Hoos in No Hurry to Head HomeHoos in No Hurry to Head Home

Hoos in No Hurry to Head Home

In its second elimination game in the NCAA tournament's Hattiesburg Regional, No. 2 seed Virginia meets No. 3 seed Jacksonville State on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.

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

HATTIESBURG, Miss. — Any game now could be his last as a college baseball player. Has that crossed AJ Gracia’s mind? Of course.

“It’s pretty hard to ignore that,” the University of Virginia center-fielder said Saturday evening at Southern Mississippi’s Pete Taylor Park.

Gracia, a junior, is projected to be an early pick in this summer’s Major League Baseball draft. He spent his freshman and sophomore years at Duke, where he saw older teammates go to great lengths to extend their college careers. They set an example he’s following this postseason as a Cavalier.

“I think there’s something to be said about [how] you're kind of looking the end right in the face, playing college baseball, and you don't want it to end,” Gracia said. “I think we've kind of talked the last couple of weeks about just fighting for another day together. So that's kind of where I'm at with that.”

After winning the first elimination game of the NCAA tournament’s Hattiesburg Regional, the Wahoos are assured at least one more day together.

Second-seeded Virginia (37-22) meets third-seeded Jacksonville State (47-14) on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET. The loser’s season will end. The winner will remain at the ballpark for a second game Sunday, this one against fourth-seeded Little Rock (38-26), which can secure the regional crown and move on to a best-of-three super regional with a victory.

Jax State defeated UVA 15-7 on Friday night. To advance to the third day of this four-team regional, Virginia had to eliminate top-seeded Southern Miss on Saturday. The Hoos did so in a game their head coach, Chris Pollard, said he thought “was as good as it gets in college baseball.”

In a stadium packed with fans sporting the host school’s black and gold, the Cavaliers scored four runs in the top of the 10th inning to secure an unforgettable victory over Southern Miss, the No. 9 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. On a hot, humid afternoon, in a game that lasted four hours and seven minutes, the final score was 15-11.

“Maybe as hostile an atmosphere and as back-and-forth of an affair, with both teams just throwing haymakers, as any ball game I’ve ever been in,” Pollard said. “Two teams just fighting for their lives. [Southern Miss] is a really good club, and their fans just will them in the moments.”

The atmosphere didn’t faze Gracia, who turned in a career performance, going 5-for-6 with five RBI. His five hits, which included a double and a triple, are the most ever by a Cavalier in an NCAA tournament game.

“AJ Gracia, I've known him since he was in the eighth grade,” said Pollard, who came to UVA from Duke after the 2025 season.

“He's going to go down as the best player I've ever coached, and that's quite a statement. I've got a lot of guys in the big leagues right now, but I've never coached anybody like him. I've never coached somebody so consistent with their approach. The ability to be the same guy every day is something we really value in our program.”

Against Southern Miss (44-17), Virginia went ahead in the top of the first, fell behind in the bottom of the second, regained the lead in the top of the third, lost the lead in the bottom of the third, regained the lead in the top of the fifth, and went into the eighth inning up three runs.

That lead didn’t last, either. The Golden Eagles tied the game at 11-11 in the bottom of the eighth and would have gone up 12-11 had UVA shortstop RJ Holmes, starting in place of the injured Eric Becker, not thrown out Drey Barrett at the plate. Barrett was trying to score from first on Tucker Stockman’s double.

Neither team scored in the ninth. In the top of the 10th, UVA loaded the bases with none out but then hit into a 5-2-3 double play that energized the Golden Eagles and their fans. With two outs and two runners on and Southern Miss supporters in full voice, sophomore right-fielder Zach Jackson stepped to the plate.

The situation notwithstanding, Jackson said after the game, it “was just another at-bat. I wasn't really nervous.”

He credited hitting coach Eric Tyler, who “came up to me and really calmed me down a lot, got me more level-headed. He just told me to stick to my approach.”

That approach paid off in a big way. Jackson’s single to left scored Joe Tiroly and Harrison Didawick. The next batter, Kyle Johnson, added an exclamation point with a two-run home that traveled 418 feet, pushing the Hoos ‘ lead to 15-11 and effectively crushing Southern Miss’ hopes.

Jackson, who also starred in football in high school, was 0-for-5 when he came up in the 10th. “But we talk about being tough enough to stay in the fight,” Pollard said, “and that's what you do. You overcome those moments, and you get yourself back to neutral, and you compete like crazy in the moment that you're in.

AJ Gracia went 5-for-6 with five RBI on SaturdayAJ Gracia went 5-for-6 with five RBI on Saturday

The Cavaliers’ performance against Southern Miss stood in contrast to their effort Friday against Jax State.

“I didn't think we were very tough yesterday,” Pollard said Saturday evening. “I didn't think we were very prepared, candidly, and that's on me. I challenged our guys this morning. I thought we had a great team meeting and our guys came out and really answered the bell.

“I thought there was a ton of resilience out of this group after really getting embarrassed yesterday to come out and play in this atmosphere ... I've been doing this longer than a lot of you have been alive, [and this is] truly one of the best atmospheres I've ever been in, in 33 years of college baseball.”

Unfortunately for the Cavaliers, two of their players got swept up in that atmosphere Saturday. John Paone, a freshman pitcher, and Johnson, a junior who started the game on the mound, were ejected for excessive celebrations: Paone at the end of the seventh inning and Johnson after his homer in the 10th.

Each must serve a one-game suspension, which means neither will be available on Sunday against Jax State. Pollard said he wasn’t planning to use Paone again in this regional, but Johnson’s bat will be missed.

Pollard opened his postgame remarks Saturday by apologizing to Southern Miss and its coaching staff.

“I'm embarrassed that we had two players kicked out of the game for losing their composure,” he said. “I haven't had two players kicked out of a game, or even period, over the last 25 years. We talked about in our pregame meeting at the hotel that this would be an emotionally charged atmosphere and we needed to not play with emotion, not get caught up in the emotion. [Paone and Jackson] are two great young men. I've known both of them for a really long time. I've coached both of them now for multiple years. I know their families. They're good people, but they did get caught up in the emotion of the moment. [Southern Miss head coach Christian Ostrander] and his guys do everything first class. They didn't deserve that.”

The incidents, Pollard said, will “be something that we learn from. Young guys make mistakes. Young guys get caught up in the emotion, and if there was ever going to be a situation that you get caught up in the emotion, it could be today, because for a lot of these guys, they've just never been in an atmosphere like this. You can play this sport a long time and not be in an atmosphere this good.”

UVA used six pitchers Saturday. Against Jax State on Sunday, Pollard said, “it’ll be a whole staff approach.”

The game against Southern Miss “took a lot out of everybody,” he said, “and I think if everybody in the stands knew what some of these guys were playing through right now, we’ve got hamstrings and quads and sore shoulders and guys just out there gut-checking it in this ball game. And we’ve got to see who feels OK, but it'll be all hands on deck. And it'll be a one-game season. We'll try to fight like crazy to get through that one, and we won't worry about the next one until that one's over with.”

Becker, an All-ACC selection, injured his left arm when he was hit by a pitch in the first inning Friday. He watched most of the game on Saturday before coming in to play shortstop in the bottom of the 10th. Becker wasn’t tested, as Max Stammel struck out the first two batters he faced and then retired the third on a fly ball.

“He felt good enough to play defense today,” Pollard said afterward. “He didn't feel good enough to hit. I'm hoping with one more day he may be able to play [against Jax State].”

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