No. 25 Virginia lost a close series in Palo Alto, Calif. against ACC opponent No. 15 Stanford, splitting the first two games on Friday and Saturday and dropping the rubber match Sunday. The struggles on the road which have followed the Cavaliers (35-16, 14-10) all season persisted — this series dropped Virginia to 5-11 in games away from Palmer Park.
Virginia has made a habit of scoring right out of the gate in recent games — going into the first game of the series, the Cavaliers had scored at least one run in the first inning in each of their past eight contests. They won seven of those games and they suffered a brutal road loss to Liberty the last time they failed to score in the first inning, demonstrating how early offense often yields good results.
That trend continued Friday but to no avail as the Cardinal (35-10, 13-8) triumphed via the walk-off, stealing a 4-3 win.
The Cavaliers extended their first inning scoring streak to nine games Friday versus Stanford with a towering home run from sophomore infielder Macee Eaton bringing her and fellow sophomore infielder Bella Cabral in for two runs. It was Eaton’s 11th homer of the season, putting her in a tie for 15th in the ACC this season and ninth in Virginia’s all-time single-season record books. The blast also broke the team single-season record for RBIs, a total of 275 with three games remaining in the regular season.
Neither team would score again until the third, when the Stanford bats tied the game. However, Virginia managed to take back the lead in the fifth with an RBI single from senior utility player Sarah Coon, scoring senior infielder Reece Holbrook.
Virginia had a .200 batting average for the game and Stanford hit .125 — both unimpressive performances. The defensive effort, then, was crucial to determining the contest. Fifth year senior pitcher Savanah Henley and junior pitcher Eden Bigham walked five batters collectively, a number which was matched by Stanford’s three pitchers. The key difference here is Virginia pitchers struck out five batters — Stanford doubled that with 10 Ks. Virginia recorded three errors, while Stanford had none.
One of those errors ended up costing the Cavaliers. Virginia entered the seventh inning with a precarious one-run lead. An RBI double drove in the tying run, putting Stanford a run away from a win. With a chance to extend the game into extra innings, the Cavalier defense could not get the job done, committing an error at first base and allowing the winning run to score.
Their issues closing out tight games persisted through this loss — they are 6-9 this season in games decided by one run. To win in the playoffs, close games will have to go the Cavaliers’ way.
The team rebounded Saturday with one of their most impressive offensive outings of the season en route to a 9-4 victory. It was an electric performance — a total contrast from the first game of the series, when the Cavaliers struggled to capitalize on opportunities to advance baserunners in their loss.
The scoring, for the 10th consecutive game, began in the first inning. Sophomore infielder Macee Eaton once again got things started for the Cavaliers with an RBI double to bring senior outfielder Kelly Ayer in for a one run lead. It was Eaton’s 57th RBI of the season, good for third-most in the ACC.
Virginia didn’t let up, scoring in the third, fourth, sixth and seventh innings. The lone run in the third came on an RBI single by senior catcher Sydney Hartgrove. After a Cardinal home run in the bottom of the third gave them the lead, Virginia took it back with three runs in the fourth courtesy of a three-run blast from Ayer, the second home run of her career.
The sixth inning was a momentous inning for the Cavaliers, and not just because it extended the lead by two runs. In the leadoff spot, Hylton clobbered a ball over the left-field wall for her 16th home run of the season. With that hit, she moved to the top of the program leaderboard for homers in a single season, a record she broke with just two games remaining.
The junior now holds both the Virginia career and single-season records for home runs. In the midst of what may be the program’s greatest offensive season in its history, Hylton has been the leader of the surge. The previous holder of the single-season title was Class of 2019 alum Lacy Smith, who hit 15 home runs in her senior season.
After all that, Virginia was still not done, continuing to eviscerate the Stanford pitching staff. An RBI single from Coon brought Ayer home later in the inning to put the Cavaliers up 7-3. The Cardinal would muster one run off a homer in the bottom of the inning, but the visitors put the game away in the seventh with two runs, one on an RBI single from junior outfielder Kassidy Hudson and the other from an Ayer groundout that brought junior outfielder Kelsey Hackett home.
While Hylton had a record-breaking outing, Ayer had the most impressive day of any Cavalier, going 3-for-5 with a single, a homer and a double, with four RBIs to match the total of the entire Stanford lineup.
Collectively, Virginia hammered the Cardinal pitchers, unleashing a devastating barrage of 13 hits — including three doubles and two homers — and only striking out three times. Friday, the Cavaliers had a .200 average for the game. In the second game of the series, they managed a stellar .371 team batting average.
This was perhaps the most impressive win of Virginia’s season — the victory evened the series on the road against a ranked ACC opponent coming off of a brutal walk-off loss in game one.
Unfortunately, the offense was much more sluggish in the final game of the series on Sunday. Both teams only had two hits, the difference was Stanford’s pair went for two RBI, handing them a 2-0 victory.
Virginia pitching outperformed the home team, only walking two compared to Stanford’s seven. However, the bats failed to capitalize on the advantage the disparity in walks gave them, leaving eight base runners stranded and going 0-10 overall with runners on base.
This series saw the end of the Cavaliers’ first inning scoring streak and the end of them keeping their conference loss tally out of the double digits. The team is going to have to recover quickly, and the fact that this was a winnable series — especially considering their dominant performance in game two — should serve as a reminder of their potential but also the need to improve in these types of situations.
Look for Virginia to conclude the regular season this Wednesday with a home meeting versus Liberty, where they will look to avoid a season sweep from the Flames and get a win heading into the ACC Championships next week.
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