Charlottesville, VA (cvillerightnow.com): You can count the remaining Wahoo Rundowns for the 2024-25 season on one hand!  Thank you so much for reading all season long and we are already looking forward to next season!  Last week, we had NCAA tournament action in Golf, Tennis, Rowing, and Softball!  The Track Team was flying high in the ACC Championship meet in Winston-Salem, and Baseball needed to finish their regular season off strong with a series win against Virginia Tech. Here’s how it all played out! 

Baseball began the series with Virginia Tech, according to most outlets, as the first four left out of the field of 64 for the NCAA tournament.  A series win against Virginia Tech was crucial.  The action began on Thursday with a battle of the aces between Brett Renfrow for the Hokies, and Jay Woolfolk for the Hoos.  The youthful skill of Renfrow, VT’s second year ace, proved effective against Virginia hitters in the first six innings of game one.  He held Virginia to just two runs, giving his offense enough to tie it up going into the final third.  Unfortunately, Renfrow’s bullpen let him down horribly, as the Hoos powered up for nine unanswered runs to back Jay Woolfolk’s eight strong innings to earn a 12-2 triumph for UVA.  Game two was just the response the Hokies needed.  A rainstorm delayed the start of the game for three hours, and neither starting pitcher was sharp as a result.  The Hokies took control of the offense early in the game, but Virginia had an answer for everything, and the score stood tied at four after four innings of play.  Early exits for both starters turned it into a staff day.  Two innings passed, before a pinch-hit homerun from David Lewis gave the Hokies the lead in the sixth.  The home team was pressured right up until the end but did not relinquish the lead, and Virginia let one slip away, 5-4 Virginia Tech to even the series.  That set up a Saturday rubber game to play for a big share of the momentum going into the ACC tournament.  Enter Tomas Valincius.  The Virginia offense backed the first-year lefthander with three early runs, and that was all Valincius needed, surrendering one run, striking out six, and walking just one, throwing 96 pitches in 6.2 innings of work.  The resplendent performance was exactly what the Hoos needed to finish of the series, their rivals, and the regular season in style, and they ran out of Blacksburg winners of the rubber game 3-1.  It is now ACC tournament time for the Hoos.  They will head to Durham as the #6 seed in the bracket and will battle the winner of Boston College and Notre Dame in their first game this Wednesday night.  Boston College beat the Hoos earlier this year, and Notre Dame is yet to face UVA.  The first pitch is set for 9:00pm, and pregame coverage will begin at 8:45pm.   

Virginia Softball charged in the Columbia Regional looking to make some noise after a solid regular season.  They took on North Florida in the first game of the regional and wound up on the wrong end of a scrappy pitchers’ duel, as the Ospreys won it 2-1.  The Hoos broke up Allison Benning’s shutout thanks to a Sarah Coon bomb in the second inning, but that was all Virginia’s offense could muster to help Julia Cuozzo.  Cuozzo was solid in 5.1 innings but gave up two sixth inning hits to surrender the lead, and the Hoos were unable to retrieve it.  Benning went a full seven innings to complete the game and earn the win while striking out five.  The next day however, Virginia dominated ELON in a 12-run shutout for Eden Bigham and Savanah Henley.  Virginia’s two hurlers only needed four strikeouts to keep ELON quiet, and the scoring came in bunches.  Jade Hylton started it off with a first inning homerun.  A five run fifth and a six run seventh overpowered ELON and got Virginia firmly back into their rhythm, winning it 12-0.  Later that day, the Ospreys awaited the Cavaliers once more, and again Virginia charged out to an early lead.  Bella Cabral notched an RBI single in the first, and a three-run homerun from Hylton in the second brought the Hoos out in front 4-1.  Cabral hammered another ball over the fence to make it 5-1 Hoos in the sixth.  Unfortunately, though, a poorly timed bullpen implosion let the Ospreys back into the ballgame.  North Florida stormed all the way back in the final two innings of play to take the win 6-5, and eliminate the Hoos from the NCAA tournament, ending their season.   

Men’s Tennis, after a stellar performance at the Charlottesville Regional, punched their ticket to the Quarterfinals of the NCAA tournament in Waco.  It was a heartbreaker for the Cavaliers however, as the TCU Horned Frogs rallied from behind to send the Hoos home after one match.  The Horned Frogs won the doubles point but fell behind quickly as Virginia’s two top 30 ranked stars, Rafael Jodar and Dylan Dietrich, powered the Hoos to two early points after winning their matches.  Lui Maxted and Albert Pedrico knotted the match with two wins for TCU to make it 2-2.  James Hopper took the next win for Virginia following a stellar performance.  It came down a final battle on court six.  After a break point that went the Hoos way, Duncan Chan stayed resilient and carried the day for TCU, knocking out UVA.  That is how the season ended for the Men’s Tennis Team.   

Men’s Golf was in Reno Nevada for their NCAA regional.  The action was delayed twice due to high winds and a freak snowstorm.  Fortunately, the Hoos did not let the weather stop them at all, shooting exceptionally well as a team.  They 11 under par for a total of 853 for three rounds.  They finished four strokes behind leaders BYU to advance as the second-place team from the Reno regional to the NCAA tournament quarterfinals in Carlsbad beginning this Friday, May 23rd.    Such a stellar finish was thanks in large part to senior Paul Chang, who put in his best performance of the season, shooting ten under par at 206.  Chang’s dominance allowed him to top the individual leaderboard with the second lowest regional mark but a Cavalier in history, good for his first collegiate victory.  

Women’s Golf remains locked in action in Carlsbad at time of writing.  The Cavaliers have succesfully qualified for the final round of stroke play and will tee off at 2:00pm Eastern time Monday May 19th.  Check back right here on Cvillerightnow.com for our final report.  You can also watch along live on the Golf Channel!   

Wrapping up for the week, #12 Rowing took to the boats in Clemson for their ACC Championship Regatta.  The Hoos showed out strongly, with a victory in the Varsity Four Petite final and second place finishes in both the Varsity Eight and Second Varsity Eight finals.  The Hoos will await NCAA tournament selection for the championship regatta due to begin May 30th at Lake Mercer in West Windsor, New Jersey.  The selection will take place May 20th at 5:00pm, streaming on NCAA.com. Finally, the Virginia Track and Field team stormed the ACC championships in Winston-Salem.  There were stellar finishes on both sides, including a gold medal for Jenny Schilling in the women’s 10,000-meter race (full report HERE), the Cavalier Women even topped the team standings with 93 points, four points better than second place Louisville.  Regional action is up next for TFXC, they will head to Jacksonville on Wednesday, May 28th, for the NCAA East Regional.  After that Meet concludes, the NCAA Outdoor Championships await on the hallowed grounds of Eugene, Oregon, beginning June 11th. 

 

That concludes your Wahoo Rundown for the week of May 19th!  Take every opportunity to support UVA Athletics, congratulations to the Class of 2025, and Go Hoos!