For a Virginia team trying to play its way back onto the NCAA regional bubble, opportunities won't come much bigger than what the Hoos had in front of them this weekend.
With some help from those Wahoos, No. 7 Louisville made sure UVa couldn't capitalize.
The Cardinals' 8-2 win in Sunday's rubber match clinched the three-game series at Disharoon Park. Louisville came storming back from Friday's 10-inning loss to outscore UVa 17-7 over the weekend's final two games. For the Wahoos, a run of back-to-back ACC series wins came to an end. With the loss, the Cavaliers dropped back to .500 on the season (17-17) and 9-15 in the conference.
"We're in a position that we need to win series," coach Brian O'Connor said afterward. "Today we took a step back from that, for sure."
Louisville entered the weekend with the ACC's best record, the conference's best offense, and one of the league's top pitching staffs. That was all on display on Sunday and it was aided by some extra opportunities afforded by the Cavaliers.
A two-out walk in the fourth inning set up Lucas Dunn's RBI double that gave Louisville an early lead. That lead expanded the next inning. Nate Savino (1-2) hit the Cardinals' Levi Usher to start the frame. Usher got hung up between second and third on a Tim Borden single to left until Brendan Rivoli's throw from left field got away from the Wahoos' Max Cotier at second base. Not only did Usher score on the error but it also allowed Borden to get into scoring position.
The miscue sparked a five-run inning for the Cardinals. Afterward, O'Connor called it "a significant mistake."
"That's not talent. That's not skill. That's toughness," he said. "We just didn't make the play."
O'Connor delivered that same message to his players after Sunday's loss. It resonated with junior third baseman Zack Gelof.
"They were tougher than us this weekend," he said. "We came out and won our first ACC Friday night game and then just didn't finish. We've just got to be tougher as a ballclub."
Louisville finished the weekend with 24 runs on 36 hits. The Cardinals got to Andrew Abbott for seven runs on six hits (and five walks) on Friday, then Mike Vasil for six runs on 12 hits on Satuday. They hit two homers—and led by at least six runs—in each of the three games. Only in Friday's opener were the Wahoos able to come back.
That rally started with a five-run fifth inning that cut a 7-1 Louisville lead to a single run. It was still 7-6 when Devin Ortiz came to the plate thinking first-pitch fastball with one out in the ninth. He got what he was looking for and laced a line drive over the left field wall for a game-tying solo homer. An inning later, Gelof battled back from an 0-2 count to draw an eight-pitch walk, moving Logan Michaels into scoring position. Michaels would score the game-winning run when Rivoli's two-out grounder went between the legs of Louisville second baseman Cooper Bowman.
The 8-7 victory was Virginia's first in eight tries in the opener of an ACC series. The Wahoos' 14 hits were the most they'd racked up in a conference game. The comeback sparked the fanbase and got the attention of national college baseball media.
The Cardinals erased a pair of early UVa leads on Saturday. It was a 3-3 game until Alex Binelas, who homered in each of the weekend's three games and finished the weekend with seven RBI, took Vasil deep for a go-ahead two run shot in the sixth. Louisville wound up winning, 9-5.
Starting with that Binelas homer on Saturday, the Cardinals outscored UVa 14-4 over the final 13 innings of the series. After that 14-hit performance on Friday, the Hoos combined for 15 on Saturday and Sunday. Half of their 10 hits with runners in scoring position came in Friday's win. Louisville starter Luke Smith "had us tied in knots all day" on Sunday according to O'Connor, as he retired 14 straight UVa hitters during one stretch and took a shutout into the eighth before departing after a two-run homer by Gelof.
"We had a really good Friday night, then came out and obviously didn't do enough to win Saturday or today," Gelof said. "We just need to be better and we're going to have to make up for it here shortly in the ACC. There's no room for error and we've got to keep going, getting better every day."
At 9-15, UVa sits alone in 11th place in the ACC standings. NC State and Clemson are both 1.5 games in front of the Hoos with 9-12 conference records, while Virginia has a one-game lead on 8-14 Duke. The Blue Devils visit Disharoon Park this weekend.
Cardinals End Bales’ Scoreless Streak
Three of the five runs Louisville posted in Sunday's fifth inning were charged to Virginia reliever Blake Bales. The senior had thrown 29.2 consecutive scoreless innings out of the bullpen to start the season until that streak abruptly ended with Trey Leonard's two-run home run that reached the concourse beyond the UVa bullpen in right field.
Bales had just extended that streak with 2.1 scoreless innings in relief of Abbott on Friday. On Sunday, the big right-hander entered the game with one out and the Hoos trailing by two. Borden was on second base after Rivoli's throwing error. Bales recorded a quick out before giving up the home run to Leonard.
"(Nate) Savino had been twice through the lineup, so it was a little bit of a combination of things," O'Connor explained afterward. "I thought they were starting to get momentum on their side. Bales has done the job for us all year long in that kind of scenario. And we knew that Brandon Neeck was fresh and we knew that with all the lefties in the lineup that we were going to pitch him a couple of innings. But unfortunately, it just didn't work. And that's to their credit."
Bales wound up giving up three runs in the fifth - including an unearned run on a Gelof throwing error - to raise his ERA to 0.60 on the season.
Kent Mired in Monthlong Slump
A month ago, Nic Kent was the Cavaliers' leading hitter. A 2-for-3 day against Towson on March 17 raised the junior shortstop's batting average to a team-best .302 through UVa's first 16 games.
But Kent has been in a tailspin in the 18 games since, going just 11-for-78 (.141) at the plate. With back-to-back 0-for-4 days on Saturday and Sunday, his average dropped to .199 on the season, worst among the Wahoos’ everyday players.
O’Connor couldn’t explain his shortstop’s struggles following Sunday’s loss.
“I don’t know,” the head coach said. “He’s working. He’s making some adjustments. He’s got to do it. We need him to do it.”
Kent entered the year a career .335 hitter in 73 games. He has started every game the past two seasons and had been in the leadoff spot for that entire stretch until getting bumped down to No. 2 in the lineup for the opener of the Georgia Tech series on April 1.
Kent went 2-for-4 in his second game in the No. 2 hole, doubling in his second at-bat and then a grand slam an inning later. He has three hits in the Cavaliers’ eight games since.
After a 1-for-13 weekend against the Cardinals, Kent is hitting just .133 in UVa’s 24 ACC contests.
“He’s working, but it’s a tough game,” O’Connor said. “Sometimes it gets difficult, and he needs to keep fighting and keep working.”
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