Virginia Beats Wichita State 5-4 in Rain Delayed Extra Inning Thriller

A game that was delayed more than three hours by rain was eventually won by the Cavaliers on a walk-off double by Henry Ford in extra innings

Multiple rainstorms delayed the game by a total of three hours and 16 minutes and the game didn't end until nearly seven hours after it was originally scheduled to start. Through all of that time, the Cavaliers didn't lead until the final play of the contest. 

But sometimes, that's all it takes. 

Virginia (5-0) opened play at the Jax Collegiate Classic on Friday and, although the Cavaliers trailed for nearly the entire game, they found a way to get past Wichita State (2-2) to remain unbeaten thanks to a two-run walk-off double by freshman Henry Ford in the bottom of the tenth inning. 

After the game was delayed an hour and 33 minutes for rain, Evan Blanco surrendered the first run of the game to the Shockers in the bottom of the second inning as Jaden Gustafson doubled and then scored on a single from Dayvin Johnson. Blanco tossed up zeroes on the board in the third and fourth and UVA managed to tie the game in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Luke Hanson. 

In the top of the fifth, Wichita State knocked Blanco out of the game with Darnell Parker Jr. hitting a solo home run and Camden Johnson hitting a double two batters later. Johnson came around to score as Chase Hungate gave up an RBI single to Ryan Callahan to make it 3-1. 

Virginia answered in the bottom of the sixth as Henry Godbout reached on an error, advanced to second on a balk, and then came around to score on an single by Bobby Whalen. That was all the UVA offense could muster against Wichita State starter Caden Favors, who allowed only one earned run in 6.2 innings. 

Then came the second rain delay, which paused the game in the middle of the eighth inning and lasted an hour and 43 minutes. When play resumed, the Cavaliers managed to pull even in the bottom half of the eighth as Godbout hit a one-out single, moved to third on a Whalen single, and then came home as Wichita State committed an error. 

Neither team scored in the ninth and the game, which had already become a marathon affair, went to extra innings. Things looked bleak again for UVA in the top of the tenth as Aidan Teel, who had stranded a runner in scoring position in the ninth, gave up a solo home run to Derek Williams, putting Wichita State back in front 4-3 and three outs away from pulling the upset over the 14th-ranked Cavaliers. 

Virginia had one final rally in the tank and it was started by a leadoff walk by Bobby Whalen. Anthony Stephan moved Whalen to third with a single to right field and then Ethan Anderson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. In the biggest moment of his young career, Henry Ford came just a few feet away from delivering a grand slam, but his blast to right-center field still got the job done as the ball went off the wall for a walk-off two-run double. 

Up next, Virginia will face its first ranked opponent of the season as UVA will take on No. 18 Iowa at 5pm on Saturday. 

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