Furious Comeback Leads No. 17 Virginia to Walk-Off Victory

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 17 Virginia (16-4, 3-3 ACC) scored the game’s final six runs, overcoming a five-run deficit to defeat No. 7 Wake Forest (13-6, 2-4 ACC), 11-10 in 10 innings on Sunday (March 17) at Disharoon Park. Virginia has come-from-behind to win 11 games this season and produced their third walk-off victory of the year.

Junior Casey Saucke began the theatrics in the bottom of the ninth with two outs when he drove an 0-2 pitch over the right field wall to tie the game at 10. Wake Forest committed back-to-back fielding errors in the bottom of the 10th, one on the final play that allowed Harrison Didawick to score the game-winning run.

Reliever Kevin Jaxel was called into emergency relief with two runners on and two outs in the top of the ninth after Jack O’Connor left with an injury. Jaxel struck out the final batter of the ninth and pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 10th to get credit for his third win of the season.

The game was tied on three different occasions and UVA overcame deficits of 2-0, 5-4 and 10-5 in the contest.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• With Virginia trailing 10-5, Jacob Ference hit his second home run of the afternoon to lead off the bottom of the seventh inning and jumpstart the Cavalier comeback. Ference was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI on the day and went 5-for-7 with three homers and five RBI in his two starts this weekend.

• Didawick cracked a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to pull UVA within a run, his team-leading, ninth of the season. Didawick was hitless in the contest before tucking a 427-foot missile inside the right field foul pole.

• Wake Forest reliever David Falco Jr. made quick work of the first two batters of the bottom of the ninth, needing just six pitches to get the first two outs. Saucke and the Cavaliers were down to their last strike before the junior barreled a changeup into the bullpen in right field.
• Didawick earned a leadoff walk in the 10th and was sacrificed to second on a Henry Godbout bunt. A dropped fly ball moved Didawick to third and then he scored when Falco mishandled comebacker off the bat of Ethan Anderson, enough to allow the speedy Didawick to safely slide head-first into home.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Virginia notched its first series win over a top-10 opponent since 2020 (No. 7 NC State).
• The Cavaliers have won seven-straight series at home against Wake Forest dating back to 2004, Brian O’Connor’s first season at UVA. O’Connor is 17-4 against the Demon Deacons at Disharoon Park.
• Virginia has trailed in 15 of its 20 games this season and recorded 11 comeback wins. In three of the wins, UVA has overcome deficits of five or more run.
• Wake Forest scored first in all three games on the weekend. Virginia fell behind just three batters into the game on a two-run homer by Adam Tellier who went 4-for-6 with a homer, double and four RBI in the contest.
• UVA is 7-2 this season when opponents score in the first inning and 8-2 when opponents score the first run of the game.
• Virginia has won nine of its last 10 extra-inning games including all three this season.

UP NEXT

Virginia’s five-game homestand concludes on Tuesday (March 19) with a non-conference tilt against Georgetown. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Disharoon Park.