It was the third inning. On what would have been a routine force-out at home with the bases loaded, junior pitcher Julia Cuozzo fielded a bounce in the circle but lost control of a toss to redshirt freshman catcher Reagan Hickey — in the time it took to recover the errant ball, the cleats of two Hokies touched home plate.
That play epitomized the afternoon for the Cavaliers and delivered the first two runs of a 5-0 loss to the Hokies, marking their 15th series defeat in a row to the in-state rival. No. 21 Virginia (33-8, 10-7 ACC) remains without a series victory against No. 12 Virginia Tech (36-6, 11-4 ACC) at Palmer Park.
Defensively, there were miscues aplenty in what was a chaotic day in the field for Virginia. The Cavaliers committed multiple errors and had additional positioning issues. In the fourth inning, a line drive down the third-base line proved too high for the outstretched glove of freshman infielder Hannah Tober. With a runner incoming from second, senior infielder Jade Hylton and senior pitcher Eden Bigham — who entered the game for Cuozzo in the third — both ran to cover the unoccupied base, resulting in a failed tag.
Coach Joanna Hardin acknowledged the difficulties facing a Virginia lineup which is in flux following lengthy injury absences from junior infielder Bella Cabral and senior outfielder Kassidy Hudson. She expressed optimism, however, for the Cavaliers to work things out.
“I think we'll continue to find our groove and find our rhythm,” Hardin said. “This is tough stuff, because they feel so frustrated and upset, because it really matters to them. They care, and I … can really appreciate that about the girls. So we'll continue to communicate, continue to fill out our depths and our distances together.”
Virginia did not fare well behind the plate either, going 0-4 with runners in scoring position. One particular missed opportunity occurred in the bottom of the fifth, when Hylton reached third on a single from freshman outfielder Jaiden Griffith with only one out — a foul out and a groundout later, and the senior was left stranded.
Despite the loss, though, Hardin saw even more reason to believe in the team’s ability to contend. She was especially pleased with the performance of the pitching staff, noting how they managed to limit a stellar Hokie offense across the entire weekend.
“They're averaging eight runs a game,” Hardin said. “I think they had eight or nine earned runs on the weekend, so 13 total runs on the weekend. I think this is the first series they have not run-ruled in a game, and so I think our pitching staff was phenomenal.”
Bigham, in particular, was a bright spot on the day for Virginia. The right-hander added onto her impressive senior campaign with a solid outing, tossing 4.2 innings with two strikeouts, two walks and only one earned run. She shared her coach’s optimistic outlook on the series defeat.
“Keeping any team off the board is obviously really nice,” Bigham said. “We feel very well prepared after this weekend. I think we pitched to great hitters. Our hitters hit off a great pitcher. So if anything, we should feel very prepared.”
After dropping back-to-back conference series, Virginia will travel to Clemson next weekend to face the Tigers (27-16, 9-9 ACC), who are coming off a dominant road trip to Pittsburgh. With both Louisville and Stanford having overtaken them in the standings, the upcoming weekend series is entering must-win territory for the Cavaliers.
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