In most other seasons, Saturday’s thrilling walk-off victory would have taken the pressure off of a weekend. The win clinched the series against a red-hot Miami team, giving Virginia a second consecutive series win over a quality ACC opponent.
The 2025 Cavaliers (30-16, 14-10 ACC) are not like those old Virginia teams. These Cavaliers have struggled to find their footing, digging themselves a hole ahead of tournament play that they have only recently begun to emerge from. A sweep was not only the ideal outcome — it was almost required with Virginia barely hanging onto a projected spot in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cavaliers met the challenge, picking up another nail-biting win over the Hurricanes (30-21, 14-12 ACC) Sunday to sweep the series at Disharoon Park. The 8-6 victory nearly turned into a loss despite Virginia claiming an early seven-run lead, but the bullpen managed to preserve freshman pitcher Tomas Valincius’ strong start — even if it used up every bit of the cushion provided to it by the Cavalier bats.
In many ways, Virginia looked quite like the 2024 Cavaliers without the elite resume. Virginia scored early and often, tallying seven runs in the first four innings. After Valincius worked out of an early jam, sophomore outfielder Henry Ford opened the scoring with a 111-mph blast into the left field bleachers — a two-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. Two innings later, graduate catcher Jacob Ference plated two more with a two-out single.
The top of the fourth saw Miami continue to struggle against Valincius. The Cavaliers stayed hot at the plate in the bottom half, tacking on three more runs thanks to an RBI groundout followed by consecutive RBI doubles by sophomore infielder Eric Becker and Ford. Through four frames, Virginia led the Hurricanes 7-0, and Disharoon Park was as rowdy as it had been all season.
After Saturday’s performance, though, it would have been stunning to see the Hurricanes continue to struggle at the plate — Miami finally found some momentum in the seventh inning, recording a walk and a single to put two runners on base with no outs. Senior outfielder Gaby Gutierrez capitalized, lacing a double to score the Hurricanes’ first run. Valincius struck out the next batter, but Coach Brian O’Connor elected to bring in a fresh arm with Miami threatening to make a run.
Sophomore pitcher Drew Koenen entered to stop the bleeding, but immediately allowed a single, which drove in two Hurricanes. Koenen recorded the second out and looked poised to end the frame, but sophomore infielder Daniel Cuvet had other plans, smashing a two-run home run to slice Virginia’s lead down to just two runs. Cuvet recorded three hits Saturday and did the same Sunday. He continued a torrid run that has coincided with Miami’s recent success — as his home run put the Hurricanes right back in the game, capping off a five-run inning.
In need of a response, the Cavaliers returned to the plate, led by Ford. The Charlottesville native delivered for the third time, driving his second home run into the bleachers and extending Virginia’s lead back to three runs. Ford ended the game 3-for-3 with two home runs, a double and a walk, capping off a series in which he recorded at least one hit and RBI in each game.
On the mound, graduate pitcher Wes Arrington worked a scoreless eighth inning to preserve the Cavaliers’ three-run advantage entering the ninth. Miami brought the top of its order to the plate in the final frame, consisting of junior infielder Jake Ogden, junior outfielder Max Galvin and Cuvet. O’Connor sent graduate pitcher Alex Markus to the rubber for a chance to earn the save — Markus worked 2.1 scoreless innings in Friday’s win but immediately encountered trouble Sunday, issuing a walk to Ogden, allowing a single to Galvin and giving up an RBI single to Cuvet.
With no outs and the tying run on first base, O’Connor decided to play the matchups, bringing in three pitchers to record the final three outs — senior pitcher Matthew Buchanan, sophomore pitcher Bryson Moore and graduate pitcher Matt Lanzendorfer, alternating lefty-righty-lefty. After Buchanan and Moore recorded strikeouts, Lanzendorfer induced a flyout to center field, sealing an 8-6 victory.
Time will tell how much the selection committee values such a series victory — there is no doubt, however, that Virginia did its part. Miami arrived in Charlottesville with an excess of momentum, having won five straight ACC series. The Hurricanes mirrored the Cavaliers in a sense — an ACC program with preseason expectations that it hasn’t met, finally finding success with postseason hopes hanging in the balance. When the two teams faced off, though, it was Virginia who won the heavyweight bout.
“Just overall, a huge weekend for us,” O’Connor said. “This is what we needed to do here at home on the final weekend, and just really proud of our guys.”
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