It was a crisp afternoon for baseball, sitting at just 37 degrees at first pitch. The Cavalier offense was similarly chilly. The Eagles, however, immediately ignited, tagging runs on No. 9 Virginia (21-7, 6-5 ACC) starting pitcher sophomore Max Stammel at blistering pace. The afternoon would end after just seven innings with an eye-popping 0-17 score, sealing the series defeat.
“I’m frustrated, I’m disappointed and I’m embarrassed,” Coach Chris Pollard said. “It’s a long way from the standard of excellence we set for ourselves … We’ve allowed them to get us on our heels and we weren’t tough enough to punch back ... We need to do a bit of a gut check going into tomorrow.”
The Cavaliers offensive cold streak continued from their Friday loss, starting with their top three hitters in juniors Eric Becker, AJ Gracia and Sam Harris. The group had a single hit between them and stranded four base runners throughout the game. Gracia, typically the biggest bat in the lineup and a consensus top 20 MLB draft prospect, has yet to tally a hit in the series with Boston (20-8, 8-3 ACC).
The Eagles deployed a pair of arms in graduate lefty Tyler Mudd and junior right-hander Kyle Kipp in the winning effort. The duo recorded just a pair of strikeouts in a combined seven innings, but avoided big swings and coaxed soft contact in critical spots. Twice Virginia grounded into inning-ending double plays with multiple runners on base.
Boston put their ethos of hustle offense on display from the first pitch. Before Stammel had time to settle in, the first two Eagle batters had reached base. A few plate appearances later, a pair of runs had crossed the plate. The entire time the ball failed to leave the infield — three infield singles, a stolen base and a fielder’s choice. Then, the meat of the order started to flex some power. Senior Kyle Wolff lofted an outside pitch from Stammel over the fence for his second home run of the series, concluding the first inning ambush to the tune of a 0-5 ballgame.
Stammel continued to labor on the mound until a pair of extra base hits, including an ACC-leading fifth triple from sophomore Ty Mainolfi, ended his day. Jayden Stroman took the rock looking to keep the deficit in a manageable spot while Virginia waited for the offense to come back to life.
The fifth inning was the greatest scoring opportunity of the game in the hands of Harris. A trio of Cavalier batters reached base on an error, a single and a hit batter. Harris launched a ball sky-high, but about 250 feet too short, as it settled into foul territory, caught by freshman third baseman Luke Gallo.
The bottom of the fifth is where Virginia stopped making the Eagles earn their offense, instead walking or plunking five batters in the inning while surrendering seven runs. It took three pitchers to get out of the frame. Stroman handed the ball over to sophomore Michael Yeager after giving up a pair of runs. Yeager, failing to record a single out, had to pass duties to freshman Ryan Prior in order to get the Cavaliers off the field, facing an insuperable 0-16 deficit.
From there, it was a limp to the finish. Pollard gave some young hitters at bats in the final innings, but all failed to reach base safely. Boston ended the afternoon early via run rule, putting up 17 runs in just six innings at the plate.
Virginia will put their best effort toward a win on Sunday to avoid a sweep. A well-rested bullpen will back up freshman John Paone getting the start. He’ll be dueling sophomore Brady Miller who has posted an excellent 1.20 earned run average on season over 15 innings of work.
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