Following a Friday night victory over Ohio State three weeks ago, the players and coaches of Virginia softball stood together, as is tradition, for a rendition of the Good Ol’ Song. In a weekend full of delays and cancellations from frequent rain, the most unexpected downpour did not come from the sky. As the song wound down, senior infielder Jade Hylton had a surprise for Coach Joanna Hardin.
Their defeat of the Buckeyes brought Virginia’s win streak to 10 games, but that accomplishment was secondary to an even greater feat — that night, Hardin achieved her 300th career win, a count to which she has since added 13 more. To celebrate the occasion, Hylton and a member of the coaching staff ran to grab a cooler from the dugout, hoisted it up and tipped it over, drenching Hardin in Gatorade.
“[Senior pitcher Eden Bigham and I] have been here four years now,” Hylton said. “So we’re proud to say we’ve been with her for a lot of [wins], but definitely a well-deserved ice bath.”
In total, the Class of 2026 has seen 125 wins of Hardin’s 313 career victories — and counting. Should the Cavaliers’ 23-2 start translate to a winning percentage above .500, 2022-26 — the current seniors’ seasons with Hardin, plus the year prior to their freshman campaigns — would represent Virginia’s first streak of five consecutive winning seasons since 1988-1992 under former Coach Terry DeTuro.
“When we committed, gosh, six years ago … We came in wanting to change the program and help [Hardin] reach these goals,” Bigham said. “I think it's super special for us to be here and celebrate those with her.”
Virginia has had plenty to celebrate in recent years. With Hardin at the helm, the softball program has experienced a renaissance and this year, they are off to a roaring start — the Cavaliers came within four games of matching the school’s all-time record for consecutive wins. Although their streak was snapped, they are still set to qualify for NCAAs for the third year in a row, and to improve on their overall record for the fifth consecutive year. Three years ago, Virginia had only qualified for the national tournament once in program history.
Now, the duo of Hylton and Bigham, who befriended each other as showcase teammates in high school and led the Cavaliers through these historic highs, are set to depart from the program after this season. When the day comes, it will be bittersweet for all involved — at least telling from Hardin’s reaction to a question on the pair of seniors.
“Oh, you’re going to make me cry,” Hardin said. “Jade and Eden are special … They are everything you ask for and you want as a coach, they are elite athletes, they are hard workers, they are humble and kind, they are competitive … It is such a joy to coach them and just to be part of their journey. I tell our staff as often as I can to just soak in the moments with them.”
For Bigham, Virginia’s all-time leader in saves, the years have gone by fast — she too is looking to savor each moment.
“We just celebrated [Hardin’s 250th win] last year, at Florida State, and it felt like just yesterday,” Bigham said.
The greatest stretch of success under Hardin has come during Hylton and Bigham’s tenure as Cavaliers — however, the foundation was laid amidst years of losing seasons by a team without a true home.
Prior to Hardin’s hiring in 2016, the Cavaliers had achieved only three winning seasons in the previous 10 years, finishing four seasons below 20 wins, even ending 2014 with only eight wins. The venue where the team was forced to compete — an impractical eyesore almost a mile away from the future location of Palmer Park — was symbolic of Virginia softball’s lack of standing as a competitive athletic program.
Hardin, when asked to reflect on her success relative to where the program was when she took over, did not shy away from the reality of the situation.
“It has been a really hard journey, a really worthwhile journey,” Hardin said. “I think that … we want instant gratification and want results worked out even now, like you can take over a program, go into the portal and fill it up — that was not the case when I got here.”
Before Hardin’s arrival, the program was an afterthought, tucked away behind Barracks Road Shopping Center, playing in a park left unrenovated since 2009. After one season at the helm — culminating in the program’s first ACC tournament appearance since 2013 — Hardin advocated for a new stadium, speaking at a winter 2017 Board of Visitors meeting.
“Where we are now just doesn’t accommodate the needs of being a program at the national level,” Hardin said at the meeting. “A new facility … would change the face of this program.”
Although initial efforts to find a new location for a home field failed, Hardin would have her field eventually thanks to support from longtime program patron and Virginia softball great Lisa Palmer. The state-of-the-art Palmer Park opened to fans for the 2020 season and has been the home of the Cavaliers since. Today, Virginia softball competes alongside the facilities of Virginia baseball, track and lacrosse.
“When Lisa [Palmer] signed on to build this amazing facility, I remember thinking in the fall of 2018 we broke ground,” Hardin said. “I'm like, there's going to be a point where I'm standing in center field and I'm looking at this amazing facility and it's going to be done, and I'm going to have to pinch myself.”
The change of venue coincided with a change of play for Virginia, as the program has suffered only one losing season since its construction and achieved multiple national rankings — including a No. 24 ranking in 2024, the first time the program has been nationally ranked since 1995.
The current senior class joined the program in 2023 and are on pace to participate in four consecutive seasons with over 30 wins. As the fifth-ever Cavalier to be named All-American and the program’s all-time home run leader, Hylton is exemplary of Virginia softball’s ascension. In her typically humble fashion, she expressed her belief in Hardin’s role as an architect of the program’s resurgence, referring to her own time with the team as one small part of a greater whole.
“She put a lot of work into the program,” Hylton said. “So I’m very, very blessed to be a … little part of the big stuff she’s done.”
Hardin shares her shortstop’s gratitude — she is overwhelmingly thankful for her players, staff and the program’s supporters.
“Being part of the Charlottesville community, the U.Va. community is really special,” Hardin said. “This place is really, really special, and I've had some really special athletes and coaches, and so it's been a lot of work from the beginning, for 10 years. It’s like almost a quarter of my life.”
Just as Hardin thought to pinch herself in her reverie of then-unfinished Palmer Park, she may want to do so now — Virginia’s 2025-26 season has been nothing short of her dream for the ascending program. The Cavaliers are ranked No. 18 in the country, on pace for the greatest season in program history. They recently won a jubilant seventh-inning comeback against Michigan, a victory which the players celebrated in front of fans at Palmer Park.
“It's a dream for me to be here, to be coaching here, to be coaching at the University of Virginia,” Hardin said. “All my family is here. Get to raise my daughter here. I'm around people like Jade and Eden every day, and then to compete at a national level has always been the dream.”
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