Junior first baseman Mike Papi slammed the game-winning double to right-center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, turning on Rebels senior right-hander Aaron Greenwood’s full-count pitch to drive in fleet-footed senior pinch runner Thomas Woodruff.
The third-seeded Cavaliers trumped longtime ACC rival Maryland, 11-2, Monday night at Davenport Field in the do-or-die game of the NCAA Baseball Championship’s Charlottesville Super Regional, booking their third trip to the College World Series since head coach Brian O’Connor, associate head coach Kevin McMullan and assistant coach Karl Kuhn came to town 11 years ago.
The Cavaliers (47-13, 22-8 ACC) defeated Bucknell once and Arkansas (40-25, 16-14 SEC) twice to advance to the super regionals for the fifth time in program history—and the fifth time in coach Brian O’Connor’s 11 years at the helm. Virginia was stingy on the mound, nearly mistake-free in the field and powerful in the batter’s box, yielding just three runs all weekend while committing one error and pushing 22 base runners across home plate.
Virginia sophomore women’s tennis player Danielle Collins made her mark on history Memorial Day afternoon, defeating California freshman Lynn Chi 6-2, 7-5 in the NCAA Singles Final to become the first ever Cavalier women’s player to win the singles title. No one from Virginia had ever reached the quarterfinals or further before this season.
Virginia competed in the ACC Baseball Championship this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at NewBridge Bank Park in Greensboro, N.C., winning once and losing twice in first-round action to forfeit its shot at the tournament crown. The No. 3 Cavaliers (44-13, 22-8 ACC) played a trio of close ballgames, scoring 13 runs total while ceding 15.
Top-ranked Virginia split a Friday doubleheader and fell by a run in a down-to-the wire Saturday finale, suffering its first losing weekend of 2014. The Cavaliers finished second in the ACC’s Coastal Division and earned the No. 3 seed in next week’s ACC Baseball Championship, which runs May 20-25 in Greensboro, N.C.
Former Virginia baseball coach Dennis Womack delivered the ceremonial first pitch Tuesday night before the No. 1 Cavaliers faced off with in-state rival Virginia Commonwealth at Davenport Field. Then, Virginia and current dugout-man Brian O’Connor posted a wire-to-wire 12-3 win against the Rams to complete their home slate at 29-3.
Sunday, the Virginia baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Costal Division competitor Georgia Tech before 4,698 fans at Davenport Field. The No. 1 Cavaliers (41-9, 21-6 ACC) improved to 9-0 in ACC series on the year while honoring graduating seniors Austin Young, Artie Lewicki and Whit Mayberry, all right-handed pitchers.
The Virginia baseball team returned to action Wednesday night after a weeklong hiatus for final exams, playing in-state adversary Liberty at Davenport Field. The No. 1 Cavaliers (38-9, 18-6 ACC) doused the No. 24 Flames, 8-2, as 4,354 fans—the largest-ever crowd for a Virginia midweek home game—looked on.
The Virginia women’s soccer team had a record-breaking 2013 season that resulted in an ACC Regular Season Championship and a trip to the NCAA Final Four. Despite facing one of the hardest schedules in the country, the Cavaliers posted 24 wins with an average margin of victory of nearly three goals.
Virginia softball concluded its season in a fashion all too familiar — with a sweep by Boston College.
The No. 4 Virginia men’s tennis team continued its ACC dominance Sunday, defeating No. 9 North Carolina to clinch the program’s eighth straight ACC Tournament title and 10th in the past 11 years. With the victory against the Tar Heels, the Cavaliers extended their conference match win streak to 121 matches.
Continuing to make school history, the No. 7 Virginia women’s tennis team defeated No. 6 Duke to win the first ACC Championship title in program history Sunday in Cary, NC.
The Cavaliers do not post many breathe-easy wins against high-caliber opponents. O’Connor’s club, however, knows how to win close ballgames.
The No. 8 Virginia men’s lacrosse team used a 3-0 run in the fourth quarter of the ACC Showcase Saturday to earn a 13-11 win against sixth-ranked North Carolina. The win marks the Cavaliers’ first conference victory since their 17-12 thrashing of Syracuse March 1.
Virginia (10-8, 3-4 ACC) could not sustain its recent momentum Friday, falling against top seed and eventual champion Maryland (18-1, 7-1 ACC), 15-9.
Virginia senior tight end Jake McGee announced Friday that he will transfer to another program after graduating in May. The Richmond native lettered three times for Virginia and paced Cavalier pass-catchers with 43 receptions and 345 receiving yards in 2013.
The Skinny on weekend matchups for men’s lacrosse, baseball, women’s rowing, and softball
The No. 14 Virginia women’s lacrosse team has been nearly unstoppable of late and continued that trend Thursday, defeating No. 7 Duke in the first round of the ACC tournament, 7-5.
The Virginia softball team took both games of their doubleheader Wednesday afternoon against Liberty. The Cavaliers (8-40, 1-22 ACC) put forward a tremendous effort in all facets of the game to douse the Flames (7-42, 2-19 Big South) by a combined score of 16-4.
