Friday night, No. 9 Virginia baseball was taken to task on its own field. The Clemson offense gained traction against typically-reliable senior righty Kevin Jaxel, scoring three in the seventh frame. The crooked number spoiled junior lefty Kyle Johnson’s strong start.
Less than 24 hours later, the pattern seemed like it might repeat itself as the Tigers (25-16, 6-12 ACC) put up three runs on two of the Cavaliers’ (28-13, 12-9 ACC) most reliable arms, graduate righties Lucas Hartman and Tyler Kapa. In this instance, though, Clemson was playing from behind — the rally fell short, the Virginia offense did just enough and the bullpen found its footing. The result was a series-clinching 5-4 win.
The Virginia bats went silent Friday, managing just one run. They came back to life Saturday. Senior outfielder Harrison Didawick avenged a hitless outing Friday with a two-homer showing Saturday — one that included an inside-the-parker. Coach Chris Pollard wasted no time postgame highlighting Didawick’s impact.
“The conversation starts and ends today with Harrison Didawick,” Pollard said. “He’s the heart and soul of this group. He’s unbelievably tough. He played great defense and came up with clutch hits.”
Freshman righty John Paone got the start and ran into trouble in the first inning, allowing a run off of a hit-by-pitch followed by a stolen base and a single. Batting leadoff for the first time in his career, Didawick decided to do it himself in the bottom half, blasting a drive to straightaway center that the center fielder could not corral on the warning track. Didawick came cruising all the way home, helmet flying off as he rounded third. Just like that, the score was even once again.
“I was just glad to do something to help my team,” Didawick said. “That’s the first time I’ve ever hit leadoff in my life, so it was great to get it going.”
Paone took advantage of the fresh start, allowing just two more hits and zero runs. All told, the freshman worked 4.1 innings of one-run ball — his lowest run total in April. It came at just the right time for Virginia.
The bats rode the momentum as well. In the third, junior infielder Joe Tiroly put one over the left-field wall to put the Cavaliers ahead. An inning later, junior infielder Sam Harris blasted a homer of his own to left field. The pressure never relented — Clemson burned through five pitchers Saturday, but just one escaped without allowing a run. By the end of the sixth, Virginia led 4-1.
As they did Friday, however, the Tigers pounced on the Cavalier bullpen. They notched one in the seventh on a double by sophomore outfielder Nate Savoie off of Hartman, who entered in relief of Paone.
For the second time, Didawick responded. This time, the senior cleared the fence on the fly, extending the lead back to three with a solo shot — his seventh of the season.
Uncharacteristically, Hartman continued to struggle, allowing a solo home run to open the top of the eighth. After recording an out, Hartman exited in favor of Kapa in a bid by Pollard to buy Virginia some stability.
The bid failed initially, as Kapa immediately surrendered the inning’s second home run. The score was 5-4, and the Cavaliers appeared primed for another bullpen collapse — this time, one that might cost Virginia an extremely winnable series.
The bullpen has not been an area of weakness this season, though, and Pollard was not inclined to trust anyone besides the cornerstones of the pitching staff. Faced with an imposing Clemson lineup and clinging to a one-run lead, Pollard and his staff trusted their most reliable pitchers to get the job done.
“Our best guys,” Pollard said. “In that situation, especially Kapa was pitching on fumes a little bit … we said ‘he’s our best guy,’ and if he feels okay, and he did, he deserves the opportunity to go finish it. What a great performance.”
Finish it, he did. Kapa stopped the bleeding in the eighth and allowed a single to open the ninth, but the closer slammed the door, putting the next three batters down in order. In a game that was indicative in many ways of the series as a whole, Virginia had the last laugh.
Virginia has a quality rotation of starters, but Pollard was quick to go to the bullpen Friday and Saturday. Friday, the decision to pull Johnson cost Virginia. Johnson worked five innings in game two, allowing just one run but exiting at 81 pitches. Saturday, Paone posted a similar outing. But this time, the departure worked out well, even as the bullpen encountered difficulties late.
The difference came primarily on the offensive side. The Cavaliers gave their staff some breathing room Saturday, allowing Pollard to bring out his quality arms with a chance to win the series. Friday’s showing was too much for quality pitching to overcome, as the bats forced Pollard to burn less reliable arms. The pitching staff held Clemson to five or fewer runs in all three games — it came down to the bats to hold up their end of the bargain.
They should get a boost soon enough. Junior outfielder AJ Gracia and senior infielder Eric Becker both sustained injuries during the series that Pollard referred to as “day-to-day” postgame — neither played Saturday. Pollard expressed optimism that they could return for Wednesday’s midweek versus Liberty.
Virginia looks ahead to its rematch with the Flames (27-11, 12-5 CUSA) — the Cavaliers won their first matchup in a 14-12 slugfest. Subsequently, Virginia will take on Pitt on the road starting Friday.
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