Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): On the field of Virginia Credit Union Stadium this past Tuesday night, and after using eight pitchers to get the victory over the line, Virginia took down an old rival in the Maryland Terapins on a game winning wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning.  The dramatic 7-6 triumph was exactly what the doctor ordered for a Virginia team that needed to find some momentum despite delivering some solid performances scattered around their difficult start to the 2025 season.  Now, in the three games ahead, Virginia’s opponents will be a team that has an identical record to Maryland going into weekend play, the 8-8 California Golden Bears.   

A starting pitching hydra has carried the burden of the games that newly minted ACC squad has won up to this point in the season.  Their Saturday starter, redshirt freshman Gavin Eddy has had a dream start to his 2025 campaign.  Despite being 1-1 on the year, his ERA currently sits at 0.96 in 18.2 innings pitched.  Opponents are hitting just 0.94 against him.   Veteran Friday starter Austin Turkington is holding his opponents to a .194 average, striking out ten over seven innings of work in his last start against the Duke Blue Devils, leading the team with 22 strikeouts.  Finally, 6’7” senior lefthander David Shaw has a 3.31 ERA in 16.1 innings of work, and lags just behind Turkington with 21 strikeouts.  The Cal staff combined is holding opposing batters to a .202 average.  When you pair a stellar stable of pitchers with one of the better hitters in the nation in third baseman Cade Campbell, currently slashing .400/.412/.800 with six homeruns and 22 RBI’s, you get a talented ballclub on paper.  However, just two other regular starters for Cal are hitting over .300, and three are hitting below .250.  As a result, you get a team that lacks consistency in its results, one the one hand, they have five victories this year in which they won by eight runs or more, two in which they’ve lost by nine runs, and quite a few where good offenses have gotten the better of them in the late innings of ballgames they should win.   

That’s a tune Virginia should be familiar with up this point in the year, and one they just stopped playing against Maryland.  Should Virginia offense stay locked in for all nine innings of the ballgame as they did midweek, and some work curbed for an overloaded bullpen, a series win looks promising.  Evan Blanco’s rehab continues, he’s set to pitch on Sunday against the talented young righty Ethan Foley (2-0, 3.68 ERA, 14.2 IP, 4 BB, 13 SO).  The Boston College series excluded, starting pitching overall for Virginia has been sharp, and the offense is starting to settle into his rhythm.  Jay Woolfolk will face Turkington tonight and Tomas Valincius has to contend against Eddy tomorrow.  You can listen along on WINA to Adam Hawes’ live commentary beginning at 9:00 PM tonight, 5:00 PM Saturday, and 4:00 PM on Sunday.  And, for all-encompassing pregame coverage and exclusive interviews, tune in fifteen minutes before game time for UVA First Pitch, hosted by yours truly.