It took six innings for Virginia to get on the board in a 2-1 victory against Liberty Wednesday — the opener to their conference series against Pitt was a different story. The Cavaliers (29-3, 7-2 ACC) defeated the Panthers (17-14, 4-6 ACC) 10-0 Friday, with all but one run coming within the first two innings.
They achieved a 10-0 run-rule victory just before the afternoon’s rain began, and it was one of the more dominant conference wins for Virginia, with the bats accumulating 10 hits to Pitt’s two.
The first score of the game for the Cavaliers, however, did not come from a hit — junior infielder Bella Cabral opened up scoring in the bottom of the first, reaching first on a fielding error which enabled senior outfielder Kassidy Hudson to score from second and brought junior infielder Macee Eaton to third. Eaton was involved in each of the next four runs scored, reaching home for the Cavaliers’ second run after a single from senior Kelsey Hackett and bringing teammates home just one inning later with a three-RBI double to make the scoreboard read 6-0.
Coach Joanna Hardin commented on her squad’s fast start following a short rest from their Wednesday night win.
“I think that the key for us today really was coming out with intent,” Hardin said. “Everybody's really tired, and we played late Wednesday night. We had a practice the next day. It's an early game … Scoring early, being really intent early, and locked in early, and quality at bats early … I think that set the tone for the game.”
Eaton and Hackett have both had productive months. In 14 March games, the junior has logged eight multi-RBI performances, and has only had one instance of back-to-back zero RBI games. The senior, meanwhile, has now extended her hitting streak to seven games, with both her hits today bringing Eaton home — her second hit was a RBI triple to put the Cavaliers seven runs ahead in the second inning.
Sophomore infielder Alex Call is another Cavalier who is heating up as the team gets deeper into conference play. After a standout performance against Liberty, the sophomore kept it up Friday, hammering her fourth homer of the year — now tied for fifth on the team — to bring Hackett home, giving Virginia a 9-0 lead. Call credited the coaching staff for her recent surge.
“I can't give enough praise to Coach [Hardin] for her confidence in me,” Call said. “It just gives me confidence at the plate to just go out and be me and not worry about the outcome.”
Call’s shot, followed by a Hudson RBI single to make it 10-0, would close the scoring for both teams. Ten runs provided plenty of support for junior pitcher Julia Cuozzo and senior pitcher Eden Bigham, who both struck out two batters and allowed only one hit each. It was Cuozzo’s fifth win in a row and of the year, representing yet another steady outing for the junior’s quietly excellent season.
Hardin spoke to Cuozzo’s discipline and ability as a contact pitcher to force weak contact from batters, rather than exclusively gun for strikeouts.
“The drop ball is not a sexy pitch, because it induces weak contact, but the rise ball gets the swing and the miss,” Hardin said. “[The drop ball] induces a lot of weak contact, which is great, and we just trust our infield and trust our defense … Gives her some freedom to really throw it, knowing that the D is going to be locked behind her.”
Virginia’s defense proved worthy of trust today — an early lead and excellent pitching helped the infield hold Pitt, among the best teams on the basepaths in the conference, to only one stolen base.
“Our pitchers throw with a lot of confidence because of the defense, and the defense plays with a lot of confidence because of our pitchers,” Hardin said. “It's definitely a dual relationship. If the pitchers are not executing at a high clip … that can keep the defense on their heels, and then vice versa, if the defense isn't able to make plays, pitchers start to throw a little more tense.”
The Cavaliers will face Pitt in the second game of the series at 2 p.m. Saturday, where they will attempt to clinch their fourth ACC series victory of the season.
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