Despite winning in the first round over No. 10 seed Louisville, No. 25 Virginia fell to No. 15 Clemson 7-4 in a quarterfinal matchup. The 7-seed Cavaliers (37-16, 14-10 ACC) endured the same result as last season’s matchup with the Tigers (42-12, 19-5 ACC), who earned the 2-seed, but Virginia’s lower seed gave it the opportunity to win its first ACC Championship game since 2011, a 3-2 walk-off win over the Cardinals (26-25, 9-15 ACC).
Virginia’s first round matchup with Louisville Wednesday was a low-scoring affair, but it ended in thrilling fashion — although they did not score until the sixth inning, the Cavaliers rallied for a walkoff 3-2 win. Louisville started things off in the third, scoring one run off an error by senior infielder Sarah Coon. They would not score again for three innings, a drought which was broken with an RBI single to put Virginia behind by two runs.
Although junior pitcher Alyssa Zabala performed much better for Louisville than in her previous outing against Virginia, the Cavalier bats finally found traction in the sixth inning. From then on, the Cavaliers took over, scoring three unanswered runs. In the sixth, they got on the board and tied things up with an RBI single by senior catcher Sydney Hartgrove, which brought home two runs thanks to a fielding error.
Then, in one of the more clutch moments of the season for Virginia, senior outfielder Kelly Ayer smacked a double to left-center, bringing fellow senior outfielder Kailyn Jones home for the walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh inning. That double was her 12th of the season, moving her into a tie for 16th in the conference with her teammate, sophomore infielder Macee Eaton. The walk-off victory over the Cardinals was the program’s first ACC tournament win since 2011.
“I just try to keep it simple,” Ayer said. “Honestly, there I was just trying to get a ground ball through the middle.”
Thursday, Virginia met the Clemson Tigers for a rematch of the two teams’ battle in the 2024 quarterfinals. The matchup once again ended in a loss for the Cavaliers, this time a 7-4 offensive battle with four lead changes between just the fifth and sixth innings
The game began as a dominating outing for pitchers on both sides. Junior pitcher Courtney Layne started in the circle for the Cavaliers and held things down through three innings, pitching to the tune of zero runs, two hits, one walk and three strikeouts. For Clemson, senior pitcher Reese Basinger was solid, allowing zero runs and only one hit up until the fourth inning.
Junior pitcher Eden Bigham entered the circle in relief of Layne in the fourth inning and promptly allowed an RBI single. This marked when the game shifted from a defensive war of attrition to an offensive arms race.
Virginia responded quickly to the one-run deficit by taking the lead in the fifth inning. A single from Coon was the second hit the Cavaliers would get against Basinger, enough to knock her out of the game. Hartgrove was hit by a pitch and that marked the last of the Tiger senior, who was replaced by senior pitcher Brooke McCubbin. That didn’t stop Virginia’s momentum, however, as junior outfielder Kelsey Hackett was also hit by a pitch to load the bases to set the table for junior infielder Jade Hylton.
Hylton came through with a two-RBI single, bringing home both senior infielder Reece Holbrook — who entered as a pinch runner for Coon — and Hartgrove. The 2-1 lead didn’t last long, though, and Clemson took back the lead with a two-run homer in the bottom half of the inning.
With the Tigers up by a run, the pressure was on for Virginia to strike back in the sixth, and they did just that. A single from sophomore infielder Bella Cabral cleared the way for a two-run home run from Eaton to put the Cavaliers up 4-3. The blast brought Eaton’s total RBI for the season to 59, a single-season program record.
Unfortunately, in the bottom of the sixth, Bigham let up a walk, hit a batter and gave up a single to quickly load the bases. This gave way to a grand slam by freshman infielder Taylor Pipkins, which turned a one run lead into a 4-7 deficit with one inning to go.
Fifth-year senior pitcher Savanah Henley entered the game for Bigham and managed to get out of the inning, but Virginia batters ended the game with three straight outs. Bigham finished with six hits, seven runs and two strikeouts to her name in the loss. Coach Joanna Hardin praised the competitiveness of the game and the team’s effort.
“I thought we really played hard,” Hardin said. “There’s a difference between losing a game and getting beat and we just got beat tonight.”
Virginia will find out who its next opponent will be when the NCAA Tournament selection show airs at 7 p.m. Sunday. Fans can join the team on the field at Palmer Park to witness what would be the program’s third NCAA Tournament berth in its history.
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