To date, Virginia’s performance in the 2025 season has not met the expectations that being ranked No. 2 in the preseason brought. The team has been wildly inconsistent, and has spent the last several weeks unranked. The question then becomes, who are the real Cavaliers? Is this team the one that had hopes of a third straight College World Series or the team that fails to maintain a streak of success?
Evidently, it is crunch time for Virginia, and entering the final stretch of regular season play, it is time for this team to show what it is made of. Below, three writers examine a pivotal postseason push.
What needs to happen before the postseason?
Xander Tilock, Sports Editor: This team must go 10-0 in the last bit of regular season play. Losing to inferior competition — again — would seriously tank postseason seeding. VCU, Navy, Towson, Miami, George Mason and Virginia Tech are all beatable opponents. If Virginia can enter the ACC Tournament with a 10-game winning streak, it would be well-suited for an upset against the titans of the conference. This is made even more possible because seven of these final 10 regular season games are at home, which helps given that the Cavaliers are just 6-5 on the road.
Emory Huffman, Senior Associate: Confident, resounding victories. Sure, Virginia needs to win at least one of the next two series against Miami and Virginia Tech. Yes, it needs to defeat VCU, Navy, Towson and George Mason in its final four midweek games. Most importantly, though, it needs to win with confidence. That means double-digit victories and clean finishes without late collapses. Those types of victories have eluded these Cavaliers, but they need to find a way to win confidently entering postseason play — otherwise, an NCAA Regional exit is in their future.
Ryan Weiner, Senior Writer: At the bare minimum, the Cavaliers have to utilize their momentum from the Georgia Tech series and build upon it. While 10-0 might be a bit too lofty of a goal, 8-2 certainly is not. Going down to Blacksburg to face Virginia Tech will be rough, as will defeating a Miami team that is on fire, but Virginia is cut out for it. Winning all the remaining non-conference games is non-negotiable, though. If the Cavaliers do all this, the moment they have generated will be off the charts, likely giving them a bye in the ACC Tournament and a solid spot in the NCAA Tournament as well.
As of right now, what is most important for Virginia’s postseason push?
XT: The current core of hitters. While underperforming stars would be a valid answer, that is too much to ask. Junior outfielder Harrison Didawick has struggled all year, and it is highly unlikely that he will suddenly return to the elite power hitter he used to be. Instead, the Cavaliers need even more from sophomore infielders Eric Becker and Henry Ford, as well as a trio of juniors in infielder Henry Godbout, utilityman Chris Arroyo and outfielder Aidan Teel. All season long, that quintet has been hitting over the .300 mark, but they have only combined for 34 home runs. Virginia still needs more extra base hits — and the best hitters should be expected to increase their power hitting.
EH: The bullpen is the key. Pitching depth is a rarity in college baseball, but the best teams have it. Despite recent success as a team, the bullpen has not improved, leading to losses that should have been wins. Add to that the recent struggles of graduate pitcher Matt Lanzendorfer and Coach Brian O’Connor’s decision to rely on less proven arms like graduate Alex Markus and junior pitcher Evan Blanco and you have a bullpen that looks as unstable as ever. Steps forward from a host of hurlers and a return to form for Lanzendorfer would provide much-needed stability going forward.
RW: Starting pitchers, particularly their ability to go deep into games. The Saturday game against Georgia Tech was a perfect example of what this team can look like if their starting pitchers can be efficient. When junior pitcher Bradley Hodges gave the team seven innings of two-hit ball, Virginia was able to build a large lead that was too big to be collapsed by a shaky bullpen performance. Whether it’s Hodges, senior pitcher Jay Woolfolk, freshman pitcher Tomas Valincius or even junior pitcher Evan Blanco, the Cavalier starters have to throw six innings to give the offense time to build the lead and limit the bullpen’s inning total.
Is this team capable of a deep NCAA Tournament run?
XT: Ultimately, the answer is no. Beating Georgia Tech is nice, but throughout the season, problems have been too chronic. Pitching is insanely inconsistent, team defense is uncharacteristically streaky and for the first time in ages, Virginia’s offense is not among the nation’s best. These Cavaliers are sorely missing the consistency that they used to get from stars such as Griff O’Ferrall and Ethan Anderson — both of whom are now with MLB organizations. Because of a pedestrian performance in the regular season, Virginia is very likely going to be a low seed in a stacked SEC regional. It is going to take a miracle of gargantuan proportions for the Cavaliers to keep their College World Series streak alive. It is time to look forward to 2026.
EH: You just never know once the calendar hits May. College baseball is a fickle thing — Virginia is no stranger to its nature, ending up on both sides of it. The 2014 Cavaliers finished the season in the top five but lost in the championship. The next year, Virginia won the National Championship despite limping into the postseason. The talent is all there for these Cavaliers, who also struggled at times last season but still found themselves in Omaha — give them a shot, and who knows what they’ll do with it?
RW: Sure, Virginia is capable of producing some “May Madness.” Almost every single contributor on this team has been to the College Baseball World Series at least once, if not twice, meaning they have experience that goes toe-to-toe with anyone. Baseball is also a streaky game, and if this team of ultra-talented players hits its stride in the right moment anything is possible. That being said, it is not probable that this team makes a run considering they still are not guaranteed to even make the tournament.
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