The story that seemed to define the game against Liberty happened before the first pitch. With junior infielder Eric Becker and junior outfielder AJ Gracia out with nagging injuries, No. 10 Virginia was forced to shift personnel around the diamond. On the offensive side, the Cavaliers (29-13, 12-9 ACC) lost their team co-leaders in runs scored entering the midweek matchup.
Similar to the final game against Clemson, sophomore outfielder Zach Jackson moved from right field to center to fill Gracia’s position, with junior outfielder Kyle Johnson taking a right-field spot he has held intermittently. Freshman infielder RJ Holmes replaced Becker at shortstop. Despite the day-to-day injuries of Becker and Gracia, a Cavalier group effort led the team to a comeback win, 5-4.
On a warm Wednesday afternoon, the Flames (29-12, 13-5 CUSA) arrived in Charlottesville hoping to keep their momentum going after a 13-10 victory over Duke Tuesday.
The game began quietly, though. Sophomore starting pitcher Max Stammel fanned five Flames in his 3.2-inning outing, allowing only a single earned run.
“I think it’s got me back on track,” Stammel said. “I’ve been going out there throwing a lot of strikes, which is what I’ve been trying to do. This is the first time everything kind of went together.”
Coach Chris Pollard echoed Stammel’s sentiment, emphasizing the importance of the slider in his arsenal.
“I thought that was maybe as good as Max Stammel’s looked all year,” Pollard said postgame. “The difference-maker was the ability to land the slider and get something going the opposite way.”
Similar to Liberty, the Cavalier offense could not get anything going in the opening three innings, mustering only a single and a walk.
The opening silence would be broken on the first pitch after Stammel left the game, precipitated by a single and several groundouts that advanced a Liberty runner. After senior pitcher Kevin Jaxel entered in relief, a second single plated one, and two more would follow shortly thereafter on an errant throw from junior infielder Noah Murray. Liberty finished the top of the fourth inning up 3-0.
Stung by the Flames, Virginia clawed one of those runs back when junior catcher Jake Weatherspoon homered to deep left field, going 375 feet. A single would follow, but the Cavaliers finished the fourth inning down 3-1.
A Liberty leadoff double and a subsequent single resulted in another run for the Flames, and the visitors reached the halfway point of the match up 4-1.
With a Flame reliever now on the mound in the fifth, Virginia found the balls easier to hit. Holmes singled, then advanced on a balk. Murray laid down what was an intended sacrifice bunt to advance Holmes to third. However, the Liberty reliever made a throwing error, and Holmes would come all the way around. A series of Cavalier at-bats would advance Murray to third before a groundout from junior infielder Antonio Perrotta sent Murray home, putting Virginia just one run back at the end of the fifth inning.
As quickly as the Flame bats had come alight, they sputtered out. In the top of the sixth, Liberty’s only offensive output was a single drawn walk.
Despite strikeouts on the first two at-bats for the Cavaliers in the bottom frame of the sixth, Virginia walked, stole and reached on an error to put men on second and third base. From there, Murray sent a ball to the outfield, scoring two and putting the Cavaliers in the lead for the first time, 5-4.
“[I’m] proud of it,” Pollard said. “The whole bottom of the lineup was awesome, right? ... I thought we got production from a lot of different spots in the lineup tonight.”
In possession of a slim advantage, the bullpen took Virginia home. Graduate pitcher Lucas Hartman made his case as a contender for National Pitcher of the Year with two innings of shutout work in his 24th outing of the season, while graduate pitcher Tyler Kapa closed out the game. Neither allowed a hit.
“My last couple outings were not up to what I want to be doing,” Hartman said. “It was good to get a couple of zeros on the board and help my team win.”
Virginia would not get a hit of its own, but the Cavaliers rode the narrow lead all the way to a 5-4 victory, earning the season sweep over Liberty and exorcising one demon from the 2025 season. Although a tight margin, the plucky Flames are no pushover, and are ranked by some sources. When the team needed its second line to stand up, they did, and the group effort led the Cavaliers to victory Wednesday.
Although the win will undoubtedly be a boon for Virginia’s postseason chances, especially the opportunity to host an NCAA Tournament Regional, Pollard spoke strongly about keeping the focus on the day-to-day game.
“We woke up 0-0, trying to be 1-0,” Pollard said. “We don’t talk about anything other than trying to win the day that we have.”
Up next, Virginia will head north for a conference series against Pitt. The Panthers (25-14, 7-11) are coming off of a rollicking Tuesday victory against non-conference archrival No. 12 West Virginia, where they won 23-1. The Cavaliers will hope to prevent Pitt from building any momentum. First pitch for the opening game is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday at Charles L. Cost Field.
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