Virginia Softball Goes Undefeated With Five Wins at the Cavalier Classic

The Virginia softball team went undefeated and won five games in dominant fashion at the Cavalier Classic this weekend at Palmer Park. UVA earned victories against Longwood on Thursday, Maryland Eastern Shore on Friday, St. John's on Saturday, and Howard and George Washington on Sunday.

Thursday: Longwood 1, Virginia 5

Read a full recap of Virginia's 5-1 win over Longwood here.

Friday: Maryland Eastern Shore 2, Virginia 10 (6 innings)

With the exception of Virginia's 5-1 win over Longwood that went the distance on Thursday, UVA won each of its other four games via run-rule. In Friday's game against Maryland Eastern Shore, the Hawks took a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning, but Virginia responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth thanks to back-to-back doubles by Kelly Ayer and Kailyn Jones and a bases loaded walk by Gabby Baylog. Leah Boggs added a run for the Cavaliers in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly, but Maryland Eastern Shore responded with a run in the sixth. UVA then managed to trigger the run-rule with a six-run sixth inning. Three-consecutive walks loaded the bases with no outs and UVA brought in two runs with groundouts. Kailyn Jones then delivered an RBI triple and Leah Boggs brought in Jones with a single. Virginia drew four more walks after that to bring in the necessary runs to trigger the run-rule, giving UVA a 10-2 win. Eden Bigham was credited with the win as she pitched all six innings, allowing just two runs on three hits and striking out seven batters.

Saturday: St. John's 0, Virginia 8 (6 innings)

Jenny Bressler and Courtney Layne combined for a six-inning shutout for UVA against St. John's, allowing just one hit in the process. Bressler went 4.2 innings, striking out four batters and surrendering only one hit and four walks. Layne took over in the fifth and closed out the game without allowing a hit. UVA got on the board in the bottom of the first inning on a solo home run from Jade Hylton, her third homer of the season. Hylton scored again in the third inning as she stole third and came home on a throwing error. Virginia added three runs in the fourth inning behind a two-run triple from Leah Boggs and a sacrifice fly by Lauren VanAssche. UVA made it 7-0 in the fifth inning on a long two-run single by Abby Weaver. In the sixth inning, Sydney Hartgrove walked it off with a double that scored Kelly Ayer to trigger the run rule, giving Virginia the 8-0 win.

Sunday: Howard 0, Virginia 8 (6 innings)

Virginia picked up its second-straight 8-0 victory on Sunday morning. Eden Bigham picked up her third win of the year in the circle, pitching four scoreless innings, and giving up just two hits and a walk while striking out four. Courtney Layne and Mikayla Houge each delivered a hitless inning in relief, with Houge striking out the side in the top of the sixth. Virginia got on the board with a four-run third inning thanks to a two-run double from M.C. Eaton, an RBI triple from Katie Goldberg, and an RBI single from Abby Weaver. UVA scored two more runs in the fourth as Tori Gilbert brought home Jade Hylton with a sacrifice fly and then Kelly Ayer stole home to make it 6-0. After a scoreless fifth inning, Virginia ended the game in the sixth as Gabby Baylog grounded out to score Kelsey Hackett and Reece Holbrook singled to bring home Jones to give Virginia the 8-0 win.

Sunday: George Washington 1, Virginia 16 (5 innings)

Virginia earned its most dominant victory in the final game of the weekend against George Washington. UVA jumped on the board in the first inning on a two-run home run from Sarah Coon. The Colonials scored their lone run of the game on an error in the top of the second inning, but the Cavaliers responded with six more runs in the bottom of the second. Lauren VanAssche hit a two-run single and then scored on a triple from Jade Hylton. Kelly Ayer scored on a wild pitch and Katie Goldberg drove in Coon with a double in the inning to make it 8-1. After a scoreless third inning, Virginia put the nail in the coffin in the fourth with eight more runs. Tori Gilbert hit an RBI single and Katie Goldberg hit an RBI double. later in the inning, Jade Hylton came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded and delivered Virginia's first grand slam of the season with a homer to center field. Ayer drew a walk and then M.C. Eaton hit a home run over the left field wall to make it 16-1. Molly Grube and Jenny Bressler combined to hold George Washington to just one run from the pitcher's circle as Virginia finished the weekend with the 16-1 win in five innings.

Virginia won all five games of the Cavalier Classic by a combined 47-4 margin and improved to 11-4 on the season. Up next, UVA will host a doubleheader against Radford on Tuesday with the first game set to begin at 4pm at Palmer Park.

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