Friday, Virginia was beaten, and beaten badly, by Jacksonville State. For the longest time, they looked ready to go down that same path again versus the Gamecocks (48-14, 23-7 CUSA) Sunday.
The Cavaliers fell behind early and seemed to take their medicine quietly, slipping further back later in the game. A furious, walk-filled eighth inning nearly brought the game even — but it was not enough, and the tying and go-ahead runs remained stranded as the season quietly fizzled out, with Virginia losing 7-6.
It is important to face the fact that the Cavaliers came into this game nothing short of exhausted, following an extra-innings come-from-behind victory Saturday night against regional host Southern Miss. That game was marked by high-octane offenses on both sides, but that was hardly the case Sunday.
Coach Chris Pollard said “Certainly, in all the years that I've been in NCAA tournaments, that's the best [No.] 3 seed that I've ever come up against.”
The pregame news centered on the return of junior infielder Eric Becker, who left Friday after an injury on a hit-by-pitch and missed Saturday’s match. He began the game quietly though, grounding out for the first at-bat of the game in the muggy Hattiesburg afternoon weather. Junior infielder Joe Tiroly would hit a single to open the offense for Virginia, but was left stranded — a sight soon to become familiar.
Jacksonville State saw three men up and three men down to open their first inning. In the second, a single and a walk put two Virginia men aboard — but yet again, nothing would come of it as a fielder’s choice ended the half-inning with no runs scored.
In the second inning, the Gamecocks awoke, with two walks and a single loading the bases before redshirt freshman designated hitter Sam Richardson smacked a grand slam to right field, putting the Cavaliers in a deep hole early, down 4-0.
No man reached base in the third for either team, although Becker seemed to before being ruled out upon video review. Virginia stayed quiet in the fourth. Jacksonville State nearly extended its lead with a double and a subsequent sacrifice fly moving a man to 90 feet from home plate, but a following lineout ended that possibility.
The fifth and sixth innings were similarly quiet — although players for both teams made it on base, none of them posed any significant threat.
Virginia stayed in the game due to solid defensive play, including an impressive snag at the outfield wall from junior outfielder AJ Gracia. The Gamecocks kept their lead due to an outing nothing short of stellar from their senior starting pitcher Steven Cash. He would go on to pitch 7.0 innings of scoreless ball, notching 10 strikeouts on the way while throwing 120 pitches, a record high for him on the season.
“We just couldn't get Cash out of the game quickly enough, and credit him, man,” Pollard said. “What a great competitor, and a guy that can get you out in a lot of different ways.”
In the seventh inning, Virginia would continue its typical offensive output — a single hit, but nothing more.
In the bottom of that inning, senior pitcher Kevin Jaxel entered the game. Almost immediately, he gave up a double — the runner advanced all the way home by a flyout and a sacrifice fly. Jaxel next gave up a single, then hit a batter. What followed between Jaxel and this batter was some sequence of extracurriculars, including an exchange of words between the two. The Gamecocks did not take that lightly, smacking a double to bring two more home and extending the lead to 7-0 before the inning concluded.
Finally, following the spirit-breaking inning, the Cavalier offense awoke from whatever semi-slumber they were in. To open the eighth inning, the bases were loaded without a single hit, a situation that drove Cash out of the game. Virginia immediately took advantage, with a bases-clearing double from junior catcher Jake Weatherspoon putting the Cavaliers on the board, 7-3.
Two consecutive sacrifices advanced Weatherspoon home, putting Virginia ever closer, 7-4. Two more walks meant that the tying run, Becker, was at the plate. He cashed in those baserunners, driving them home on a double that nearly cleared the fence. Gracia walked to put both the tying and go-ahead runs on base. With Tiroly up to bat, Virginia had a chance to change the momentum of the game, and keep its season alive for at least a few more minutes, and likely a few more hours.
Tiroly saw a ball, hit three consecutive balls foul and grounded out to end the inning. A scoreless bottom half of the eighth inning — thanks to ironman graduate student pitcher Lucas Hartman — meant that Virginia needed just a single run to keep going in the top of the ninth.
All that resulted was three straight outs. Virginia lost 7-6, becoming the second team eliminated in the Hattiesburg Regional.
Although closer than might have been expected in the middle of the game, the season-ending loss was certainly disheartening for Virginia in the first year of the Chris Pollard era. With Becker, Gracia and others heading to MLB following the conclusion of the season, the Cavaliers will need to retool in the 2026-2027 season in order to surpass the mark of this season.
“[Next season] we can be more surgical in our approach to really filling needs around the good young players that are here and the good young players that are coming in,” Pollard said. “[We can] really be in a position when we hit the ground running in the fall, to have so much more continuity in terms of player development.”
Questions ultimately remain for Virginia, particularly the ejections, emotions and extracurriculars that were present in an intensely fraught regional — but also inconsistent defensive play and an offense that can seemingly go cold for stretches without notice.
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