Virginia Falls At Notre Dame On Saturday

NOTRE DAME, Ind. – For the second straight day a big inning for the home team was the difference as No. 22 Virginia (24-10, 6-5 ACC) fell on the road at Notre Dame (16-19, 4-7 ACC) by a score of 7-2 on Saturday (March 29) at Melissa Cook Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia scored in the first inning with an RBI single through the right side from Macee Eaton that drove in Kelly Ayer from third. Ayer reached on a double to left center and took third on a groundout from Bella Cabral.

Notre Dame moved in front in the second inning with a two RBI triple from Caroline O’Brien. A groundout to second pushed the third run home as the Irish took the 3-1 lead on the Cavaliers.

The Cavaliers got a run back in the third inning, cutting the lead to 3-2 with a sac fly to left field from Bella Cabral that scored Jade Hylton. Notre Dame answered in the home half, however, using a single to right following a pair of walks to move the lead to 4-2 and send Virginia to the bullpen. Julia Cuozzo then retired the next three batters to get the Hoos out of the inning.

The Irish added a fifth run in the fourth inning with a throwing error on a double play attempt off a fielder’s choice to third allowing a runner to score from first and take the lead out to 5-2. Two more runs came in off a bloop hit to left and the lead stood at 7-2 for the home team – a lead that would hold for the duration of the game.

Savanah Henley (8-2) took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits with three walks and two strikeouts. She worked 2.0 innings in the start.

Micaela Kastor (8-4) picked up the relief win, working the final 4.0 innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.

NOTING THE HOOS
• Macee Eaton added another RBI to her team-leading total and now has 42 RBI for the season.
• With her steal in the third inning, Jade Hylton now has 45 for her career and is three away from moving into eighth place on the career list at UVA.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“We came out ready to go and expecting to win, but you have to play consistent softball in this league if you want to win at a high clip. You have to execute from the circle, defensively and offensively, and we looked a little off balance at the end there. We started off fast and then gave up the lead and weren’t able to stop the bleeding. If you want to compete late into May and want to win late, you have to consistently keep offenses down and off the board, and have quality at bats consistently for the whole game. I see competitiveness and effort, but at some point it’s about execution and that’s not been consistent enough the last two games. Tomorrow we have to come back and play clean, competitive softball. If we can do that, I like our chances the rest of the year, but this is a tough league and we have to be ready to go.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia and Notre Dame will close out the weekend series on Sunday (March 30). First pitch is set for 11 a.m. at Melissa Cook Stadium.