The second pitch of the game was a Louisiana routine groundball to senior infielder Jade Hylton, her throw a little harder than normal. The fourth pitch was a line drive to Hylton who snagged it out of the air. The ninth pitch was a strikeout looking to give No. 21 Virginia its third out of the inning. Running off the field, the team was amped and ready to take out some demons after a dreadful weekend in Durham, N.C. — at first, it didn’t look like they were going to be able to.
In a hump-day showdown, the Cavaliers (32-6, 9-5 ACC) hosted the Ragin’ Cajuns (22-18, 5-7 SBC) at Palmer Park in a battle of the bullpens. Despite 11 Louisiana hits, Virginia was able to pick up the win in seven innings, the final score 5-4.
The bottom of the first started with a lead-off walk by Hylton followed by another walk by freshman outfielder Jaiden Griffith. After a double-steal, runners were on second and third for sophomore catcher Reagan Hickey. On a full-count, Hickey hit one right under the short-stop’s glove, easily scoring both runs to make it 2-0.
“It was great to have Reagan come through with runners on second and third with two outs there in the first,” Coach Joanna Hardin said. “That was … big.”
Even with the solid offensive start, the Cavaliers were then quiet for the next four innings. In between, they had a few exciting defensive plays, such as a classic 6-4-2 turn two, and Hylton put-outs. Still, Virginia just kept getting under the ball.
The top of the fourth inning was when Louisiana began to figure out senior pitcher Courtney Layne. After giving up two hits with only one out, Coach Hardin made a pitching change to bring in freshman Taylor Smith.
Coming into a pickle, with runners on second and third, the pressure was certainly high. Calm, cool and collected, Smith struck out the first batter with three straight strikes down the middle. However, on the very next pitch senior infielder Cecilia Vasquez hit a deep-shot single to right center-field, scoring both runs and tying the game at 2-2.
Now back at square one, the Cavaliers brought in ace senior pitcher Eden Bigham in the fifth inning to hopefully save the game. But still, the Ragin’ Cajuns had all of the momentum. After four hard-fought at-bats, Bigham loaded the bases with one out. Settling in on the mound, Bigham was able to get out the jam, snatching the momentum back.
“Unfortunately, I put myself in those positions a lot over the last four years,” Bigham said. “I knew that my teammates had my back and that we were going to get out of it, so really no stress there.”
With minimal time left for the bats to come alive, it was time for the top of the Virginia lineup to put in some work. With freshman infielder Hannah Tober on first, Hylton stepped up to the plate, everyone in the park knowing she was due for a big time hit — and she in fact delivered.
On a 2-1 count, Hylton knocked the ball 236 ft out of the park, giving the lead back to the Cavaliers, 4-2. Fans were able to settle back into their seats, but not for long. In response, Louisiana got two runs of its own on a single and steal home, re-tying the game now at 4-4.
“Everyone works really hard, right?” Hardin said. “Hannah Tober had a huge walk to get in front of Jade to hit a two-run home run instead of a solo, so that was great.”
Down to the wire in the bottom of the sixth, senior outfielder Kelsey Hackett worked a walk, advancing to second in one fail motion when the Ragin’ Cajuns’ defense wasn’t looking. A wild pitch brought her to third and when Hickey hit one out far enough for a sacrifice-fly, Hackett was able to score what ended up being the winning run.
Bigham held things down in the seventh, earning her 11th win of the season. A look of relief was wiped across everyone at Palmer’s faces as the Cavaliers sang “The Good Ole Song.”
Although it wasn’t the best outing for Virginia, tonight’s lack of offensive power can partially be accredited to junior infielder Bella Cabral’s and senior outfielder Kassidy Hudson’s injury absences — a massive loss in leadership as well. However, the win can be seen as a huge morale boost going into this weekend’s series against rival No. 12 Virginia Tech.
"It's really cool to have two top 20 opponents going at it in the same state,” Hardin said. “It's going to be a dogfight — it's going to be a battle. They're really good, we're really good. I'm glad we got to get them at home.”
The first showdown takes place at 6 p.m. on Friday at Palmer Park.
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