In 2025, Virginia baseball went 1-3 in games that went to extra innings. That same year, the bullpen cost the Cavaliers multiple other key games by blowing leads against teams such as Oregon State, Boston College and NC State. These losses proved to be critical daggers in Virginia’s season, as they fell on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament bubble come the end of the season.
2026 is an entirely new story. Games are not going to extra innings as much because the Virginia bullpen has kept them in its own favor. While there are several reasons why the 2026 Cavalier season has been successful, the bullpen has, is and will continue to be the deciding factor in important games that determine the course of the season down the stretch.
Starting off on a basic level, not a single Virginia reliever who appeared in more than 10 games in 2025 had an earned run average below 2.50. Key relievers such as graduate Wes Arrington, junior Ryan Osinski and junior Joe Colucci — who combined for 55 appearances — all had ERAs over 4.00. The Cavaliers gave up too many runs in late innings, simple as that.
This season, three of Virginia’s four most utilized relievers all have ERAs under 3.05, with the multiple relievers such as freshman Noah Yoder and graduate Tyler Kapa holding ERAs under 2.50. The Cavalier bullpen is not allowing other teams to score in the later innings of games anymore, which has allowed Virginia to close out wins. The talent improvement from 2025 is obvious, as returners from 2025 like Colucci and junior Drew Koenen have found themselves relegated to less innings.
Going further than not conceding runs, the Cavalier bullpen hardly allows opponents to put the ball in play. Graduate Lucas Hartman already has more strikeouts than any Virginia reliever in 2025 with the team as a whole on schedule to outpace their strikeout totals from the previous year by a considerable margin. This is critical to the team’s success late in the game, as strikeouts do not allow runners to advance the way a sacrifice fly or ground ball would.
Another testament to the solidity of the Cavaliers’ bullpen is that the team consistently entrusts the same guys to get the job done. Whereas Virginia lacked a go-to guy outside of graduate Matt Lanzendorfer in 2025, there are a plethora of arms that have proved reliable in 2026. Even aside from the mainstays of Yoder, Hartman and Kapa, players such as freshman Christian Lucarelli, freshman Jayden Stroman and senior Kevin Jaxel have all proven to be great options to hold or close out games.
Relating to stability, the Cavaliers’ best bullpen arms have also proven their durability. Hartman has notched 23 appearances already, good enough for top 10 in the country and well on the way to a spot on the single season leaderboard in program history. Kapa also has a shot at making the program’s single-season saves leaderboard, having already clinched 11 victories with over a month left in the season. His save total is good enough for third in the nation.
When it comes down to the big moments in conference play, the night and day difference between the 2025 and 2026 Cavalier bullpens only becomes more glaring. Walk-off home runs killed a potential sweep of a ranked Georgia Tech in 2025 and lost Virginia their series against the Wolfpack. This season, the bullpen has dug deep to seal gutsy wins against teams like Florida State and North Dakota State.
Whether it be giving up walk-off home runs or an inability to throw strikes in key moments, the bullpen was an obstacle to overcome for every Cavalier victory in 2025. Now, the bullpen is an enabler of victories, turning losses into close wins and close wins into comfortable ones. The result is clear, as Virginia is already close to matching its win total from 2025 and has a shot to reach 40 wins again for the third time in four years.
One commonality between all the high-impact relievers in this Cavalier bullpen is that they are newcomers. Hartman and Kapa came over from Western Kentucky and Eastern Michigan for their graduate year, respectively. Yoder, Stroman and Lucarelli are all freshmen that coach Chris Pollard pulled over when he left Duke.
Only 78.1 of the 411 innings pitched by Cavalier pitchers this year have come from members of the 2025 roster, with over half of that coming from two pitchers in Jaxel and Colucci. Pollard recognized the flaws of the roster he inherited and sought out the right top-level arms to make a difference.
As the season draws on, the bullpen’s importance will only increase exponentially. When it comes to the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, Virginia will likely have to play four games in the span of a weekend. While the Cavalier starting arms have proven to be more than serviceable, Virginia will easily need 12 innings or more from its bullpen if they want to get across the line and win the conference or an NCAA regional.
If the bullpen can remain a stable unit, the Cavaliers will have a much better shot at a long run in the postseason and an eighth College World Series appearance. If the unit regresses toward the form of the 2025 unit, what has been a promising first season under Pollard will come to a premature end due to an inability to close out games.
Read More
Cavaliers exit ACC Championships with 3-1 loss in Commonwealth Clash mulligan
By Ben McNiff | 2 hours agoVirginia Tech will face second-seeded No. 11 Duke in the semifinal tomorrow, while Virginia will discover their next opponent in the NCAA Regionals following the Selection Sunday ceremony this weekend.
Hackett, Eaton meet the moment to advance the Cavaliers in ACC Championship
By Ben McNiff | 16 hours ago“I get in the box, everything goes silent,” Eaton said. “I kind of go tunnel vision, and I just tell myself, I'm gonna get the job done. I don't think about anything negative. I know they're gonna come in my zone, and when they do, I'm gonna make them pay for it."
After getting burned in April, Virginia faces a trial by fire in the ACC Championships
By Ben McNiff | YesterdayTo advance past the second round, Virginia will once again need measured performances in the circle from seniors Eden Bigham, Courtney Layne and the rest of a very deep bullpen.
