Across just two days down in Chapel Hill, N.C., the Cavaliers experienced a devastating loss to rival their 17-1 defeat to Arkansas and completed a shocking comeback, which made their Party at Palmer heroics pale in comparison. No. 20 Virginia (22-2, 2-1 ACC) won its ACC opening series over North Carolina, two games to one — throughout it all, the Cavaliers were led by outstanding performances from their stars, junior infielders Bella Cabral and Macee Eaton and senior infielder Jade Hylton.
Much credit has been given to Cabral for the run this team has been on — it appears, however, that even more may be due for the third baseman.
The junior proved pivotal almost immediately in the weekend series against the Tar Heels (19-3, 1-2 ACC) — in the first game, a 7-3 victory, she sent up a homer which cut the deficit to one run in fourth, and followed that up with a three-RBI double in the fifth to give Virginia its first lead. On Friday, Cabral managed to register one more RBI than junior infielder Emily LeGette — ACC home-run leader — and the rest of the Tar Heel bats combined.
North Carolina’s offense — the highest scoring in the ACC — struggled once senior Courtney Layne relieved senior Eden Bigham in the circle. Layne tossed 5.1 innings, striking out six, walking zero and allowing only three hits with zero runs. It was her eighth win of the year. Her record ranks as the best in the ACC and among the best in the country.
Layne’s surge is appreciated by her teammates, including Bigham.
“Courtney has had a great year,” Bigham said. “I'm so happy for her. She deserves all of this, and she has worked so hard.”
Due to inclement weather concerns — something Virginia has become all-too familiar with — for Sunday, the final two games of the series were played in a doubleheader Saturday. The first was a heartbreaking 11-9 loss in extra innings.
Eaton got the offense started in a hurry, with a three-RBI homer giving Virginia the lead in the top of the first, and an offensive explosion from the Cavaliers in the second and third innings saw the visitors build up a seemingly insurmountable advantage. Another homer from Eaton in the fourth gave the Cavaliers a 8-3 lead, bringing her within one of the team lead behind only Cabral.
LeGette, though, answered swiftly with a home run of her own which cut Virginia’s lead to only two runs. With that, Hardin elected to bring Layne in, again, to preserve the now-slim lead. The fifth passed, scoreless, but back-to-back Tar Heel homers in the bottom of the sixth tied the game, 8-8. Both offenses failed to muster any runs in the seventh, sending the contest into extra innings. Hylton, however, did not allow the Cavaliers’ scoring drought to run long, hammering her fourth homer of the year to break the tie.
Layne stayed in for the bottom of the eighth. She ran into trouble quickly, finding herself in the circle with two batters on, zero outs and LeGette up to the plate. LeGette worked the senior to a full count in a 10-pitch at-bat before launching her third walk-off of the year, completing one of the more devastating blown leads for the Cavaliers in recent memory and Layne’s first loss this season.
Earlier in the weekend, Hardin noted the difficulty of the matchup, specifically the need to execute when margins are thin.
“One of our goals for the weekend was to execute in high-leverage situations,” Hardin said. “We know Carolina is extremely competitive, has a great lineup and a great team. It will be important to execute and play clean defense when the game feels heightened.”
The margins would only get thinner. Bigham started the final contest of the series, making her second appearance of the weekend in a rollercoaster 19-14 victory. Initially, the home team ran away with it, putting up eight runs in the first two innings. Former Cavalier and senior utility player MC Eaton and LeGette both notched home runs. The Cavaliers refused to go quietly despite facing a 8-3 deficit, with a two-run homer from Hickey and a two-RBI double from Eaton bringing them within one of the Tar Heels.
The short road to victory quickly grew longer, however — with sophomore Ava Hodges in the circle for Bigham as Virginia’s fifth pitcher on the day, a hit-by-pitch and a walk brought two more runners home for North Carolina, widening the deficit to 10-7. Junior Julia Cuozzo entered the circle for Hodges, and a hit-by-pitch and RBI single made the scoreboard read 13-7, Tar Heels.
A Cabral double in the top of the fifth brought the Cavaliers’ total to eight runs. Virginia had a chance to further close the gap, with bases loaded and zero outs in the seventh, and they executed. Eaton, Cabral and senior outfielder Kelsey Hackett managed to load the bases, and subsequent batters chipped away at the five-run deficit, leaving the Cavaliers down 13-11 with bases loaded, one out and the top of the order due up.
Hylton nearly proved the hero in the second game, and she provided even more heroics in the third contest — a two-RBI single brought home the tying runs, and Cuozzo managed to preserve the tie in the bottom of the inning, sending yet another game into extra innings.
Cabral managed a single and Hackett was walked to open the top of the eighth. Sophomore infielder Alex Call then stepped up to the plate, delivering a three-run shot deep to left field — breaking the tie with her third homer of the year and giving Virginia a 16-13 lead. Later in the inning, an error brought another run home, extending their lead by one.
Enough walks brought the batting order fully around, and with multiple runners in scoring position and two outs, Cabral was due up. As she seems prone to do in big moments, the junior smashed a two-RBI double to center field, extending the lead further to 19-13. All told, Virginia batters scored 11 runs in just the final two innings of the game. Cuozzo retired the next side, delivering victory in her third win of the season.
Despite the snapping of their winning streak, the Cavaliers emerged triumphant from Chapel Hill. They will now return to Charlottesville for a homestand with a standalone contest against Hampton Tuesday, followed by a weekend series against Georgia Tech for their second ACC matchup.
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