A healthy contingent of fans greeted No. 10 Virginia Saturday at Disharoon Park. They left satisfied in the wake of a dominant performance as the Cavaliers (6-3, 0-0 ACC) handled business against Dartmouth in an 11-1 demolition.
The win came fresh on the heels of an 11-3 victory Friday over the Big Green (0-4, 0-0 Ivy League), clinching the three-game series in favor of Virginia ahead of their final matchup Sunday.
Sophomore infielder Eric Becker set the tone starting in the first inning, lacing a leadoff double and coming around to score on a sacrifice fly by junior utility player Chris Arroyo. Becker added two more hits to his ledger, finishing the game 3-for-4 and driving in two runs.
The only player to drive in more runs than Becker was freshman catcher/infielder Chone James, who earned his first career start Saturday. James recorded three RBI on two hits and two walks in his debut.
“I thought today was a good day to give [James] a shot and we were rewarded,” Coach Brian O’Connor said. “I loved his approach. It was aggressive at the plate and when you have the right approach, you get rewarded.”
Freshman pitcher Tomas Valincius worked out of a jam in the second inning, but the Big Green got to him in the third, tying the game at 1-1 on an RBI double. Saturday was Valincius’ third start of the young season and his least effortless showing. Even when he struggled, though, Valincius showed a knack for finding a clutch strikeout and overpowering hitters in critical moments — he recorded nine strikeouts in five innings pitched and allowed just one run.
The Virginia lineup entered the bottom of the fourth inning looking to give Valincius some run support, and the floodgates quickly opened. With two runners on and no outs, junior outfielder Harrison Didawick put the Cavaliers up one run with a single to right field. A subsequent RBI single by James added another run on his first career hit.
Then came Becker’s second double of the game — where two Dartmouth outfielders collided, and two runs were plated as they could not get the ball back to the infield in time. Becker came around to score thanks to a passed ball, putting Virginia up 6-1.
Valincius returned to the mound for the fifth inning and posted another clean frame. James recorded another RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to extend the lead. Another run came in the sixth inning courtesy of Arroyo, who blasted a mile-high home run to right field.
Valincius left the game prior to the sixth inning, handing the ball to junior pitcher Kevin Jaxel. Jaxel had similar results, holding Dartmouth scoreless through two more innings.
With a comfortable lead entering the seventh inning, O’Connor subbed in some younger players. Freshman infielder Jackson Sirois, sophomore outfielder Walker Buchanan, sophomore first baseman Antonio Perrotta and freshman infielder Aiden Harris all made it into the game, with Sirois, Buchanan and Harris all recording hits en route to a two-run seventh inning.
After a scoreless frame by graduate pitcher Alex Markus in the top of the eighth, James came through yet again with an RBI groundout to put the Cavaliers up 11-1, enforcing the 10-run rule and giving Virginia a decisive win. Valincius was the winning pitcher of record.
As the offense has struggled to find its footing early in the season, Virginia has found momentum through lineup adjustments like the ones made by O’Connor Saturday. Some tweaks, like junior catcher Trey Wells starting earlier in the season and James making his debut today, have yielded promising returns.
“Some of our veteran guys that have done the job for us before here aren’t performing … up to the expectations,” O’Connor said. “We do have a lot of options … to plug in there. When those young guys do get opportunities, they perform.”
Early struggles may be making way to better performance for some of those veterans, however. Didawick has found his footing this series, blasting a two-run home run Friday and posting a 2-for-3 line Saturday. So has sophomore outfielder Henry Ford, who has a combined 5-for-8 line over the last two games.
“Those expectations are hard to live up to,” O’Connor said. “The game doesn’t care what you did last year. All it does is, hopefully, it injects some confidence in you that you’re a good player.”
Virginia will play the series finale against Dartmouth Sunday at noon. Another lopsided victory would give the Cavaliers their first series sweep of the season and instill confidence ahead of ACC play, which begins the following weekend versus Boston College.
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