Virginia Baseball Gets Back to .500 in ACC Play With Series Win Over Pitt

Virginia Athletics

Virginia baseball got back to .500 in ACC play by taking two out of three games against Pittsburgh this weekend at Disharoon Park. The Cavaliers won the series with an 18-0 victory in seven innings on Sunday. Let's take a deeper look at how UVA won its second ACC series of the season.

Game 1: Pittsburgh 5, Virginia 7

Saturday's doubleheader featured a pair of thrillers, with each team winning a close battle. In the first game, the first three innings passed by with no damage done until the Panthers got on the board first with a two-run home run by AJ Nessler off of Jay Woolfolk. The Cavaliers fired back in the bottom half of the fourth, as Chris Arroyo hit a two-run double down the right field line and then scored on a fielder's choice. Luke Hanson then singled into center field to bring home two more runs, capping a five-run inning for the Hoos.

After a scoreless fifth and sixth innings, Pitt chased Woolfolk from the game and then scored two runs against Wes Arrington on an RBI single and an error to shrink the Virginia lead to 5-4. Matt Lanzendorfer used a double play to put a zero on the board in the eighth and then retired the first two batters of the ninth, but then Jayden Melendez barely beat out an infield single, with the help of a favorable overturned call from the umpires, to keep the Panthers alive. After a passed ball moved the runner into scoring position, Gavin Miller singled into left field to tie the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Eric Becker hit a two-out single and then Henry Ford delivered a walk-off two-run home run to give Virginia an epic 7-5 victory.

How about a walk-off to start your Saturday? ⚔️

📺: ACCNX | #GoHoos pic.twitter.com/XnuY34Ruc7

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) April 12, 2025

Game 2: Pittsburgh 8, Virginia 7

Pitt again took a 2-0 lead in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader on a two-run home run by Melendez off of Evan Blanco. Virginia got one back in the third on a Luke Hanson RBI single, but Pitt came back in the fourth and scored four runs, chasing Blanco from the game. The Panthers extended their lead to 7-1 on a sacrifice fly in the top of the sixth and Virginia answered with an RBI double by Becker in the bottom of the sixth, but Pitt scored again in the top of the seventh as Jack O'Connor balked with a runner on third base. Trailing 8-2, the Cavaliers put together a furious rally in the final two frames, scoring three runs in the bottom of the eighth on a two-run homer by Aidan Teel and a Henry Ford sacrifice fly and then two more runs in the ninth on a two-run home run by Harrison Didawick to make it 8-7 with two outs. Luke Hanson then hit a deep fly ball to left field, but it was caught shy of the wall to end the game.

Game 3: Pittsburgh 0, Virginia 18

While the first two games of the series were closely-contested and entertaining, the finale was a total one-sided beatdown by the Cavaliers. Virginia scored five runs in the first, six runs in the second, two in the third, and four in the fourth to create a 17-0 lead. Included in that run were home runs by Chris Arroyo, Harrison Didawick, and Jacob Ference, who hit a grand slam in the bottom of the second. Arroyo went 3 for 3 with six RBI, Ference went 2 for 3 with four RBI, and Didawick went 1 for 2 with three RBI.

It was hardly necessary this time, but freshman pitcher Tomas Valincius was virtually untouchable on the mound, pitching 5.2 scoreless innings and giving up only two hits and three total baserunners while striking out four batters. The shutout was Virginia's third of the season and first in ACC play.

Roll 'Em 📽️#GoHoos pic.twitter.com/SnmYzDV09F

— Virginia Baseball (@UVABaseball) April 13, 2025

Now 20-14 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, the Cavaliers find themselves in a four-way tie for seventh place in the ACC standings with Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Duke, though the Hoos have the worst overall record of that group. Up next, Virginia hosts Liberty on Tuesday at 6pm ET at Disharoon Park (ACC Network Extra) before traveling down to Tallahassee for a three-game series at No. 7 Florida State.