Valincius Powers No. 2 Virginia Past Rice In Weekend Finale

PONCE, P.R. – In the finale of the Puerto Rico Challenge, the No. 2 Virginia baseball team (2-1) toppled Rice 7-0 on Sunday night (Feb. 16) behind a 10-strikeout performance by Tomas Valincius.

In his collegiate debut, Valincius fanned 10 Owl batters over six innings of scoreless one-hit ball for the win. Valincius’ 10 Ks are the most by a Virginia freshman since Alec Bettinger struck out 11 against Richmond in 2013.

Henry Ford, Jacob Ference and Aidan Teel each had a pair of hits and scored once in the heart of the Cavalier lineup. Harrison Didawick led all Virginia batters with two runs batted in while Luke Hanson scored twice.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Valincius sat down the first six batters he faced before allowing a leadoff double in the third inning. Following the two-bagger, he retired 11 of the final 12 batters he faced in his collegiate debut.
• After a leadoff single from Ford and a double from Ference to start the bottom of the second, Didawick broke the seal with a two-run single through the right side. The junior later scored in the inning when Rice committed a throwing error on a James Nunnallee stolen base attempt to put UVA up three runs after two innings played.
• In the fifth, Nunnallee singled to open the frame and came around to score on a Ford sacrifice fly to center.
• An inning later, Teel doubled to start the home half of the inning and scored when Hanson doubled to left center. Hanson later came home on a Rice passed ball to make it a 6-0 game.
• Virginia’s final run of the game came in the eighth when Eric Becker plated Hanson with a sacrifice fly to center.
• Drew Koenen closed out the game for the Cavaliers, tossing 1.1 innings of relief with a pair of strikeouts.

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Five Cavalier pitchers combined for 15 strikeouts on Sunday, the most in a game since fanning 17 against Columbia on Feb. 24, 2023.
• With the win, Virginia moves to 3-0 all-time against Rice.

UP NEXT

Virginia will return home on Wednesday (Feb. 19) for the 2025 home opener against George Washington. First pitch at Disharoon Park is slated for 3 p.m.