CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – To conclude the regular season, the Virginia baseball team (34-18) heads to the Bluegrass State for a three-game series with the Louisville Cardinals (28-25).
HOW TO FOLLOW
Watch: ACCNX
Listen: WINA (98.9 FM/1090 AM)
Live Stats: VirginiaSports.com
Probable Starting Pitchers:
Thursday – 6 PM
Virginia: LHP Henry Zatkowski (6-1, 4.35 ERA, 68.1 IP, 20 BB, 82 SO)
Louisville: TBA
Friday – 6 PM
Virginia: RHP John Paone (1-3, 4.91 ERA, 51.1 IP, 20 BB, 59 SO)
Louisville: TBA
Saturday – 1 PM
Virginia: LHP Kyle Johnson (1-2, 5.59 ERA, 29.0 IP, 15 BB, 33 SO)
Louisville: TBA
LEADING OFF
- Entering the final weekend of the regular season, Virginia is averaging 8.2 runs per game, which ranks 38th in the country and eighth in the league. Overall, UVA has scored the 25th-most runs in the country at 424.
- UVA’s 90 home runs have powered the power surge throughout the season. The 90 blasts rank 16th nationally and third in the ACC. In 2025, the Cavaliers hit 69 home runs in 50 games as a team.
- A trio of Cavaliers were named to national award semifinalist lists, headlined by Lucas Hartman on the National Pitcher of the Year and Stopper of the Year lists. Tyler Kapa joins Hartman on the Stopper of the Year list, while Eric Becker landed on the Brooks Wallace Award list for top shortstop in the country.
- The next UVA win will give the Cavaliers 35 on the season, which would be the 19th time that Virginia has cleared that benchmark in the last 25 seasons. In the same time span, only Florida State and North Carolina have more 35-win seasons in the ACC.
- Thanks to his heroics in game two of the Cal series, right-handed pitcher John Paone was named Freshman of the Week by Perfect Game.
AGAINST LOUISVILLE
- In a series that dates back only to the 2015 season, Virginia and Louisville have met on the baseball diamond 28 times, with each team winning 14.
- The last time Virginia and Louisville met was in 2024, when the Cavaliers took two of three from the Cardinals in Louisville. Over the course of the three games, UVA plated 47 runs, including a 21-run explosion in the series opener.
- The Cavaliers have won five of the last six meetings between the two squads, including a weekend sweep in Charlottesville during the 2023 campaign.
- Virginia enters the weekend looking to win just its third series all-time at Jim Patterson Stadium (2018 & 2023) and it’s second straight.
ON THE MOUND
- Henry Zatkowski will get the ball in the series opener. The lefty is 6-1 on the year with a 4.35 ERA in 15 appearances. The sophomore leads the Hoos with 82 strikeouts in 68.1 innings pitched.
- Coming off 7.2 innings of one-run ball and a season-high in strikeouts that won him Perfect Game National Freshman of the Week, John Paone will take the mound on Friday night.
- To close out the regular season, Kyle Johnson will sling the rock on Saturday. The lefty is 1-2 on the year with a 5.59 ERA in 29 innings pitched.
ON SENIOR WEEKEND
- To close out the home ACC slate for 2026, the Virginia Cavaliers dropped a weekend senior weekend.
- UVA’s lone win of the series came in game two behind a strong pitching performance from John Paone. The freshman went a season-long 7.2 innings with nine strikeouts. The nine strikeouts were the most by a UVA freshman in a game since Tomas Valincius fanned 10 against Rice on Feb. 16, 2025, as part of the Puerto Rico Challenge.
- In the weekend finale, Joey Tiroly became just the seventh player in program history to homer three times in the same game and the first to do it at home since Henry Ford in 2024.
FELL INTO THE PITT & WENT UNDRAFTED
- For the final ACC series in April, Virginia was swept by the Pitt Panthers at Charles L. Cost Field.
- The series opener on Friday saw Zach Jackson and Joe Tiroly each homer to push the season team total to 76. With the 76 long balls, the 2026 squad passes the 2022 team for the third-most home runs in a season.
- Saturday was the first game since a 4-0 win over Miami on March 27, 2021, that the Virginia offense was held to a single base knock.
- Pitt became the first ACC team to sweep UVA in a three-game series on the road since Notre Dame in 2023.
TAMING THE TIGERS
- To claim its fifth ACC series victory of the season, the Virginia Cavaliers took the opening game and the rubber match from the Clemson Tigers.
- It was the ninth series win for the Cavaliers over the Tigers in 12 tries since the start of the 2006 season.
- In game one, Henry Zatkowski tossed seven innings of two earned run ball while tying a career-high in strikeouts with 10. AJ Gracia homered in the contest, while Jake Weatherspoon’s bases-clearing three-run double in the sixth proved to be the difference in the 6-4 contest.
- With Eric Becker and AJ Gracia both out of the lineup, UVA got a pair of home runs from Harrison Didawick and 4.1 innings of one-run ball from John Paone to clinch the series win with a 5-4 victory.
SOUTH BEND SLUGGERS
- En route to its first series at Notre Dame since 2019, the Virginia offense came alive by crushing 10 home runs over the course of the weekend.
- In game one, Harrison Didawick cemented his place in the Virginia Blue & Orange as the senior moved to second all-time on the career home run list with a pair of dingers. With the game tied at four in the ninth, a Zach Jackson long ball opened the floodgates as Virginia won 8-4.
- To take the series, UVA exploded for 20 runs on 18 hits, including six home runs from five different Cavaliers in a 20-5 thrashing.
MIDSEASON HONORS FOR THE HOOS
- As the calendar turns to April, several Hoos have garnered national attention for their stellar play over the first half of the season.
- Four different Hoos found themselves on the various Perfect Game Midseason All-American teams when the publication announced its selections on Wednesday. AJ Gracia led the way on the first team while Lucas Hartman and Eric Becker landed on the second and third teams, respectively. Noah Yoder was named to the Freshman second team to round out the Virginia quartet.
- D1Baseball also announced its midseason accolades on Wednesday as Lucas Hartman earned second team Midseason All-American honors.
- To go along with his midseason All-American honors, Gracia was named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List. The UVA outfielder was one of 45 amateur baseball players who were named to the watch list.