The first game of the Coach Chris Pollard era was not perfect, but it sure was exciting for baseball-starved fans at Disharoon Park.
Surprisingly, Virginia found itself in a tight battle with mid-major Wagner in Friday’s season opener. The Cavaliers (1-0, 0-0 ACC) eventually beat the Seahawks (0-1, 0-0 Northeast) through an avalanche of runs — overcoming some shaky moments from the pitching staff to win 13-7.
In the top of the sixth inning, graduate right-hander Lucas Hartman took the mound in relief, recording two strikeouts before allowing a single and a wild pitch. A Wagner runner then moved to third base after a passed ball by freshman catcher Thomas O’Connell. Later, with the chance to escape the inning, a ground ball bounced off the glove of junior infielder Noah Murray, careening into the outfield as Wagner tied the game at 6-6.
Hartman then surrendered a double and the Seahawks took a 7-6 lead entering the bottom of the sixth. Pollard’s Cavaliers were stuck in a high-stakes situation.
"I told our guys before the game, I said, ‘at some point during this game, something negative is going to happen,’” Pollard said. “‘Let's embrace it. Let's have a great response.’”
Virginia’s offense came roaring back, ferociously.
The Cavaliers responded with a pair of singles from junior first baseman Sam Harris and senior outfielder Harrison Didawick — and Harris scored off of a Seahawk passed ball. O’Connell added to the scoring wave with his first career RBI single to give Virginia an 8-7 lead.
Sophomore infielder Aiden Harris responded by hitting his first career home run, expanding the lead to 11-7. Right on cue, sophomore outfielder Zach Jackson followed the solo shot up by cranking the first home run of his career.
The good times kept rolling for the Cavaliers.
Junior shortstop Eric Becker doubled, junior outfielder AJ Gracia walked and Sam Harris singled to bump the lead to 13-7, completely flipping the game upside down.
“What I was most impressed with was just how we handled the moment there in the sixth,” Pollard said.
Before that fiery comeback, though, the Cavaliers did not storm ahead to a breezy lead.
Sophomore lefty Henry Zatkowski, earning the Friday start in place of the injured junior Kyle Johnson, recorded a scoreless first inning — albeit by escaping a bases-loaded jam. Virginia’s offense then gave Zatkowski plenty of run support as the entire starting lineup made a plate appearance in the first inning, building up a 4-0 lead.
Then, in the second, Zatkowski imploded as Wagner scored five runs. He got through one more inning before exiting after the third frame. Zatkowski departed the contest with half of the batters he faced reaching base. Senior Joe Colucci entered in relief, finishing the afternoon with two hitless innings before Hartman took over.
Sam Harris reclaimed a tie in the bottom of the fourth inning through a RBI single — he led the team with three hits. Sophomore outfielder Zach Jackson then retook the lead in the bottom of the fifth thanks to a RBI single.
After the hectic sixth inning, the scoreboard cooled off. The Cavaliers had constructed a healthy six-run lead that would remain unchanged for the rest of the game.
Hartman recorded the win Friday, powering through three innings of work. The win is his first as a Cavalier after transferring in from Western Kentucky.
Other than Murray, every Virginia starter recorded a hit — led by Sam Harris with four.
Next, Virginia continues the three-game series with Wagner in the form of a doubleheader Saturday. The first game will begin at noon, with the second act beginning 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first Saturday game.
“I think that our team is nasty, to be honest,” Aiden Harris said. “I think we're just a really good squad, and I'm not really worried about where we're at in that lineup.”
That lineup is still quite new. Johnson and junior catcher Jake Weatherspoon — the starters in right field and at catcher — missed Friday due to injuries, leaving notable vacancies in the starting lineup. The backup catcher, graduate Noah Jouras, is also dealing with an injury, which left the true freshman O’Connell as the only first-year in the lineup.
Those changes will eventually subside as more Cavaliers get healthy. However, one major character is here to stay — Pollard.
For the first time since 2003, the program had a new head coach in the dugout. A clean-shaven Brian O’Connor was succeeded by the bearded Pollard in the first episode of his Virginia tenure. Friday, Pollard’s Cavaliers displayed resilience and tantalizing offense in the face of adversity — factors which could come to define this 2026 Virginia team.
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