It was a true nine-inning effort for the first night of the weekend season. A back-and-forth battle of big innings came to a head in the ninth, tied at four a piece. No. 13 Virginia slapped a huge four-run frame on the board, giving sophomore lefty Henry Zatkowski plenty of breathing room to slam the door on the series opener against Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind.
With both teams coming off of ACC series losses the previous weekend and a midweek defeat, getting back into the win column as quickly as possible was of the utmost importance in the opener.
Junior Kyle Johnson took the mound for the Cavaliers (25-10, 9-7 ACC), seemingly having the green light to pitch deep into the game as he was effective for the first time this season. He made it through a clean first two innings before running into trouble in the third.
Graduate Drew Berkland bopped a home run to lead off the inning, and before Virginia could blink, the Fighting Irish (15-14, 6-10 ACC) had flooded the base paths and hung three runs on Johnson. After a mound visit, Johnson retired the next three batters in a row to escape the inning.
From there, senior outfielder Harrison Didawick started to slug the Cavaliers back into the ballgame. Hitting from the cleanup spot, Didawick lofted a high fly ball into the trees in the fourth inning to score a pair. He would do the same thing in the sixth, this time with even more authority. All Notre Dame sophomore outfielder Jayce Lee could do was turn around and admire the shot as it bounced off the billboard beyond right field.
“Every time somebody asks me about Didawick, I always say he deserves all of the success he’s having,” Coach Chris Pollard said. “He’s in a good place … he and Sam Harris both, working through some adjustments.”
Junior infielder Joe Tiroly worked his way on base before both blasts as Didawick pulled Virginia into the lead with two swings. In the meantime, the bullpen took over the responsibility of silencing the Fighting Irish bats.
Senior Kevin Jaxel took the ball in the fifth, adding two frames of scoreless work to his reliable resume out of the bullpen this season — bringing his earned run average to 3.33. He passed pitching duties to graduate right hander Lucas Hartman for a pair of set-up innings. Hartman had just one lapse, a game-tying solo shot from sophomore shortstop Noah Coy in the seventh.
It came down to the ninth inning with the bottom of the order stepping to the plate for the Cavaliers. Sophomore Zach Jackson, hitting just .207 on the season, turned on a 1-1 offering and sent it to right for a go-ahead blast. Virginia decided it wasn’t enough and notched three more insurance runs before retreating to the dugout to defend its late game lead.
“[Jackson’s] just been hammered with changeups over the last couple of weeks,” Pollard said. “He’s starting to understand how to hit that pitch.”
Zatkowski took the ball in relief having last pitched in a starting role against JMU early in the week, a game which ended in a gut-wrenching extra-innings defeat. Zatkowski made quick work against the heart of the Notre Dame order, tossing a perfect inning to clinch the dramatic victory.
Virginia will look to clinch a series victory Saturday at 2 p.m. in South Bend.
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