No. 25 Virginia Walks Off Louisville 3-2 In ACC Tournament Opener

BRIGHTON, Mass. – Kelly Ayer’s RBI double in the seventh lifted the Cavaliers to a walk-off victory as No. 25 Virginia (37-16) advanced in the ACC Championships with a 3-2 victory over Louisville (26-25) at the Harrington Athletics Village on Wednesday (May 7).

HOW IT HAPPENED
Louisville got on the board in the third, taking advantage of a throwing error on a ground ball to third to get a run home. The throw to first sailed and caromed off the first base dugout, rolling to the fence in right field as the Hoos had a shift on to the left side. The batter scored on the play to put the Cardinals on top 1-0.

The Cardinals extended the lead in the sixth with a two-out single through the right side that was just out of reach of a diving Bella Cabral. Camryn Lookadoo scored from third on the play after reaching on a leadoff single then moving to third on a sac bunt and a groundout to second.

Virginia tied the game in the sixth inning with a bases-loaded single through the left side from Sydney Hartgrove. Kelly Ayer and Bella Cabral scored on the play. Ayer reached on a single and took second on an throwing error to second on a ground ball from Cabral to put two on. Sarah Coon loaded the bases as the throw to second on her ground ball deep to short was late and Cabral slid in safely to bring Hartgrove to the plate.

The Cavaliers then walked it off with the Ayer double to left in the seventh inning. Kailyn Jones scored after reaching on a fielder’s choice and advancing to second on a walk of Jade Hylton to set up the score on the Ayer hit.

Eden Bigham (17-8) picked up the win in relief, working the final  5.0 innings. She allowed two runs, one of them earned, while scattering six hits and striking out two.

Alyssa Zabala (10-11) took the loss as she allowed the three runs – one of them earned – while allowing seven hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

NOTING THE HOOS
• The win over Louisville is the first ACC Tournament win for Virginia since the 2011 season when the Cavaliers defeated top-seeded Georgia Tech 6-0.
• It was the 16th one-run game of the season for Virginia who is now 7-9 in one-run games.
• It was UVA’s 10th one-run game this season decided in walk-off fashion and UVA is 5-5 in those games.
• The walk-off hit was the second this season for Ayer who also delivered the walk-off in a 9-8 win over Boston College to lock up the series.

FROM HEAD COACH JOANNA HARDIN
“We got that monkey off our back and I’ll be honest about that. It’s been a long time since we’ve had an ACC Tournament win and it’s nice to get that one. It’s been on our minds and that’s part of learning to win from the front and under pressure. I liked the fight at the end after playing from behind. We’re going to have to turn it around quick, play clean defense and play assertive. We did that a bit tonight and I liked that, I like to see those things defensively. We talk about how defense and pitching win championships and that’s what will get us down the stretch. We fought through it and coming through in high pressure situations are what great teams are made of and I loved to see the fight and sticking together. We’re a really good ball club when we stick together.”

UP NEXT FOR THE HOOS
Virginia advances to face No. 2 seed Clemson (41-12) in the quarterfinals on Thursday (May 8). First pitch is set for 5 p.m. Clemson is ranked No. 15 in the latest NFCA Coaches Poll. The two teams did not meet in the regular season.