Cavaliers Now

UVA Baseball Beats Villanova 3-1 for First Win of Season

Matthew Newton|
Virginia Athletic

After losing its first season opener since 2019 in walk-off, extra-inning fashion on Friday, No. 2 Virginia (1-1) got in the win column for the first time in the 2025 college baseball season with a 3-1 victory over Villanova (1-1) on Saturday night at the Puerto Rico Challenge at Estadio Francisco Montaner in Ponce, Puerto Rico.

In his first start since May 8th of last season, sophomore righty Bryson Moore delivered an excellent performance on the mound, pitching 5.2 innings and giving up just one earned run on one hit and striking out six batters.

Neither team could score in the first half of the game, though Virginia threatened with the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, but failed to capitalize. After Moore tossed a 1-2-3 frame in the top of the fifth, the Cavaliers broke through for the first run of the game in the bottom half of the inning, as freshman James Nunnallee hit a leadoff double down the right field line, advanced to third on a fly out from Eric Becker, and scored on a Henry Godbout RBI single.

Moore's evening came to an end in the sixth inning, as he hit a batter and gave up a single. Sophomore righty Drew Koenen, a transfer from Dartmouth, entered the game and gave up an RBI single to Jason Neff to tie the game at 1-1, but the Cavaliers managed to catch Neff trying to stretch his single into a double, ending the inning and leaving another runner in scoring position.

Virginia didn't wait around to retake the lead. Harrison Didawick drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the sixth and was then caught stealing at second, but Aidan Teel followed that up with another walk, prompting a pitching change for Villanova. Teel successfully stole second base to move himself into scoring position and then Nunnallee came up with a pivotal two-out single through the left side to score Teel. Becker walked and then Godbout delivered his second RBI of the day with a single to score Nunnallee, giving the Cavaliers a 3-1 lead.

Puerto Rico native and two-way star transfer Chris Arroyo made his first appearance on the mound for the Cavaliers, retiring the side in the seventh and then striking out the first Villanova batter in the eighth before giving up a single and hitting the next batter to end his outing. Kevin Jaxel entered the game and got the next out, but then surrendered a walk to load the bases with two outs. Virginia brought in Matt Lanzendorfer, who induced the critical groundout to get out of the bases loaded jam.

Lanzendorfer remained on the mound in the top of the ninth and gave up a leadoff single to bring the tying run to the plate, but retired the side with relative ease after that to secure Virginia's first victory of the season.

Drew Koenen was credited with the win and Matt Lanzendorfer got the save, though Bryson Moore had the most impressive pitching performance of the night. Offensively, Henry Godbout led the way with two RBI, while James Nunnallee went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Up next, Virginia will wrap up play at the Puerto Rico Challenge against Rice on Sunday at 4pm ET on ESPN+.

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Matt Newton
MATTHEW NEWTON

Matt launched Virginia Cavaliers On SI in August of 2021 and has since served as the site's publisher and managing editor, covering all 23 NCAA Division I sports teams at the University of Virginia. He is from Downingtown, Pennsylvania and graduated from UVA in May of 2021.

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