The Virginia Cavaliers (11-19, 7-14 ACC) picked up its first ACC series win at Palmer Park against the Boston College Eagles (6-18, 2-11 ACC), taking games one, two, and four of the series. Several days later, the Hoos lost to the Liberty Flames (23-12) in a non-conference matchup.
Boston College
The first game of the four-game series was a battle in the circle, as the Hoos came out on top 1-0. The winning pitcher Molly Grube pitched four innings and gave up three hits for UVA, while Mikayla Houge earned the save with three perfect innings to close out the pitcher’s duel. Meanwhile, Boston College’s Susannah Anderson pitched an impressive game, giving up just one hit in the loss.
UVA pushed across the only run of the game in the bottom of the fourth inning, courtesy of some efficient at-bats. Katie Goldberg doubled down the left field line to kick off the fourth inning, and then Tori Gilbert laid down a sacrifice bunt and Donna Friedman hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the only run of the game.
The Cavaliers won game two of the Thursday doubleheader in blowout fashion, shutting out the Eagles 9-0 in five innings. The last time the Hoos had back-to-back shutouts was against Delaware State in 2014.
After only recording one hit in the first game, UVA made sure that wouldn’t be the case in game two. They poured on six runs in the bottom of the first inning, and then added one more in the second, third, and fourth innings. The offensive explosion in the opening frame came with a three-run homer by Katie Goldberg, an RBI single from Bailey Winscott, and a two-run triple from Arizona Ritchie in an inning where the entire Cavalier lineup came to the plate. Later in the game, Tori Gilbert hit a solo home run to help the Hoos earn the run rule victory. Aly Rayle picked up the win with four shutout innings.
Boston College rebounded to pick up a 3-1 victory in game three of the series, using late game scoring to take the lead. Susannah Anderson pitched a complete game in the win for the Eagles, and Mackenzie Wooten took the loss for the Cavaliers in relief.
The Hoos managed five hits and just one run, with Abby Weaver and Ashley Jennings each having two hits. Jennings hit a solo homer in the second inning to give UVA the lead, but they were unable to sustain the advantage. Boston College’s Emme Martinez hit an RBI single in the fifth inning, and Ellie Mataya hit a two-RBI single in the sixth inning to take the lead. After Mackenzie Wooten recorded the first two outs of the inning, a fielding error on a dropped third strike allowed the inning to continue, and the Eagles capitalized by pushing two runs across. Ellie Mataya led the way for the Eagles, going 3-4 with two RBI and one run scored.
UVA took the final game of the series and earned the series win in an extra innings affair, defeating the Eagles 2-1 in 12 innings.
Boston College got on the board in the third inning on a double by Nicole Giery, and UVA tied it up in the bottom of the sixth with an RBI single from Tori Gilbert. From there, both teams were scoreless for five innings until UVA plated the winning run in the bottom of the 12th. Ashley Jennings led off with an infield single, and then Bailey Winscott added a bunt single. Donna Friedman contributed a sacrifice bunt to move the runners into scoring position, Gabby Baylog was hit by a pitch, and Arizona Ritchie came up with the winning hit on an infield single. The ball never left the infield in the inning, but the Hoos were able to string together some hits to come out on top. Boston College’s Susannah Anderson took the loss after pitching 11.1 innings and scattering 10 hits, and UVA’s Aly Rayle and Mikayla Houge combined to pitch the one run victory, with Houge registering the victory.
Liberty
The Liberty Flames (23-12) defeated the Cavaliers (11-19) on Tuesday afternoon by a score of 12-3 in a six inning game. The Flames finished with 11 hits in the game and scored in the first, third, and fourth innings before erupting for five runs in the top of the sixth. Autumn and Amber Bishop, the top two hitters in the Flames lineup, each went 2-3 with 3 RBI, and Kara Canetto finished 3-4 with 2 RBI. McKenzie Wagoner picked up the victory for Liberty.
For the Hoos, Clare Zureich took the loss, giving up four runs in three innings of work. Relief pitchers Mackenzie Wooten and Madison Harris also gave up runs in the contest. Abby Weaver hit an RBI single in the third inning and Arizona Ritchie had an RBI double in the fourth, but the Hoos couldn’t match the offensive firepower from the Flames.
UVA will face UNC in a four games series in Chapel Hill this weekend, starting with a doubleheader on Friday, April 9th.
