoping that the week off between games doesn’t disrupt her streak. Another player to watch is freshman Bella Cabral, who has made clutch plays both on offense and at second base throughout the season. Cabral was named to the ACC All-Freshman Team, while Barbee was an All-ACC Third-Team selection.
On Clemson’s side, reigning National Player of the Year Valerie Cagle is always a threat in the circle and at the plate. She is hitting .364 with an OPS of 1.057. Teammates McKenzie Clark and Maddie Moore also have OPS metrics of above 1.000, which is an impressive threshold to cross.
Regan Spencer has pitched the most for Clemson this season and boasts a 2.00 ERA. While Spencer often relies on her defense to get outs behind her, Cagle and Millie Thompson are two pitchers who rely more on strikeouts. They have ERAs of 2.50 and 1.77, respectively.
Virginia is entering postseason play with back-to-back 30 win seasons. While Joanna Hardin has steadily improved her team in eight seasons at Virginia, that has yet to translate to postseason play. The Hoos have lost in the ACC quarterfinals each of the last two years, to No. 3 Florida State in 2022 and Syracuse in 2023. The Cavaliers qualified for the National Invitational Softball Championship in 2022 and managed one win, but the UVA softball postseason history is limited.
In fact, the only time UVA has made the NCAA tournament was in 2010. After receiving one vote in the top 25 poll this week, there is a good chance Virginia will hear its name called in the 64 team field on Selection Sunday to break the 14-year drought. However, there is work to be done before that point, and having a chance to win a conference championship is a significant opportunity to seize.
The Cavaliers will face the Clemson Tigers on Thursday at 1:30 pm (ACCN) in the ACC quarterfinals in Durham for a chance to advance to the ACC semifinals (Friday at 1pm) against the winner of Duke and Boston College/Syracuse.
Virginia
Connor Shellenberger’s goal in double OT lifts Virginia lacrosse to Final Four
TOWSON, Md. — With a trip to the NCAA men’s lacrosse tournament’s Final Four in the balance, Connor Shellenberger delivered another signature moment during a storied career that has put him on the short list of the greatest players to wear a Virginia uniform.
The sixth-seeded Cavaliers’ all-time leader in points scored 2:20 into double overtime to secure a thrilling 11-10 win over third-seeded Johns Hopkins on Sunday afternoon in the NCAA quarterfinals at Towson’s Johnny Unitas Stadium. Shellenberger’s 31st goal of the year sent Virginia to the national semifinals for the third time in four years and for the 26th time in program history.
Virginia
Five takeaways from UVA baseball’s sweep of Virginia Tech
The Virginia Cavaliers baseball team ended the regular season with a bang, taking all three from the Virginia Tech Hokies.
Thursday and Friday night were relatively smooth sailing, as the ‘Hoos led almost the entire way en route to 7-3 and 13-3 victories. Saturday night was more of a classic. UVA found themselves down 7-0, just to do exactly what they do best.
The Cavaliers stormed back to tie it in the seventh before eventually, Harrison Didawick launched his 22nd bomb of the season, walking it off in the thirteenth. Virginia saved the best for last in their 17th comeback victory of the season.
UVA finishes the year 40-14 and 18-12 in ACC play. Here is what we are taking away from the weekend:
Virginia dominates the Commonwealth Clash
The Commonwealth Clash is a year-long battle between ‘Hoos and Hokies where every men’s and women’s sport is weighted equally. As a result of baseball’s series win over the Hokies, UVA will finish on top 15-7 this season, marking their second consecutive title and tied for the largest margin in the competition.
Getting smoked in football practically every season is demoralizing; any Virginia fan would be lying if they said otherwise. Still, there is something to be said about a well-rounded athletics department and how it keeps the fanbase engaged fall through spring.
Evan Blanco and Joe Savino have their best starts
Turning the attention back to baseball specifically, Virginia’s current number one and number two starters ended the year with their best performances to date in orange and blue.
Blanco went 7.1 innings, surrendering two runs (both unearned) and five hits. While only a pair of strikeouts is nothing to write home about, Blanco’s ability to induce weak contact early in counts allowed him to go deep into this game. Quite frankly, he did not get ahead in counts as much as he typically does. But from a results perspective, this is huge. Blanco finishes the regular season with a 6-3 record and a 3.79 earned run average.
Joe Savino followed that up with a quality start of his own. He allowed two runs in five frames, with four hits and four free passes. Again, not the sharpest command, but something you will take every time against a quality Virginia Tech lineup. Damage control is the name of the game with this staff.
Don’t take Harrison Didawick’s season for granted
I feel like Jake Gelof made us all numb to the significance of explosive home run hitters. Let’s not allow that to happen.
In addition to making his mark in front of over 5,000 in the season finale, Didawick has provided pop in the middle of the lineup throughout the year. He is getting on base at a clip of .425 with a total of 22 long balls. Virginia is a program that’s known for quality at bats and high batting averages. But they broke their team single-season home run record a while ago, in large part because of Didawick.
Eric Becker’s bat is too powerful to keep out of the lineup
When you think Virginia baseball and first years, Henry Ford is most likely the first name to pop into your head and for good reason. Keep Eric Becker in the front of your mind as well, though.
Becker reached base five times on seven trips this weekend, including his eighth bomb of the year. The only reason he is not getting more at bats is his shaky defense at third base.
However, his bat is too good to ignore. Jacob Ference and Ethan Anderson have the DH/catcher platoon locked up and you can’t stick him at first because that’s Ford’s spot. Becker will continue to make most starts at third with Luke Hanson spelling him in situations that require a more sure handed fielder.
It’s postseason time!
Well, on that note, we turn the page to the next chapter, the conference tournament.
A quick reminder of the weird ACC format:
- The top 12 teams participate, divided into four pools of three.
- It is round robin in each pool. If all three teams go 1-1, the highest seeded team wins the pool.
- From there, the semifinals are set and it is single elimination.
The Cavaliers earned the conference’s fourth overall seed and will be the top ranked team in their pool, which also includes #5 Florida State and #9 Georgia Tech. Virginia is scheduled to play against the Yellow Jackets on Wednesday and the Seminoles on Friday, both at 11 a.m.
The good news is that if Georgia Tech beats Florida State on Tuesday and UVA wins on Wednesday, the ‘Hoos automatically advance to the semis and Friday’s game is essentially meaningless.
As far as the NCAA Tournament is concerned, the sweep puts Virginia in good position to host a regional as one of the nation’s top 16 teams.
Virginia
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