The initial innings of the first matchup in the Commonwealth Clash were defined by stifling defense and command from the circle. From the very first at-bat — a Hokie leadoff single from junior outfielder Addison Foster — the second was anything but. After a series of miscues, No. 21 Virginia found itself down by a run in the first — the Cavaliers (33-7, 10-6 ACC) trailed continuously in the 5-2 loss to No. 12 Virginia Tech (34-6, 10-4).
Senior Courtney Layne, starting in the circle, managed to escape the inning without any further damage — she quickly found herself in peril once again in the second. Two groundouts began the inning for the Hokies, but a trio of singles brought home two runs, deepening the deficit to three for the Cavaliers entering the bottom of the second.
Yesterday, Coach Joanna Hardin noted the importance of recovering from mistakes. In her eyes, the lack of a rebound cost Virginia the series against Duke, while the opposite brought her squad a victory in the first game this weekend.
“Duke was a lot of self-inflicted wounds and without a rebound,” Hardin said. “So that happened, right? We had three or four walks [in the first game against Virginia Tech] … and an error, and we rebounded, we finished it out, we closed it out. And so I think that was the difference for us. It was just sometimes you can't stop the bleeding.”
Today, a rebound appeared to be the difference once again in the bottom of the second — a single from sophomore infielder Alex Call and a walk from freshman utility player Hannah Weismer set up an RBI double from sophomore outfielder Madison Greene to chip one run away from the deficit.
Unfortunately for Virginia, the Hokies were not content with a two-run lead, battering freshman Taylor Smith — in the game for Layne — to tack on their fourth and fifth runs of the day in the third.
Following a scoreless fourth inning, Smith shut out the Hokies in the top of the fifth to set the table for the Cavalier bats in the bottom of the inning — a sacrifice fly from junior infielder Macee Eaton would bring senior infielder Jade Hylton home for the Cavaliers’ second run of the game. That run was Hylton’s 179th career run scored, good for the program record.
Smith held her own in what was the longest start of her Virginia career — this was her first outing going over 4.0 innings pitched. She tossed three strikeouts, six walks and allowed two earned runs.
“I definitely think the first inning was … nerve-wracking,” Smith said. “But as I extended, I felt like I got comfortable, got into rhythm. I would just say my biggest thing was realizing we're still in it.”
Sophomore Ava Hodges took over for her with the bases loaded for the seventh inning and managed to get two outs while allowing zero runs.
The Cavaliers would fail to muster any additional scores to cut into the Hokies’ lead in the seventh, leaving the Commonwealth Clash tied with one game remaining. Both programs now have 10 ACC wins, with the final game of the series serving as a tiebreaker for the third seed in the conference tournament.
The second game of the weekend series was crucial for both teams in regard to ACC implications, but there were bigger matters at play today at Palmer — Saturday was Virginia softball’s Strikeout Cancer game. Before the first pitch, there was a remembrance held for Rylan French, a 12-year-old who passed away after a battle with brain cancer. Rylan played softball, and was an avid fan of Virginia. Her family was in attendance.
“Palmer Park is a place where we can be light in really dark times for people,” Hardin said. “That was just an amazing opportunity for us, and it just kind of takes some of the meanness of … competition, and gives it some perspective.”
Virginia will face Virginia Tech to decide the Clash tomorrow, with the first pitch slated for 4 p.m. at Palmer Park.
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