No. 25 Virginia Drops Series Opener To Louisville In Nine Innings

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – The No. 25 Virginia softball team (31-14, 11-8 ACC) rallied to force extra innings, but couldn’t finish off the Cardinals on Thursday (April 17) as the Cavaliers fell to Louisville (23-18, 6-10 ACC) by  score of 6-5 in nine innings.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Virginia scored in the first inning with a Bella Cabral double to the wall in right center driving in Jade Hylton from second. Hylton opened the frame with a single back up the middle and took second on a sac bunt from Kelly Ayer to set up the score on the Cabral hit.

Louisville responded in the third, loading the bases with a single and a pair of walks around a sac bunt. A double to left  brought two runs home with the third running thrown out at the plate trying to score from first. A passed ball put a runner at third before a single to center put the Cardinals on top 3-1.

Louisville added two more runs in the seventh with a two-run home run to make it 5-1 for the Cardinals.

Virginia responded in the home half with a four-run rally to tie the game. It started with runners at the corners as Kailyn Jones drove a single to center to score Sydney Hartgrove from third who opened the inning with a single. Jones’ hit flipped the lineup, bringing Hylton to the plate for a three-run home run to left center to tie the game at 5-5.

Louisville moved back in front in the ninth inning, taking advantage of a fielding error at third to extend the inning and give Louisville the extra at bat it needed to take the 6-5 lead on a double to right. Virginia would mount another rally, working two on with one out in the home half, but Louisville got out of the jam and picked up the win.

Ava Hodges (3-4) took the loss as she allowed one unearned run in relief as she scattered four hits and a walk across 2.2 innings of work.

Brooke Gray (8-6) picked up the relief win, allowing one hit with a walk and a strikeout through 2.2 innings of work.

NOTING THE HOOS
• Jade Hylton hit her 14th home run of the season with her three-run shot in the seventh inning to move into second all-time on the Virginia single-season home run list. It matches her mark from last season.
• Julia Cuozzo tied her career high with five strikeouts in the start against the Cardinals.
• It was the 14th game decided by one run for the Hoos this season and Virginia is 6-8 in those one-run games.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“First off, we’re thinking about our friends down at Florida State. It is a really sad time for their campus down there and they are in our hearts today.”

“It was disappointing and frustrating today. We had opportunities to come away with that game, and opportunities to knock in the game-winning run in the seventh and ninth there. We’re getting exposed on the free passes, the mistakes and the errors. When we make mistakes, they’re pretty costly. Our margin is very small right now and we have to clean that up. The effort and energy was there, but the execution has to be cleaned up. We need a higher clip of quality at bats with runners in scoring positions. We have more in the tank and are better than we showed, but it’s going to take quality execution throughout.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia and Louisville continue the series at 5 p.m. on Friday (April 18). It will be Heroes Appreciation Night at Palmer Park with fans in attendance receiving a free Red, White and Hoo koozie. Sunday’s game will now start at noon due to travel curfews.