Hoos Thriving on Pressure in Stretch Run

By Jeff White (jwhite@virginia.edu)
VirginiaSports.com

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In the top of the ninth inning, the ball settled into center-fielder Aidan Teel’s glove Sunday afternoon, and Virginia celebrated a three-game sweep of Miami, a team that arrived at Disharoon Park on Friday having won five straight ACC series.

It took longer than expected, but the Wahoos (30-16 overall, 14-10 ACC) have become the force the college baseball world predicted they would be this season.

Since losing to Liberty on April 15, UVA has won 10 of 11 games. Six weeks ago, the Hoos had an RPI ranking in the 90s. After sweeping the Hurricanes (32-21, 14-12), Virginia is No. 60 in the RPI.

With four regular-season games remaining, plus at least one in the ACC tournament, UVA is no longer such a long shot to make the NCAA tournament.

“We’ve used this phrase for about three weeks now: playoff baseball,” Virginia head coach Brian O’Connor said, “and when you’re in the playoffs, if you don’t win, you go home. And that’s the situation we put ourselves in.”

UVA’s final ACC home series drew large, enthusiastic crowds to Disharoon Park, and the fans saw three entertaining games. The Hoos won 6-1 on Friday; 10-9 on Saturday, when they rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth; and 8-6 on Sunday.

“I’m just excited for [the players],” O’Connor said. “This is their experience. I say it all the time to them, but they have a baseball program at the University of Virginia not for Brian O’Connor to coach in. It’s for these young men to have an opportunity to have an incredible experience. So I’m excited for them, for the baseball that they’ve been playing down the stretch run here.”

The Cavaliers have been approaching every ACC series like an NCAA super regional, sophomore Henry Ford said, and every midweek game like an NCAA regional.

“It’s do or die,” said Ford, who homered twice Sunday, “and that’s how we’re playing, and I think that that’s been big for us.”

The Hoos are “very, very determined and playing with a lot of spirit,” O’Connor said Saturday, “and it’s great to see and fun to be around. I feel like this is the Virginia baseball that we’ve been hunting for, for most of the year.”

With its sweep of Miami, UVA climbed to sixth place in the ACC standings. In the 16-team conference tournament, which starts next week in Durham, N.C., seeds 1-4 get double byes. Seeds 5-8 get first-round byes.

“We’re not looking too far ahead,” O’Connor said. “We’re just in this mode of taking advantage of every opportunity that we have in front of us, and that’s what we’ve been doing for a couple weeks.”

During O’Connor’s tenure, the Hoos have reached the College World Series seven times, and they won the NCAA title in 2015. They came into 2025 looking to advance to Omaha, Neb., for the third straight year, only to struggle early in the season.

“I think the adversity we went through in the beginning part of the year was huge for us,” Ford said, “and it’s drawn us a lot closer together. We’ve been in pretty much every situation possible, so we’re comfortable in those situations now and we know what we can do, and we’ve all been through it together, which I think is huge. We’ve had to work through that, and I think that that’s been huge for us and that’s why we’re up-trending right now.”

In the three games against Miami, Virginia totaled 30 hits, including six home runs. Harrison Didawick homered twice in the series, and his solo shot in the bottom of the ninth Saturday tied the game at 9-9 and brought the crowd to its free. Later in the inning, James Nunnallee scored the winning run on Teel’s single.

Didawick hit 23 home runs and made the All-ACC second team last year. His numbers have dipped significantly this spring, but his production has been rising as postseason nears.

“Just proud of him that he went up there and got his money’s worth,” O’Connor said Saturday night, “and what a moment for the young man. We all know that he’s had a tough year, and like I said last night, we have a great ball club when he’s at his best and he’s been at his best for a couple weeks now.”

Virginia pitchers contributed heavily to the series sweep, too. Jay Woolfolk and Tomas Valincius turned in strong starts Friday and Sunday, respectively, and Evan Blanco, Matthew Buchanan, Bryson Moore and Matt Lanzendorfer threw well out of the bullpen.

Blanco, a weekend starter for much of the season, pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief Saturday to keep Miami from building on its 8-4 lead.

“The story of game for me was Evan Blanco,” O’Connor said. “That’s the best he’s thrown all year long. He’s worked really, really hard for the last couple of weeks to get his form back to where he was last year, and today that’s where he was … It’s been a challenge for him to find that form, but certainly he’s worked hard, and when you work hard and you’re determined it pays off.

“I’m just incredibly proud of him, because some people can just throw their hands up and say, ‘It’s not my year’ or whatever, and he wasn’t going to do that. His attitude is to help the team in any way he can.”

Weather permitting, Virginia will play its final regular-season home game Tuesday at 6 p.m. against George Mason (35-17). Then comes a three-game series against Virginia Tech (29-22, 11-16) in Blacksburg. The longtime rivals are scheduled to meet at 6 p.m. Thursday, 3 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.

The Hoos entered the final month of the regular season knowing how damaging any losses might be for them. Even so, O’Connor said, “I think they’re playing incredibly loose. They’re having fun. They’re aggressive. And when you know what you have to do in front of you, you either run to it or you run away from it.

“I talked to them about that not too long ago, that the reality is, this is our situation. And I can not talk about it, but you’re grown men. You can handle the truth, and we need to make a decision to run to it rather than run away from it. And they’ve certainly responded.”

Blanco, a junior, noted that throughout his college career the Cavaliers have “played in huge games, and I think that has just kind of built the confidence of this program. And even the younger guys that weren’t here before, they’ve seen what we’ve done and seen what we’ve gone through. And we know that no challenge is too big for us, and no game, and no moment is too big for us.”

Teel said the Hoos’ “confidence is at an all-time high, and it’s just a lot of fun. Everyone’s having fun playing the game. You look around and everyone’s got a smile on their faces, even when things aren’t going their way.”

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