Thursday, Virginia beat Louisville 8-3 in a game that was never close. The Cavaliers (35-19, 14-15 ACC) bested the Cardinals (29-26, 12-17 ACC) in most statistics. The result was never in doubt.
Louisville turned around and shoved a 12-2 blowout right back at Virginia Friday.
The Cavaliers had a dominant run from sophomore starter Henry Zatkowski in game one Thursday, but freshman John Paone produced a nightmarish performance in game two. Paone, riding major momentum as of late, could not escape the second inning Friday. In just 1.2 innings, Paone was drilled for five earned runs off six hits and a walk. The Cardinals also tagged on an additional unearned run to take a 6-0 lead after two innings of play.
Sophomore Max Stammel fared no better. Entering in relief, he allowed three earned runs thanks to four hits and a walk in 1.1 innings of work. Later in the game’s final innings, freshman Noah Yoder and sophomore Michael Yeager combined to surrender an additional three runs.
“Well, first off, credit Louisville,” Coach Chris Pollard said postgame. “They did a much better job today of selling out to their offensive approach. They came in to take away the best pitch from whatever guy we had in the ball game, and they did a really nice job with that.”
Virginia, having lasted just 10 games since allowing double-digit runs, got blasted as the game ended after eight innings in mercy-rule fashion. Strange blowout losses have been an occasional occurrence this season — and it is certainly troubling for their postseason aspirations.
However, it is important to note that Louisville features an incredibly talented offense led by the nation’s home run leader in sophomore first baseman Tague Davis. More often than not, the Cardinals will light up the scoreboard. The kicker is, the Cavaliers are also capable of scoring en masse — but they looked concerningly lost against Louisville’s arms.
Virginia only tallied six hits Friday compared to 17 by its opponent. Of the Cavaliers’ six hits, four of those came from junior outfielder AJ Gracia and sophomore outfielder Zach Jackson. The entire rest of Virginia’s lineup, for a whole eight innings, combined for just two hits. Hitless Cavaliers with multiple plate appearances included senior outfielder Harrison Didawick, junior first baseman Sam Harris, junior utilityman Antonio Perrotta and junior third baseman Noah Murray.
The only scoring by Virginia came on a solo shot from Jackson in the sixth inning, plus an RBI double by junior outfielder AJ Gracia to drive in junior shortstop Eric Becker in the seventh. Before those plays, though, the Cavaliers trailed 9-0 after five innings of play.
“We made mental mistakes on the bases, we made mental mistakes in the infield defense and we did not do a good job against [junior pitcher Colton] Hartman of taking away the fastball, which was our game plan,” Pollard said.
After the loss, the Cavaliers will officially fail to finish with a winning record in ACC play, which has not happened since the 2021 season. Should they lose tomorrow, they would finish with a losing record in conference play for the first time since 2019.
The rubber match for the series begins Saturday at 1 p.m. — the final game of the regular season. Junior Kyle Johnson takes the mound, hoping to enter the postseason on a high note. However, a series loss could strike a significant blow to the Cavaliers’ seeding in the upcoming NCAA Tournament.
“We've got to play a lot better tomorrow,” Pollard said.
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