Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): This is the Wahoo Rundown, Your Succint Sports Summary for all things Virginia Athletics!   As May nears, every day takes on even higher drama in Virginia Athletics, and last week was no different.  The Baseball team headed to Atlanta with an uphill battle ahead against a ranked opponent, Softball was on the West Coast in a similar fight, Men’s Lacrosse played Duke with their season on the line, and the Track Team headed to Philadelphia looking to dominate at the Penn Relays.  Here’s how it all played out! 

Brian O’Connor and the Virginia Baseball team headed to downtown Atlanta to face the #24 Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, the team with the most wins the ACC last weekend.  Just over .500 in the conference, every win for Virginia will help boost their playoff projects, and fortunately for the Hoos, they put in the team performance of the season against the Jackets to win the series!  On Friday, both starting pitchers were off their game, so an offensive showcase with looming rain wowed the crowd at Russ Chandler Stadium.  Every man in the Wahoo lineup had a stellar night, but freshman James Nunnalee went 4-4 in the biggest game of his life, with two doubles and his first collegiate homerun.  The Virginia bullpen, which struggled of late, was dynamite in relief of Jay Woolfolk, and staved off a Jacket comeback in the bottom of the ninth to win Game One 12-9.  In game two, junior lefty Bradley Hodges, a career reliever on his way back from injury following the whole of 2024 on the bench, made his start in the ACC and spun a gem, going a whopping seven innings, surrendering only two and hits just one run.  The Wahoo bats put up six runs in support of their pitcher, and had a big lead when Hodges left the game.  GT stormed back in the 8th following Hodges’ departure, but again, they failed to complete the comeback, as the Virginia pen slammed the door on the game and the series, ensuring another Wahoo Winner by a score of 6-5.  Finally in Game three however, the Jackets’ persistent offense in the third at last managed to break the dam in the late innings after the Hoos built another big late going into the final third.  GT’s sluggers tied the game up to force extra innings, and in the tenth, breakout star and former Georgia Southern hitter Kent Schmidt (leading the team in average), blasted a solo shot to untie and finish the game, to the delight of the home crowd.  The Jackets nipped Game Three 7-6.  The Hoos will return home for two games at Disharoon Park this week against VCU on Tuesday and Navy on Wednesday.  First pitch against the Rams is 7:45pm on Tuesday, and 3:45 against the Midshipmen on Wednesday.  Pregame coverage will start 15 mintues before each game on Newsradio WINA.  The Rams are 14-29 on the year, but are coming off a series win against Fordham in conference play.  Navy fell to Lehigh in series defeat over the weekend, dropping them to 23-22, and will play Virginia this week before closing their season this weekend at home vs Binghampton.   

In a battle of National #25 vs National #15, Virginia Softball (#25) battled the #15 Stanford Cardinal in Palo Alto over the weekend.  In Game One, Virginia jumped out to an early lead thanks to a Macee Eaton homer in the first, however, Stanford soon clawed back into the game before tying it at 3 in the final frame.  Virginia looked to quash the Stanford rally, however, with two out in the inning, an unfortunate error at first cost the Hoos the game.  The Cardinal walked it off 4-3.  The next day however, Virginia learned from their mistakes with ease.  Macee Eaton once again fired the Hoos to an early lead in the first with a double to left.  Despite the Cardinal staying competitive, Virginia continued to utilize the homerun to keep themselves out of striking distance, with Jade Hylton getting in on the act, and helping produce momentum for her team.  Virginia scored nine runs to take the Cardinal out of the game and even the series at 1 by a score of 9-4. That set up a rubber game on Sunday.  The game was a sterling pitchers’ duel that both offenses were not big factors in at all.  The only two runs of the game came in the fourth for Stanford, and Cardinal starter Alyssa Houston did the rest, quieting the Cavalier bats, and helping the home team secure the series by a 2-0 score.  Virginia will close its regular season going into the weekend exam break against Liberty at Palmer Park Wednesday at 6:00pm.  Liberty has won 41 games this year, besting Louisianna Tech in a series sweep this past weekend.   

Virginia Women’s Lacrosse began their ACC tournament run this week on Wednesday against #2 Boston College.  Full report HERE, but it did not go well, with the Eagles winning 17-7 in lopsided fashion.  As for the Men’s team, the final game of the regular season at Klockner Stadium had massive stakes.  Their opponents, the #9 Duke Blue Devils, had a chance to end their old rivals’ playoff hopes with a win.  Should the Hoos triumph in the upset, they could punch their ticket to the ACC tournament, lose, and the season would end.  Virginia played with gusto, passion, and skill for all four quarters of play.  Veterans and young stars alike put in a cohesive team performance against Duke.  McCabe Millon provided stellar service all game long, with three assists and finding the net himself once.  Thomas Mencke scored twice.  Johnny Hackett and Ryan Colsey both scored once.  Matthew Nunes, made 11 saves in goal, all leading to a late goal from Truitt Sunderland, who tied the game at 8 in the fourth.  Griffin Schutz, with a goal and three assists, helped control the midfield, and the Virginia defense forced key turnovers to stop the Duke attack from seeing the game off.  Unfortunately for Virginia, after overtime was forced, it would be the Devils that survived the day, as Benn Johnston forced a turnover with seconds left in the period that set up the 9th and final goal of the game that won it for Duke.  That is how Virginia’s season ended, and they will have to regroup and rebuild for the new season in 2026.   

Virginia Track and Field divided and conquered over the weekend, with a contingent heading to the Penn Relays in Philadelphia, another to the Drake Relays in Des Moines, and the third staying put at Virginia High Performance in Charlottesville.  Dominant performances abounded throughout the three squads.  In Phiadelphia, a team of Tatum David, Ariel Fletcher, Annie Jackson and Margot Appleton won the first Women’s DMR Wheel since 1982 with the third fastest time in collegiate history.  Also, high jump star Celia Rifaterra cleared 1.80 to win the Women’s High Jump Collegiate title.   Finally, in Charlottesville, Virginia dominated by the Men’s and Women’s 1500-meter event, with seven Hoos posting PR’s, and sweeping the top places.  Coming up, the team will held to the Kehoe Track & Field Complex in College Park, Md, for the Kehoe Twilight Invitational beginning Friday May 2nd.   

To conclude our rundown this week, Virginia Men’s Golf finds itself in the throws of ACC playoff play.  They escaped Stroke Play in Bowling Green AND, at the time of writing, they have advanced to Match Play in the ACC final.  We will have an update for you when competition concludes here on Cvillerightnow.com.  Finally #13 Virginia Rowing earned some hardware over the weekend, winning the Pocock Lake Wheeler Invitational Cup in Raleigh.  The Hoos won every race over six teams save for one, the second varsity four, in which Duke eked out a victory over Virginia, who finished second.  ACC Championships are next for Virginia, and they will head back to Lake Wheeler on May 16th.   

Also this week, #6 Women’s Tennis and #4 Men’s Tennis await their destinations and opponents for the NCAA tournament, they begin play May 2nd and the selection show is this evening.  Men’s and Women’s swimming begins action this Thursday in Fort Lauderdale at the YR Pro Series.

 That concludes your Wahoo Rundown this week, take every opportunity that you can to support UVA Athletics.  See you next week, Go Hoos!