While many students left Grounds for sunny shores, foreign cities or the comfort of their hometowns over spring break, the Virginia baseball team has no such luxury. Instead, they went south to Charlotte, N.C., hoping for vacation pleasure to come in the win column. Rather, they received a Tuesday night clubbing at the hands of the 49ers and junior lefty Chayse Oxborrow.
Virginia (10-2, 0-0 ACC) suffered a 14-0 loss in a mercy rule-shortened, seven-inning affair to Charlotte (8-3, 0-0 AAC) at Hayes Stadium. The game featured little for the Cavaliers to feel optimistic about, mustering up just a pair of hits and only four baserunners all night. Sophomore pitcher Michael Yeager was tagged with the loss for Virginia, failing to make it out of the second inning in his second start of the season.
The tone was grimly set from the first inning. Oxborrow, making his first start for the 49ers, fanned the first three Cavalier batters in order, all going down looking on strike three. Oxborrow would go on to befuddle hitters all night, racking up 12 strikeouts and just a single hit in his six innings of work.
Yeager took the mound in the bottom of the first looking to respond, but a leadoff double and three hits in the frame immediately put Virginia behind the pace. The inning may have gotten even uglier if not for a pair of excellent defensive plays from junior infielder Noah Murray at the hot corner.
In the second, senior outfielder Harrison Didawick recorded what would be the Cavaliers’ only hit until the seventh inning. Didawick was promptly picked off at first base, taking Virginia’s leading base stealer off the basepaths.
The bottom of the second is where the fireworks arrived for Charlotte. After forcing Yeager out of the game with a trio of base-knocks, senior Joe Colucci would promptly hit a batter to load the bases before giving up a back-breaking grand slam to graduate infielder Dylan Koontz.
From there, the drubbing continued. Virginia would struggle to put the ball in play against Oxborrow, particularly in the meat of the order. The top three of the lineup, junior infielder Eric Becker, junior outfielder AJ Gracia and junior infielder Joe Tiroly combined for over half the lineup’s strikeouts.
The offense gasped for life in the seventh inning against the 49er relief crew. Didawick recorded the second and final hit of the Cavaliers’ night. The double pushed Didawick and Gracia into scoring position for the first time against the Charlotte pitching staff.
The 49ers continued their scoring against the Cavalier mop-up crew of pitchers consisting of sophomore Brendan Cowen, freshman Ryan Prior and junior Charlie Oschell. In an inning of work each, the trio all gave up at least one run, failing to stop the bleeding that would swell to a 14-run deficit.
“First and foremost, credit to Charlotte,” Coach Chris Pollard said. “They played exceptionally well. They came out from the very first batter of the ball game, and punched us in the mouth … they continued to pour it on.”
The mercy rule defeat is an ugly blemish on the Virginia resume. It stands in stark contrast to the Cavaliers’ other early-season results — mercy rule victory of their own and a sweep of in-state opponent VCU led Virginia to Charlotte with aspirations of national rankings. The team’s prowess may be tough to determine based on a midweek matchup with a middling out-of-conference opponent, but if they let it happen again, clearer lines may begin to emerge about expectations.
“The reality is we didn’t do a good job of competing pitch-to-pitch,” Pollard said. “We let things kind of snowball on us … great thing about our sport, you don’t have long to feel sorry for yourself. We turn around and play these guys again tomorrow.”
The Cavaliers will finish their two-game series with the 49ers Wednesday at 6 p.m. in Charlotte. Freshman pitcher Jayden Stroman will get the nod on the bump looking to continue his promising freshman season. Stroman has a sub-two ERA thus far, striking out eight in just six innings of work.
Read More
CROSBIE: Virginia lost to Duke — but, momentarily, lost itself
By Aimee Crosbie | 13 hours agoNo. 1 Duke dismantled the Cavaliers winning aspirations with clinical efficiency, rolling to a victory that never once saw Virginia hold a lead. On a day that could have solidified the Cavaliers’ newfound identity, Cameron Indoor Arena and the Blue Devils found a way to ensure that Virginia did everything but.
Cavaliers complete weekend sweep, beat VCU 5-3 in Richmond
By Stephen O'Dea | Yesterday“The conversation starts with John Paone. What a terrific start. He really showed complete control,” Pollard said following the game. “I loved his mound presence, and he was able to get the ball to both sides of the plate with run on the fastball to the arm side and a really good shape to the slider.”
Weismer walks it off as Party at Palmer gives the Cavaliers plenty to celebrate
By Ben McNiff | 2 days ago“Everyone is getting us ready for ACC play,” Hardin said. “That’s what this part of the season is all about — seeing who can do what and when and how. It’s to put ourselves in high-leverage situations, put ourselves in tough situations and compete.”
