The baseball season is a marathon, not a sprint. Stamina, patience and momentum are often the most important aspects of a successful playoff run. No. 9 Virginia knows this, and so do its fans — in the face of a shaky start, fans of the Cavaliers (9-5, 1-2 ACC) came out to Disharoon Park in droves for the Sunday matinee, making Virginia’s first ACC series of the season feel more like an early-summer playoff round.
One 6-3 defeat and a series loss versus Boston College later, and all the energy in the Dish had dissipated. The Eagles (6-6, 2-1 ACC), fresh off of a loss to Longwood, rolled into Charlottesville with a 4-5 record — nothing to write home about. In fact, Boston College was selected as the preseason favorite to finish last in the ACC. Now, they head home with a series victory against the No. 9 team in the nation.
“Obviously a frustrating loss with a chance to win the series at home in front of a great crowd,” Coach Brian O’Connor said. “It comes down to performing in the clutch, and we didn’t do that today.”
Strapped for pitching after Saturday’s 22-16 slugfest and with key sophomore pitcher Bryson Moore unavailable for the start, O’Connor gave the ball to junior pitcher Joe Colucci for his first start of the season. In his time out of the bullpen, Colucci had faced his fair share of struggles this season. Unfortunately for Virginia, that pattern only continued. Colucci allowed five runs, four of them earned, through three innings of work, putting the Cavaliers behind early.
In the third inning, Colucci looked to be finding his groove — nearly escaping a tough jam — but allowed a three-run home run that proved to be a crushing blow. Ultimately, Colucci recorded the loss.
Senior pitcher Dean Kampschror entered in relief of Colucci in the top half of the fourth inning and allowed another run, but beyond the fourth inning, the Virginia pitching staff held the Eagles scoreless. Much of the credit for the late pitching success belongs to junior pitcher Kevin Jaxel, who worked 3.2 scoreless innings in relief of Kampschror to provide much-needed stability.
“I thought Kevin Jaxel was outstanding,” O’Connor said. “He recognized that he needed to hold the game for us, and he did a fantastic job.”
Strong back-half pitching was an encouraging sign for a Virginia staff that has struggled late in games, but the promising performance was not enough to compensate for a stagnant offense. The Cavaliers kept pace with Boston College through the first two innings, matching an early run with a sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman outfielder James Nunnallee. After that, they managed just two more runs, never bringing the deficit within three runs after the third inning.
The offense had no shortage of opportunities. Virginia had a runner on base in every inning except the third, but converted with a runner in scoring position just once in nine opportunities. In a particularly critical moment, trailing by three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Nunnallee and freshman infielder Jackson Sirois both reached base after being hit by pitches. The top of the order came to the plate with runners on first and second and no outs, but sophomore infielder Eric Becker grounded into a double play, killing Virginia’s momentum and all but sealing the loss.
Behind Boston College’s pitching dominance was graduate pitcher Joey Ryan, who spun four innings of sparkling shutout ball from the fifth through the eighth innings. Ryan did not sport dominant stuff, but he kept the Cavaliers off balance — they seemingly had no answer, as they were unable to force him out of the game until the bottom of the ninth. Junior pitcher A.J. Colarusso entered in relief and worked out of the jam, stymieing Virginia hitters just as he did on Friday.
The series loss was uninspiring on all fronts. The Eagles represented an opportunity for the Cavaliers to find their footing by starting ACC play and resetting after starting the season on the wrong foot. Instead, they will head to Fredericksburg, Va. for a midweek game against Maryland amidst uncertainty on all fronts. Lineup mainstays continue to struggle at the plate, notably two junior starters — outfielder Harrison Didawick and third baseman Luke Hanson.
Still, the baseball season is long. O’Connor stresses patience, as all good coaches do amidst early-season struggles.
“When you play so many games in baseball, you gotta be ready for the next opportunity,” O’Connor said. “It’s just continuing to fight and compete and take advantage of our opportunities when we have them.”
Tuesday’s game against Maryland preludes Virginia’s first ACC series on the road, a trip to the west coast to take on California. The schedule only gets more difficult from here — the Cavaliers will look to rediscover the offensive prowess that makes them such a dangerous team and pick up a much-needed series win.
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