It was a beautiful afternoon for the first game of No. 25 Virginia’s last ACC home series versus facing Louisville. Sophomore pitcher Julia Cuozzo started for the home team, carrying with her an impressive 5-1 record, while the Cardinals (23-18, 6-10) overall have allowed the highest batting average in the conference — making the matchup an enticing one for the Cavaliers (31-14, 11-8 ACC). Despite a strong effort, they fell just short.
Early on, Virginia grabbed a lead thanks to an RBI double in the first by sophomore infielder Bella Cabral. Cabral’s fourteenth double of the season, tied for sixth in the ACC, brought junior infielder Jade Hylton in to score.
Hits were sparse for Virginia in the ensuing innings. The Cavaliers struggled to hit the ball on a line, leading to many of their offensive outs being fly balls, fouls or pop-ups. Postgame, Coach Joanna Hardin commented on the need to force the defense to make “hard outs” and how she “would’ve liked to see more ground balls.”
After going hitless in the first two innings, the Cardinals blew the game open with a three-run third inning, which marked the last of Cuozzo — junior pitcher Courtney Layne entered in relief. Cuozzo left the game with five strikeouts under her belt — a career high — but struggled with control. She walked four, hit a batter and threw a wild pitch.
Layne only allowed one hit and one walk over two innings. She was replaced in the sixth by junior pitcher Eden Bigham, who gave up a two-run homer in the seventh to put Louisville up 5-1. Shortly after, she was replaced by freshman pitcher Ava Hodges.
Hodges was able to escape the jam, setting the table for a Cavalier rally in the bottom of the inning. The rally started with a single from senior catcher Sydney Hartgrove. Junior designated player M.C. Eaton struck out, but a wild pitch gave Hartgrove an opportunity to steal second. Hartgrove was advanced by the next batter as well, this time getting to third off a single from junior outfielder Kelsey Hackett.
Senior outfielder Kailyn Jones broke the scoring drought with an RBI single to bring Hartgrove home. Hylton was up next, and with the game on the line, the Virginia all–time home run leader lifted a moonshot over the fence to bring everyone home.
It was her fourteenth homer of the season, matching her total from last year and putting her one away from tying the program single-season record. Even more importantly, it tied the ballgame. Louisville managed to close out the side, extending the game to extra innings.
Despite loading the bases, Hodges made it out of the top of the eighth. The bottom of the inning came and went quickly for the Cavaliers, with a one-two-three inning extending the game further.
The top of the ninth saw the Cardinals pull ahead with an RBI double — a silent bottom half of the inning ended the game for the Cavaliers, who fell 6-5. It was a tough loss for Virginia but a fantastic display of effort.
Although Hodges allowed the losing run at the end, Coach Hardin was still “really proud” of the freshman. “She gave us everything she had for three innings,” Hardin said, but she also stressed the need to avoid “free passes” like walks and errors, which plagued the Cavaliers.
Even with a few costly errors, the defense still made quite a few plays in the infield. In particular, Hylton threw two Cardinal baserunners out in the top of the second inning, another in the top of the sixth and saved a run with an impressive throw to first in the ninth. Among other highlights from the field, Hartgrove threw an absolute laser to second to catch a runner stealing for the first out of the fourth.
In the top of the sixth, Hartgrove took a pitch to the arm that hobbled her for a few seconds, but she didn’t seem rattled for long, quickly settling back in. She was responsible for the last out of the side, snagging a foul tip off an attempted bunt. Hardin is not concerned about a potential injury.
“It just kind of stung a little bit,” Hardin said.
As for Hylton? The loss is a tough one, but she and the team remain focused. Her approach in the home stretch of the season, in her own words, is, “Just being who I am, being aggressive at the plate, and being comfortable in the field.”
The Cavaliers face the Cardinals at the same time and place Friday — 5 p.m. at Palmer Park, where they will look to tie the series.
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