As the regular season reaches twilight, Virginia battled Boston College this weekend for a conference series in Boston. Fresh off a massive midweek win against Liberty, the No. 14 Cavaliers (33-12, 14-10 ACC) dropped the first game against the Eagles (21-21, 8-16 ACC) before winning two straight to take the series. While the pitching staff struggled in the opening game, Virginia pitchers were able to shut down the opposing offense for the final two games.
Game 1 — Virginia 2, Boston College 8
Sophomore left-handed pitcher Evan Blanco made the start for Virginia Thursday in the series opener at Fenway Park. The first two innings were scoreless with no hits from both the Cavaliers and the Eagles. Boston College put their first run on the board in the bottom of the third inning with a home run to right field from senior catcher Parker Landwehr. Virginia continued to struggle on offense in the fourth, but the Eagles once again added to their score with a second home run and a double to put the Cavaliers back 0-3.
A single from sophomore infielder Luke Hanson and two walks left three Virginia players on base in the top of the fifth but a strikeout put a pin in the scoring opportunity for the Cavaliers.
The score remained unchanged until the bottom of the seventh, when freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Augustin came in to relieve Blanco on the mound. After a Boston College single, graduate left-handed pitcher Angelo Tonas took over for Augustin. Landwehr added another run to the Eagles score and subsequently prompted another pitching change for Virginia. Sophomore right-handed pitcher Cullen McKay made an appearance and struck out a Boston College batter to end the inning with a 4-0 deficit.
Sophomore outfielder Harrison Didawick put the Cavaliers in position to score in the top of the eighth with a triple before a fly out from sophomore infielder Henry Godbout completed the trip around the bases to make the score 4-1.
The bottom of the eighth was unfortunately where the wheels fell off for Virginia. The Eagles tacked on three runs before the Cavaliers finally put junior left-handed pitcher Matthew Buchanan on to pitch for McKay. With bases loaded, a hit-by-pitch allowed Boston College to add another run and increase their lead to 8-1.
In a must-score top of the ninth inning, a double from junior outfielder Casey Saucke and a single from freshman infielder Henry Ford put another run on the board for Virginia. Unfortunately, the offensive splash was too little and too late for the Cavaliers, as the game ended at 8-2.
Game 2 — Virginia 4, Boston College 3
Graduate left-handed pitcher Owen Coady made the start for Virginia Friday, and promptly surrendered two singles, two walks and a double for the Eagles, putting Boston College up early with a 2-0 lead.
The Cavaliers responded in the top of the second with two triples — one apiece from graduate catcher Jacob Ference and freshman infielder Eric Becker — allowing graduate outfielder Bobby Whalen and Ference to score and level the game 2-2.
Scoring was at a standstill until the bottom of the third inning when the Eagles earned a run off an RBI single by senior infielder Vince Cimini. This was followed by yet another scoring stalemate, unbroken until the top of the sixth when a Saucke double, a Ference intentional walk and a Whalen single sent Saucke home.
In a surprising move in the eighth inning, sophomore right-handed pitcher Aidan Teel took over for Didawick in left field and produced a diving inning-ending catch, escaping a bases-loaded situation. This was the first putout of Teel’s collegiate career.
Virginia tacked on one more run in the top of the ninth off an unearned Whalen run. The bottom of the ninth was quick for the Cavalier defense with three rapid outs to end the game 4-3.
Game 3 — Virginia 4, Boston College 0
In the final game of the weekend, graduate right-handed pitcher Joe Savino made the start for Virginia Saturday. The first two innings were scoreless, but a single from Godbout began a two-run third inning for the Cavaliers. A Hanson walk put Godbout on second base, and a ground-out from junior infielder Griff O’Ferrall moved Hanson and Godbout to second and third, respectively. Godbout scored on a Whalen ground-out and Hanson tacked on the second run with a Saucke single for a 2-0 lead.
The game remained scoreless until the fifth inning when a Whalen single scored Godbout and a Saucke fly-out scored Hanson. This put Virginia up 4-0 against Boston College and was the last run of the game.
Savino allowed only one hit over his four innings pitched and was replaced by Tonas in the top of the fifth. Tonas allowed only one hit in the inning he pitched, and Teel took over in the sixth.
Whalen made a major defensive play in the sixth inning with a diving catch to rob the Eagles of a base hit. In the next inning, Teel escaped a runner in scoring situation, striking out the Boston College batter with two runners in scoring position and ending the inning.
Junior left-handed pitcher Blake Barker took over for Teel in the eighth and produced a ground-out and a single before being replaced by junior right-handed pitcher Chase Hungate. Hungate had the final five outs of the game to end it 4-0 and win the Cavaliers the series 2-1.
Despite a rough loss in the first game, Virginia ultimately marked a successful weekend. The pitching staff was exceptional in the two victories, which Coach Brian O’Connor hopes to build on.
“I shared with the team after the game [that] great teams find different ways to win,” O’Connor said. “And certainly our pitching and defense carries us today [the final game].”
Virginia continues its road stint Tuesday against VCU at 6:30 p.m before returning to Disharoon Park Wednesday at 6 p.m. versus Navy, with eyes on a home series versus NC State on deck for the weekend. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday May 10, and can be viewed on ACCNX.
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