Cavaliers Fall in Midweek Action to Liberty

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The Virginia baseball team (20-15) dropped a midweek contest on Tuesday night (April 15) by a score of 10-3 to the Liberty Flames (23-14) at Disharoon Park.

After a scoreless opening frame for both squads, the Flames surged to a 9-2 advantage by scoring three runs in the second, four more in the third and two in the fourth. Both of UVA’s runs in the sequence came in the bottom of the second.

Antonio Perrotta led the way for the Virginia offense on Tuesday by going 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Jacob Ference added two more base hits and scored twice to close out the homestand.

HOW IT HAPPENED  

• In his first start of the 2025 season, Kevin Jaxel worked around a pair of base knocks for a scoreless opening frame.
• The visitors from Liberty struck first in the second inning with a three-run home run off the bat of Tucker Moore.
• Virginia answered in the bottom of the frame when Perrotta smashed his first home run of the season to left center. Perrotta’s leadoff solo shot got the Cavaliers on the board and cut the Flame lead to 3-1.

• Later in the inning, James Nunnallee got the Cavaliers to back within a run at 3-2 when the freshman singled home Ference from second.

• With the bases loaded in the bottom of the third, Liberty’s John Simmons extended the Flame to 7-2 with a grand slam that went off the batter’s eye in center field.
• Liberty added two more runs in the fourth on back-to-back two-out RBI singles to lead the game 9-2 after the opening four frames.
• Following the two-run fourth, the UVA bullpen trio of Wes Arrington, Blake Barker and Drew Koenen held the Flame bats to only two hits over the next four innings.
• A leadoff walk in the top of the ninth came home to score on a liberty double to left center that made it a 10-2 contest.
• Ference was hit by a pitch to open the bottom of the ninth and scored on a Walker Buchanan RBI groundout for the 10-3 final.  

 ADDITIONAL NOTES

• Perrotta’s home run in the second was the second dinger of his career and his first since March 16, 2024 against Wake Forest.
• Henry Ford extended his on-base streak to 19 games on Tuesday with a walk in the third inning.
• Wes Arrington made his 16th relief appearance of the season to lead all Cavalier bullpen arms.
• Despite the defeat, Virginia leads the all-time series 44-24-1 over Liberty.  

 UP NEXT

Virginia will return to ACC play on Thursday when the Cavaliers travel to No. 7 Florida State for a three-game set with the Seminoles. First pitch for the series opener is slated for 7 p.m. on ESPN2 and WINA (98.9 FM/1070 AM).