Virginia Takes Series With 5-2 Win At Boston College

BOSTON – The Virginia softball team (20-12, 7-1 ACC) won its third consecutive ACC series on Saturday (March 26) when the Cavaliers took a 5-2 win at Boston College (14-13, 2-6 ACC) to take game two of the three-game series.

HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hoos got on the board in the first with a two-RBI single from Katie Goldberg that scored Sarah Coon and Tori Gilbert after both runners were put on base when they were hit by a pitch.

Virginia added a third run in the fourth inning when Gilbert drove in Arizona Ritchie to make it a 3-0 Cavalier lead.

Boston College answered with a two-out RBI in the home half of the fourth and a second run in the fifth to cut the lead to 3-2.

The Cavaliers would push two runs home in the seventh, scoring on an RBI single from Abby Weaver before a double steal saw Lauren VanAssche take home and give Virginia the 5-2 lead. The Hoos would shut things down in the bottom of the seventh to lock up the series.

Savanah Henley (6-5) picked up the win in relief, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and a strikeout in 3.0 innings of relief work. Madison Harris picked up her third save of the season as she worked the final 1.1 innings, retiring all four Boston College batters faced and striking out two looking.

Schnackenberg (6-2) took the loss for the Eagles as she allowed five runs – four of them earned – on eight hits. She struck out four in her 6.1 innings of work.

NOTES ON THE GAME
• The 7-1 start matches the best start in ACC play for the Hoos set in the 2010 season.
• The three straight ACC series wins also is the first time for UVA since 2010 (Maryland, Virginia Tech, UNC).
• Virginia has now won back-to-back series against Boston College and three of the last five series vs. the Eagles.
• Madison Harris earned her third save of the season and has allowed only one run with 19 strikeouts through
• Mackenzie Wooten made her third career start and first since the 2020 season against Georgetown (2/15/20).

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“We’re having fun and we’re just playing softball with our friends and having a good time. Our pitching staff did a good job of keeping them off balance. When our pitching staff is keeping us in games and we’re putting up runs, we do good things and it’s a lot of fun. We kept the pressure on all day and it was just a matter of coming up with the timely hit. We did that in the seventh inning. Scoring two runs there gives you a little more comfort going into the bottom of the seventh. I’m really proud of the way we’re playing and that the team is playing like the team we know they are. It’s fun. Everyone is playing good softball, playing hard and competitive and we’re giving ourselves chances to win games. We’re going to come back out and go for game three tomorrow.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia and Boston College conclude the weekend series on Sunday with a single game at noon on ACCNX.