Following a strong opening home series against Dartmouth, No. 9 Virginia extended its winning streak to five games in a 15-4 demolition of William & Mary Tuesday at Disharoon Park.
The Cavaliers (8-3, 0-0 ACC) picked up right where they previously left off against the Big Green. Against the Tribe (4-8, 0-0 CAA), Virginia collected 14 hits. Sophomore utilityman Henry Ford, junior infielder Eric Becker and graduate catcher Jacob Ference anchored the offensive approach with three hits each.
“It was a great offensive day,” Coach Brian O’Connor said. “Becker, Ference, a number of guys with multiple-hit days which was good to see … collectively as a group I think we were very opportunistic.”
While the offense did its part, the pitching staff did enough to keep William & Mary in check. Junior Evan Blanco toed the mound for his second start of the season since returning from a preseason arm injury. Although he allowed four baserunners in 2.1 innings of work, Blanco only allowed one earned run.
Blanco threw 53 pitches against the Tribe — a notable increase from his first start against VMI, where he threw just 25 pitches. Blanco continues to ramp up to full strength after recovering from an injury setback.
Although Blanco looked sharper today than his last outing, just 62 percent of his pitches were strikes. The Cavaliers will need Blanco to pitch more efficiently in the rotation down the stretch.
In the bottom of the first inning, the Cavalier offense threatened with singles from Becker and Ford, but failed to capitalize. However, it would not be long before Virginia broke through — and then some.
Junior outfielder Harrison Didawick led off the second inning with a double for the Cavaliers before freshman James Nunnallee brought home the first run of the game for the Cavaliers on a sacrifice fly to deep center field. Becker, Godbout and Ford all followed with RBI doubles to give Virginia a 5-0 commanding lead.
After that shellacking, sophomore Chad Yates’ afternoon was over for the Tribe. Yates exited after just 1.2 innings of work, having allowed five earned runs.
After Blanco exited, However, William & Mary was able to work its way back into the game with four runs in the top of the third inning — including a pair of unearned runs coming around on a pair of singles from graduate utilityman Derek Holmes and junior outfielder Charlie Iriotakis. For Virginia, junior pitcher Chris Arroyo struggled in his lone inning of work. He gave up two hits and two runs, while pitching only 0.1 innings. Taking advantage of defensive miscues and poor pitching, The Tribe tallied four runs and brought the score to 5-4.
While William & Mary’s offense battled and brought them back into the game, their pitching staff failed to give them any semblance of a chance.
Virginia’s bats stayed hot, responding immediately with a 10-run surge in the bottom half of the inning. Ference led off by launching a home run to over the left-center field fence as the Cavaliers began an offensive onslaught. Ford and Becker each collected two-RBI singles as Virginia put up six hits and walked four times. Ference ended up getting another at-bat in the inning and notched two more RBI on a single to left field to put the Cavaliers up 15-4 after just three innings.
“Everybody knows what [Ference] is capable of, he's a very talented player and I think he's one of the best catchers in the country,” O’Connor said. “Baseball is a tough game, sometimes guys start off slow … we have a lot of confidence in him.”
Back on defense, junior pitcher Jack O’Connor made his long-awaited season debut for the Cavaliers in the fifth, and he pitched an efficient inning with a strikeout as a cherry on top.
Jack O’Connor was a standout as a freshman in 2023, but suffered a torn lat in 2024. He has not made an appearance in nearly a year, but made an encouraging debut — striking out one in a clean 1-2-3 frame. If able to regain 2023 form, Jack O’Connor could become a critical arm for Virginia.
“It was wonderful to see [him] out there, that young man has worked so hard and he always puts his team first,” Coach Brian O’Connor said. “It was just great to see him go out there, his velocity and his pitches are back, for him to have a 1-2-3 inning was great to see.”
With the game in hand, O’Connor emptied his bench with freshmen infielders Chone James, Jackson Sirois and Aiden Harris getting at-bats as pinch-hitters. Sirois, who is hitting over .400, roped his first collegiate double down the right field line in the bottom of the sixth.
In the seventh inning, a scoreless frame from junior pitcher Ryan Osinski put the game on ice — as the 10-run rule was enforced with Virginia ahead by 11.
After a convincing victory, Virginia’s homestand continues this weekend as the Cavaliers open ACC play against Boston College. First pitch for Friday’s series opener is set for 3 p.m. on ACCNX as the Cavaliers look to extend their winning streak to six games and establish an early early momentum in conference play.
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