With the end of regular season play approaching, Virginia carried positive momentum into the weekend to extend its winning streak to six games, sweeping a series for the first time all season.
The Cavaliers (20-29, 8-13 ACC) traveled to South Bend, Ind. to take on the Fighting Irish, who, prior to playing the Cavaliers, had only dropped one game in their home stadium.
The series opened with a doubleheader Saturday, in which Virginia picked up a 6-3 win and a 12-6 win over Notre Dame (27-18, 11-10 ACC).
In the first game of the series, Virginia’s defense was fronted by sophomore pitcher Erika Osherow, who picked up her 12th win of the season. Meanwhile, Virginia’s offense generated a five-run inning in the second to give the Cavaliers a comfortable lead.
Sophomore outfielder Lacy Smith sparked the second inning rally with a three-run home run. Senior second baseman Madison Labshere then scored an unearned run followed by a run from senior catcher Katie Park off an RBI from junior first baseman Danni Ingraham. Ingraham also picked up an RBI in the fifth inning to drive in the last run of the game for the Cavaliers.
When the two teams squared off again later in the evening, Virginia matched a season best of seven runs in one inning to get a steady lead. The seven run rally came in the fourth inning, and started when Ingraham collected three RBIs and advanced to third base after a Notre Dame fielding error. Ingraham went on to score, and then senior third baseman Kaitlin Fitzgerald came up to the plate and hit a two-run home run. Smith finished off the rally with a solo home run, giving the Cavaliers an 11-5 lead in the fourth.
Later in the seventh inning, Park picked up her eighth home run of the season to give the Cavaliers another run, making the final score 12-6.
With the series already belonging to Virginia, the Cavaliers completed the sweep Sunday to pick up their sixth win in a row.
It didn’t take long for Virginia to get on the scoreboard, with the Cavaliers picking up two quick runs in the top of the first inning. After adding another two runs in the next inning, the Cavaliers had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the second inning. However, the Fighting Irish then put together a four-run inning to claim a 5-4 lead. Fitzgerald picked up an RBI single in the fourth to tie things up at 5-5.
The game stayed tied until senior designated hitter McKall Miller hit a solo homerun in the seventh, marking her eighth homer of the season. Labshere then hit her second double of the day to drive in two more runs, which was followed up by an RBI single from Park to bring the game to a score of 9-5. The game finished with a score of 10-6, and marked the first ACC series sweep for Virginia since 2012.
The Cavaliers will now host George Washington for a non-conference matchup Wednesday, and will then head back out on the road for the last ACC series of the regular season against Louisville.
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