No. 19 Duke arrived ready to play. Early on, it was clear the home team had come to make a statement. No. 17 Virginia, it seemed, was still warming up.
April 2nd opened a series for Virginia (31-4, 9-3 ACC) against Duke (26-11, 11-2 ACC), a program Virginia fans know well after two shared ACC championship appearances. The Blue Devils also marked just the second top-25 opponent the Cavaliers have faced this season. With both teams closely ranked entering the series, Duke delivered on the big stage, handing Virginia a 5-2 loss.
The Cavaliers managed little in the first inning, with senior infielder Jade Hylton striking out to lead off and junior infielder Bella Cabral grounding out to end the frame. Senior Courtney Layne started in the circle for Virginia and kept Duke off the board, though not before allowing two hits.
The Blue Devils would not stay quiet for long. In the second inning Layne surrendered the game’s first home run, putting Duke up 2-0, and Virginia offered no response in the third.
Layne settled in after that, keeping the damage to a minimum through four innings. But the pitching carousel began to turn, with freshman Taylor Smith entering briefly and facing two batters before senior Eden Bigham took over. The Layne-Bigham combination flashes two aces that are formidable, but Bigham ran into trouble in the fifth, opening her outing with a walk before surrendering a two-run double that stretched the Duke lead to 4-0.
It was at that point that Virginia began to show signs of life. Sophomore infielder Alex Call singled to lead off the sixth, and freshman catcher and utility player Reagan Hickey worked a full count before launching a two-run homer to left, cutting the deficit to two and offering a glimmer of hope. But as quickly as the ball left the park, so too did the rally, and the inning ended without any further action.
Duke made sure there would be no comeback. In the bottom of the sixth Bigham allowed the game’s third home run, pushing the lead back to three and extinguishing whatever momentum Virginia had built. The Blue Devils closed out the seventh and took the series opener.
Allowing two home runs is rarely a recipe for success, but Virginia's offense struggled to provide any support. The Cavaliers hit just .129 as a team and went 1-for-12 with runners on base, that lone hit being Hickey's homer.
“Duke was able to take advantage of a few mistakes and free passes,” Coach Joanna Hardin said. “We didn’t capitalize on our opportunities, specifically when we had bases loaded in the third inning.”
The first four batters in Virginia's lineup were held hitless, while Duke's top four combined for four hits, a contrast that told the story of the game as well as anything else. When the Cavaliers’ most trusted bats go quiet, the margin for error in the circle shrinks considerably.
Even with the loss, Virginia still has only four losses on the season, and with two games remaining in the series there is still plenty at stake. The Cavaliers have shown that they are capable of bouncing back, and a response will be needed if they want to salvage the weekend against a Duke team that has now proven it can match them at their best. The question now is whether Virginia can reclaim the series on Friday at 6 p.m. before it slips away.
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