Saturday, Virginia baseball walked onto the diamond for the last time in the 2025-26 regular season. Ending the season on the road versus ACC foe Louisville at Jim Patterson Stadium, the Cavaliers (35-20, 14-16 ACC) smacked 11 hits and recorded only a single error — besting their eight hits and three errors in Thursday’s victory.
Despite that, Virginia concluded its final game of the regular season with a dud in a match that could hardly be called close, as the Cavaliers lost 10-5.
The momentum of the game was not always on the Cardinals’ (30-26, 13-17 ACC) side, though. In the first inning, the visiting Cavaliers looked ready to bounce back from a Saturday night loss. A single from top MLB Draft prospect and junior outfielder AJ Gracia opened the hitting early for Virginia.
Junior infielder Joe Tiroly added a single of his own, and a groundout from junior designated hitter Sam Harris put both in scoring position. However, Virginia would ultimately come up empty-handed, as another out ended the inning with men stranded on base in a situation that would ultimately become familiar.
Louisville had less trouble, with a leadoff double and two sacrifices scoring a man quick. Although junior pitcher Kyle Johnson would plate another Cardinal via hit by pitch, no further runs were scored — but Louisville had already made a strong opening statement, and stood up 1-0.
Like in the first inning, the Cavaliers would record two hits in the second inning — advancing a man to third, only 90 feet from home plate. Like the first inning, though, it would be for naught following junior infielder Eric Becker grounding into a double play, perhaps unable to capture some of the magic he conjured in his three-home run return Friday.
Louisville, eager to build on its lead, would score partially thanks to two hits of its own, and partially thanks to a Virginia error that made two Cardinal runs possible. Louisville finished the inning up 3-0.
Three men went up for Virginia in the third inning, and three went down. Although Louisville was on the doorstep of blowing the game wide open with the bases loaded, the Cardinals ultimately stranded three, and the game remained relatively close.
The fourth inning was a quiet one for both teams, each of which got one man on base who did little further damage. The fifth inning would be a quiet one for the Virginia offense as well, but the Cardinals extended their lead further with a blast from senior infielder Bayram Hot, making the game 4-0.
The sixth inning continued a Cavalier cold streak. Louisville, borrowing from the name of their long-ball hitter, stayed hot — a single, a walk and a homer from junior outfielder Zion Rose made the lead a seemingly insurmountable 7-0.
In the face of the onslaught, the Cavaliers did little to rally — three went up and three went down to make it seven consecutive at-bats without getting on base and 13 consecutive without a hit. A Louisville single and ground-rule double did not lead to Cardinal scores, but this was hardly a victory in the face of the giant losing margin facing Virginia.
To open the eighth inning, the Cavaliers ended the hitless streak with singles from Becker and Gracia, and a Tiroly walk loaded the bases. Johnson, who replaced Harris at designated hitter after concluding his time on the mound, made good use of the bat with a single that scored one, making Virginia’s first dent in the deficit.
Then, in one fell swoop, senior outfielder Harrison Didawick cut the Louisville margin in half with a bases-clearing triple to center field. Didawick later scored on a sacrifice fly. Any Cavalier fans in the crowd surely felt better during the seventh inning stretch with their team only down two instead of seven, as the Cardinals only led 7-5.
A Louisville leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth quickly dashed those hopes, and any Virginia momentum was dampened with a walk, a passed ball, a single and a double. The score stood 10-5 at the end of the eighth inning, a score that would remain that way when the game — and Virginia’s regular season — ended.
“I have full confidence in this team’s ability to win a regional and continue to advance, but we have to play better,” Coach Chris Pollard said. “We have to get better in all three phases than we were the last two days ... We’ll get back to practice on Monday and get ready for a big week in Charlotte.”
The Cavaliers now await a conference tournament with much bigger stakes than most expected a month ago. At Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C., Wednesday, bright and early at 9 a.m., No. 8 seed Virginia will face the winner of a Tuesday match between No. 9 North Carolina State and No. 16 Duke. If Virginia wins, it will face No. 1 Georgia Tech in the tournament quarterfinals. The Cavaliers hope to avoid a bad loss, especially in their first game, to avoid further dampening their hopes for an NCAA Tournament bid. All ACC Tournament games will be broadcast on ACC Network.
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