On a picture-perfect Senior Day at Disharoon Park, No. 23 Virginia entered Sunday’s game with a tremendous opportunity to take control of the series — and, perhaps, its season. After defeating California on Saturday, the Cavaliers (33-18, 13-14 ACC) seemed set to get back into the series win column against the Golden Bears (27-24, 10-17 ACC).
Virginia honored six senior and graduate players before the game as well as Scott Clore, the team’s head student manager. The honorees took the field with their families and were greeted with flowers, customized memorabilia and strong applause from the Cavalier faithful.
Despite the festivities, Virginia fell short in the rubber match. A late surge by California was enough to hold off the Cavaliers, 8-7.
Junior left hander Kyle Johnson got the nod for the Cavaliers and opened the game with a 1-2-3 first inning, striking out a pair of Golden Bears. In the bottom half, junior utilityman Sam Harris and junior infielder Joe Tiroly each launched home runs to push Virginia out to an early three-run lead.
Junior outfielder AJ Gracia extended the lead to four in the bottom of the third with his 13th home run of the season, sending a shot off the batter’s eye in center field.
Johnson worked efficiently early, staying ahead of hitters and keeping California off the board through four innings. But in the fifth, he allowed a sacrifice fly and a two-run home run on a hanging changeup to junior utilityman Gannon Snyder, trimming the Cavalier lead to one.
Both teams then traded solo home runs across the next two innings, with Tiroly notching his second shot of the day on a blast to center field in the fifth. The Golden Bears responded in the sixth to pull back within one at 5-4.
“I thought [Johnson] pitched well,” Coach Chris Pollard said. “Take away the 1-0 changeup to Snyder and that’s a really well-pitched ballgame. I loved his ability to put four pitches in the zone.”
An inning later, disaster struck.
Graduate reliever Lucas Hartman has been the heart and soul of an improved Virginia bullpen. A workhorse ranked in the top 10 nationally in appearances and sporting a 9-2 record, Hartman ran into trouble in the seventh.
With two outs and the bases loaded, Hartman left an off-speed pitch up and over the heart of the plate for freshman infielder Jett Kenady, who did not miss it. Kenady turned on the pitch, sending a go-ahead grand slam into the left-field seats and leaving the Cavaliers in an 8-5 hole.
“I told the team after the handshake line, we aren’t in this position with 33 wins without Lucas Hartman,” Pollard said. “[He’s] done an incredible job all year and we will continue to believe in him.”
Then came another swing from the Cavaliers’ hottest bat.
Tiroly launched his third home run of the game in the bottom of the seventh, bringing the Cavaliers back within one and injecting life into a team that desperately needed it.
“They’ve got some good arms, I was fortunate enough that I was seeing the ball well and was able to put some good swings on the ball,” Tiroly said. “[I] wanted to stay aggressive and attack, and I was able and fortunate enough to do so.”
Tiroly became just the seventh player in Virginia history to hit three home runs in a game — the second this season, joining Gracia, who hit three against Monmouth in February.
Though freshman reliever Thomas Stewart and graduate Tyler Kapa were dominant in the back end of the bullpen, holding the Golden Bears scoreless across the final two frames, the Cavaliers failed to generate any offensive momentum of their own, ultimately falling 8-7.
Stewart has now thrown 7.1 scoreless innings in his six relief appearances since returning from injury — a bright spot amidst recent bullpen struggles.
The loss, disappointing in its own right, reflects what has been a frustrating month. Virginia has now lost four of its last six ACC series, with their conference record now sitting below .500 for the season.
With just one week and one series left in the regular season, this weekend’s matchup at Louisville serves a critical determinant for both the Cavaliers’ seeding for the ACC Tournament, and the trajectory of their postseason hopes. That series will get underway Thursday — first, Virginia will take on Richmond Tuesday at home, the Cavaliers’ last home game of the regular season.
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