After an exciting senior day and a much-needed series win against Louisville over the weekend, No. 25 Virginia returned to action Tuesday for a midweek showdown at James Madison. The Cavaliers (34-14, 13-8 ACC) were looking to extend their win-streak and did just that, barreling through Harrisonburg and crushing the Dukes (21-23, 7-11 SBC) 11-0 in six innings.
Virginia got on the board in the first inning with the help of an interesting occurrence — the right-side umpire took a ball to the knee after junior infielder Jade Hylton reached first base on an error, a product of the catcher’s errant throw over the short-stop on a subsequent steal attempt. The ball flew right into the umpire and allowed Hylton to reach third. After an injury timeout to check on the umpire, sophomore infielder Bella Cabral was able to knock the run in, giving the Cavaliers an early 1-0 lead.
The Dukes were unable to respond, leaving room for Virginia to take control, and they took it. In the top of the third, Hylton was able to get on base with a line drive to right field and senior outfielder Kelly Ayer moved her to second base with a walk. With two on and no outs, the stage was set for Cabral to record a timely hit, delivering a no-doubt home run to left field. Now 4-0, the Cavaliers started to have some fun and continued to pile on runs.
With the help of some errors and walks from James Madison, Virginia was able to load the bases with no outs during the top of the sixth inning. Senior outfielder Kailyn Jones was able to score one run on a fielder’s choice to shortstop and the bases were then loaded once again by a Hylton four-pitch walk. Now with only one out, Ayer was due for an off-the-wall double to score two and Cabral followed it up with another two-run double, making the score 9-0.
The tenth run came from junior outfielder Kassidy Hudson who singled to left field, and the final blow came from senior infielder Reece Holbrook, who added another RBI single to set the score at 11-0. The Dukes did not score in the bottom half of the sixth, ending the game.
Junior pitcher Eden Bigham earned the win, notching three strikeouts, giving up zero earned runs and only allowing two hits. This win comes just hours after the pitcher was rewarded with ACC Pitcher of the Week, her first of the season.
A six-inning scoreless outing is a good sign for Virginia as the postseason nears. For the Cavaliers, midweek wins such as this one are critical, especially at this point in the season. Although they are having one of their best seasons to date, it still pales in comparison to other ACC opponents, namely No. 7 Florida State or rival No. 14 Virginia Tech. As a result, adding to the win column and getting that percentage higher and higher above .500 is a priority right now ahead of ACC Tournament play and the NCAA Tournament.
Even so, winning is hard, and as Virginia heads out west this weekend to take on a new ACC opponent, No. 15 Stanford, it will only get harder. However, if the Cavalier’s bats stay alive, they are sure to give the Trees a run for their money in Virginia’s final ACC series of the season — it will be the Cavaliers’ final opportunity to make a statement and improve their position in the ACC Tournament. Virginia’s first game of the series is slated for Friday at 9 p.m. in the Golden State.
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