After the sun set and the temperature cooled in Round Rock, Texas, the contest between Virginia and Oklahoma was deadlocked at four runs apiece going into the 12th inning Sunday. The Cavaliers (3-3, 0-0 ACC) needed a hero. The Sooners (6-0, 0-0 SEC) needed a hero. But only one team could prevail. Unfortunately, that hero was junior infielder Dawson Willis for Oklahoma. With the first two runners reaching base, Willis laid down a perfect bunt, and Virginia lost the game on a poor throw from junior infielder Luke Hanson. The error scored the game winning run, and the Cavaliers were left with a sour loss.
Earlier, in the second inning, it looked as if Virginia would cruise to a comfortable victory. The Cavaliers took a 3-0 lead, and the offense was breaking out of a dry spell. A key reason why, was that Virginia was able to get runs across from contributors at the bottom of the order.
A single from junior outfielder Aidan Teel and a hit by pitch from junior catcher Trey Wells set up junior outfielder Harrison Didawick to bunt. This bunt caused mass chaos as Oklahoma failed to record an out while Teel scored. With two on the bases, junior infielder Luke Hanson singled to knock both of them in — and the Cavaliers were in business.
However, the front half of the Virginia lineup was much less impressive. The first five hitters for the Cavaliers combined for just three hits, and power sluggers such as graduate catcher Jacob Ference and junior first baseman Chris Arroyo went hitless. This disappointing performance from some of Virginia’s best hitters dampened the offense all game, forcing the Cavaliers to rely on walks and good situational hitting to scratch runs across.
On the diamond, both starting pitchers lacked the fortitude to go the distance. Sophomore Cameron Johnson struggled early and often for the Sooners, only going three innings while allowing five hits and three runs. Virginia worked counts early in the game, having great at-bats and driving Johnson’s pitch count up. They also took advantage of a multitude of errors that the Sooners made. They made two during Johnson’s time on the mound, and three total.
Meanwhile, freshman Tomas Valincius started off hot for the Cavaliers, not allowing a hit until the fourth inning. However, he struggled massively in the second time around the lineup, giving up a home run to sophomore infielder Jaxon Willits.
A deep double from senior catcher Scott Mudler and sophomore utility man Jason Walk then evened the game at three runs apiece by the end of the fifth inning. That being said, a bright spot for Valincius was his two pickoff moves in the early innings, which exposed the Oklahoma offense and kept them at bay for a while.
As the game went on, the Virginia offense tapered off. After the third inning the team failed to get a hit until the ninth inning, as the entire Sooner bullpen had a handle on the Cavalier lineup. While inconsistent hitting is an issue in itself, it also highlights the missed opportunities the Virginia offense had in the first few frames.
The Cavaliers left five runners on the basepaths in the first three innings, multiple of which were in scoring position. Leaving runners on base has been a problem all season for Virginia, and is something that must be mitigated in order to beat top competition.
Meanwhile, the same issue could not be said for Oklahoma. The Cavalier bullpen felt like a rotating door after junior Kevin Jaxel took over on the mound for Valincius in the seventh inning. Both Jaxel and senior pitcher Blake Barker immediately gave up a hit to their first batters, forcing Coach Brian O’Connor to continuously change the pitcher.
With Oklahoma now in the lead 4-3 after a single from junior infielder Dayton Tockey scored freshman infielder Kyle Branch, sophomore Drew Koenen was next up to have a whirl on the mound. Fortunately, Koenen induced weak contact that forced a double play — ending the inning with the Sooner lead at one run.
The last few innings were a true tug of war. Virginia would finally strike back in the top half of the eighth inning, as Ference was able to score when Wells hit a sac fly to right-center field to tie the game up. From there, Koenen and senior pitcher Dylan Crooks had an all-out battle on the mound.
Crooks decimated the Cavalier lineup in the final inning, retiring the first three batters via a pop out, a pickoff move and a strikeout. This set up Oklahoma to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. However, Koenen continued to bear down and sent the game to extra innings despite another hit from Tockey. The 10th and 11th innings were lightning fast, as both pitchers made quick work of their opponents
Ultimately, Virginia fell flat and now sits at 3-3. Something has to change for the Cavaliers, as this is clearly not the same team as last year. Clutch hits are nowhere to be seen, the home run is a sparse occurrence at best and the fielding has been satisfactory at best.
While preseason rankings might have indicated that this team could go to the College World Series, real adjustments will have to be made by O’Connor and company if that is to be true. While pushing the Sooners to 12 innings is not bad, as they had just beaten No. 7 Oregon State, being the higher-ranked team in all three games in Round Rock and only winning one is a disaster for Virginia’s reputation.
With their stay at the Round Rock Classic now wrapped up, the Cavaliers will head home and rest for a couple days before taking on Virginia Military Institute. The game will start at 3 p.m. Tuesday, and will be streamed on ACCNX.
Notably, it is expected that star junior pitcher Evan Blanco will make his season debut on the mound for the Cavaliers. Perhaps the return of an ace pitcher can help remedy the slow start to 2025.
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